habib99 Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 OK so after a bit of messing about I've got the engine to run a bit better, gets better once it is warmed up. What I need to know is -What is a healthy temperature for the engine to run at? I have a thermometer in the pipe between the thermo and rad. Thanks Habib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 Mine runs healthily between 210 and 220. 230 is just about max I would run it and still consider to be 'safe'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habib99 Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 Mine runs healthily between 210 and 220. 230 is just about max I would run it and still consider to be 'safe'. thanks, so at idle i'm reading about 180 and the fan kicks in about 185 (two electric fans - no belt driver) I'll take it for a run and see how hot it gets! 230 = danger danger!!! I'll keep that in mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rllywgn Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I've got an 88 turbo sedan.. it runs at 192 all the time... it has a 2 row radiator and i run the fan on a switch.. long hills it will go up a degree or two but thats it... rllywgn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habib99 Posted May 30, 2006 Author Share Posted May 30, 2006 I've got an 88 turbo sedan.. it runs at 192 all the time... it has a 2 row radiator and i run the fan on a switch.. long hills it will go up a degree or two but thats it... rllywgn hmm bit lower than I acn manage with my setup but if it's not damaging to run at 220 constantly then I'll be ok I think. btw do people think that just off of the thermostat housing is a sensible place to take a reading? I was working on the assumption that this is where the water exits the engine on the way TO the radiator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiehardGL-10 Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I've got an 88 turbo sedan.. it runs at 192 all the time... it has a 2 row radiator and i run the fan on a switch.. long hills it will go up a degree or two but thats it... rllywgn Hmm sounds good. I wanna do that to my 87 GL-10. where do i get a 2 row radiator ( if its not alredy stock ) and how did you set up your elecric fan? mine is belt driven. and i had an 88gl 2wd that was the same. Also where do you take the temp reading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rllywgn Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 the 2 row is from radiatorbarn.com, about 130 bucks and free shipping. I've purchased a few from them for various subaru's.. excellent service and shipping. The mechanical fan is still in place and the electric is run with 14g wire and a 25 amp fuse with a switch on the dash. i must say though i have done some modifications to the front but it ran like this before i cut things up.. rllywgn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveman09 Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 I did the Dual Electric Fan Conversion on my Ea82-T. I'm runnin the 2-row HD Radiator and I wired up my own relays for A/C and such. The Thermoswitch kicks on at 203F, the motor runs between 190-203F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rllywgn Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 which dual electric? i'd like to be able to ditch my mechanical fan if there was an electric that was capable of the same or better airflow.. my soob will be on its way to las vegas pretty soon so keeping cool is a must.. rllywgn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted May 30, 2006 Share Posted May 30, 2006 Don't ditch the mechanical fan if its in working condition. Yes, you loose a couple horsepower to spin the thing, but most mechanical fans (and I'm sure this is true for subies), move more air than electrical fans. Also, once the electric fan kicks on, the load caused on the alternator can use a couple horsepower too, so horsepower isn't a real reason either. If its not in working condition, of course I'd switch to electric fans. Much cheaper than a new fan clutch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habib99 Posted May 30, 2006 Author Share Posted May 30, 2006 Don't ditch the mechanical fan if its in working condition. Yes, you loose a couple horsepower to spin the thing, but most mechanical fans (and I'm sure this is true for subies), move more air than electrical fans. Also, once the electric fan kicks on, the load caused on the alternator can use a couple horsepower too, so horsepower isn't a real reason either. If its not in working condition, of course I'd switch to electric fans. Much cheaper than a new fan clutch. I only got rid of the mechanical fan because I've put the engine in a kit car and the rad is in a different location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mgb88rx Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 If your mechanical fan was not working but the electric fan was functional would it be possible to add a second electric fan in place of the mechanical fan and power it off of the existing fan? This would allow the added fan to come on using the factory thermoswitch. Wired in parallel they would just pull more amps but run at the same speed as if alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keltik Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 If youre wiring it onto the original fan - i would watch out. Youll be almost doubling the load on your original wiring. Running lots of amps through 20 yr old cable could cause a problem. Also you would have to rig up a different beefier fuse. I would just run the secondary fan through a switch - just keep one eye on the temp gauge in heavy traffic and flick the switch if needed. Another option would be to rig up some kind of relay to the existing thermoswitch or if you wanna be really flash, install an electric fan controller set to cut in a few degrees above the first fan. KELTIK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveman09 Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 This is the way I did mine : I installed 2 (30) Amp Heavy Duty Relays, I ran power to them right to the battery with (2) 30 AMP Fuses in between. Then I wired each fan to 1 of the relays. Then I tapped a signal wire into the Thermoswitch in the radiator and wired them to the (2) Fan Relays I installed, so that when the coolant temp gets to 203F both fans kick on and off automatically. The fan on the switch idea worked until I let a buddy drive the car and he overheated it because he forgot what I told him about the fans. I also installed a third relay for the A/C, I wired it to the ECU A/C Signal Wire, so that when the A/C kicks on both fans also come on so the A/C works normally and the engine doesnt overheat with the a/c on. It sounds complicated but this is the right way to do it and I love it, much better cooling control with this system, this is the way most all modern cars are done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxsta Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 OK so after a bit of messing about I've got the engine to run a bit better, gets better once it is warmed up. What I need to know is -What is a healthy temperature for the engine to run at? I have a thermometer in the pipe between the thermo and rad. Thanks Habib run a thermostat 10 degrees cooler...standard is 180 you can run a 170..i run a 160 with my turbo and it always sit,s on 176 and may go to 180 if im into the turbo all the time.....the benifits of running your ea82t with a cooler thermostat are great....1/ big reduction of detonation(pinging) when you unknowingly fuel up with low grade fuel..(i hate that) 2/ you are now running you engine cooler so you get a more dense air fuel charge to your induction...more air means more go for your buck.. there are no wrisk,s in lowering your thermostat 10 degree,s..but i would recomend 20 lower than stock..as this will run at around 180 when into the turbo alot..instead of 190-195...cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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