Centaurus5.0
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- April 15, 2016
- Messages
- 1,077
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- 339
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 96'
That's cool.The pictures on eBay are not clear, hopefully that's the version they are selling.
The ones for $40 are that version.
That's cool.The pictures on eBay are not clear, hopefully that's the version they are selling.
You guys are tryin to kill me huh? Quit it with the tempting distractions already.
Besides, I already went down that nightmare road back in 2003----
I was trying to figure out why Ford changed to a single row radiator and then it hit me that the change to a plastic fan seems to have occured around the same time. Plastic fan in around 1999 and the change to a single row radiator happened in 2000.
In my research, it seems the plastic fan is supposed to move more air. So if the thermal requirements didn't change but the new fan design moves more air, I wonder if that facilitated the move from a 2-row radiator to a 1-row radiator? Able to meet the same requirements cheaper. Maybe the changes were planned together but rolled out separately due to supply chain considerations or to ensure the metal fan never made it onto the single row radiator vehicles which would have resulted in worse thermal management.
If that is the case, then the best option seems to be to use the older 2-row radiator and the plastic fan.
I was looking at my plastic fan and it appears that the plastic is molded around a metal center section so even if there are cracks between blades, each blade is still held tightly to the metal center frame. Makes me wonder if the plastic fans really do explode as everyone seems to fear.
Both of my 98's had plastic fans, and they both run fairly cool, also with the full thickness radiators. If your engine runs warm at all, it should be from blockages in front of the radiator, or an issue with the fan clutch or thermostat etc.
There is a metal bracket that mounts to the fan clutch. The plastic blades appear to be molded around this bracket. There appears to be holes in the metal so the plastic is around and through the bracket. You can see the darker areas in the center fan section in your picture. This is why I think that the cracks won't compromise the fan integrity as much as people say. I would imagine since everyone seems to have the cracks and surely the majority are not replacing fans regularly that there should be a lot of cases of exploding fans.My 98 stays about 210 but the 99 around 185-190. I think the radiator maybe was replaced in the 99 at some point and the 98 has the original radiator I am just guessing.
Question though I noticed there is alot of cracking in the Plastic fan of the 99 even though it stays cooler. Is that going to cause an issue at some point?
I've had two of these fans come apart in my 92 X. The first happened at high rpm and essentially chopped the upper radiator hose off of the nipple where it connects, damaging the radiator in the process. The second happened 4 years or so later at low speed and only finished off my already damaged shroud. The oem fan had been cracked for many years before it finally exploded and the replacement started cracking within a year. I looked at several 1st gen X's at the junk yard and all of them had cracked fans. As best I can tell, cracks on the hub portion of the fan are completely normal but if you ever see those cracks start migrating up onto any of the blades it's time to replace the fan immediately.
It seems that there is a misconception about using a cooler range thermostat to make your engine run cooler. The thermostat is a valve and it is fully open at or near it's advertised temperature setting. Once open fully it will allow coolant to pass through no matter how hot it becomes. Overheating can not be cured by lowering the thermostat value if there is an over riding cause of of it.I haven't seen anyone say to use a 180 degree T-stat yet. In the Mustang world (especially the old 5.0) It was common and often the first mod you'd do to keep temps down and maybe free up some HP.
I got around to pulling my radiator and getting the condensor separated was as big of pain as others stated. I saw a few others mention using the 4.0L condensor mounts but there weren't any pictures to be found. I went to the local pick n pull on a 40% off day and was out the door for under $10. Just had to remove four small bolts. Make sure to grab all the weatherstripping since the condensor will now be slightly separated from the radiator. Everything mounted up to my 5.0L perfectly even with a 1" body lift. All holes were already in the body. Great mod.
Here is a picture of the brackets and weatherstripping. Long bracket goes on bottom and two small brackets go on top. You do have to cut the existing plastic brackets off the condensor. Tinsnips made quick work of those.
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