2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

[willzilla]

Idk how much room you have but just went out and checked mine. Mine sits about 4 3/4" off the rad and its mounted on 1/4" rubber strip

Your fan sits that far away FROM the radiator?

 

[jd4242]

Your fan sits that far away FROM the radiator?

From the radiator to the edge of the motor casing...it sits flush on 1/4 rubber against the radiator

 

[Dono]

nothings easy making a fan setup work. Any chance you could get the contour fans away from the rad a bit and somehow cover the two open spaces more? This would force air flow over more of the rad when it's on.

I do like using the factory fan shroud. Great idea.

 

[Dono]

Im betting the config you have will be fine. Id think the concern would be a high load condition with no movement of the truck.

Are you planning on doing heavy towing or serious 4x4 ?

If the trucks moving at any speed over about 50 your fine.
Even on a hot day and monitoring temps with my fan manually turned off, anything over about 20mph the temps would really drop on their own, and that's with no fan at all.

 

[willzilla]

nothings easy making a fan setup work. Any chance you could get the contour fans away from the rad a bit and somehow cover the two open spaces more? This would force air flow over more of the rad when it's on.

I do like using the factory fan shroud. Great idea.

I plan on possibly gluing in some thick plastic to fill the 2 large gaps which should help direct airflow to some degree thru the fans primarily. The fans themselves are rated I believe 3800cfm or so.

The fans hover just off the radiator but in no way touch the radiator at any point which I would think would be optimal?

 

[jd4242]

I plan on possibly gluing in some thick plastic to fill the 2 large gaps which should help direct airflow to some degree thru the fans primarily. The fans themselves are rated I believe 3800cfm or so.

The fans hover just off the radiator but in no way touch the radiator at any point which I would think would be optimal?

Not unless the whole area is sealed off.the fans need to be against the radiator or be sealed to wear they only pull air through the radiator. The way you have it now it won't work well I think, it will pull air from everything, some through the rad and some from behind the shroud..

So how much room do you have from the radiator surface to the water pump??

 

[willzilla]

Not unless the whole area is sealed off.the fans need to be against the radiator or be sealed to wear they only pull air through the radiator. The way you have it now it won't work well I think, it will pull air from everything, some through the rad and some from behind the shroud..

So how much room do you have from the radiator surface to the water pump??

Wow, this is confusing lol.

I'd assume, like a clutch fan, as long as shroud was sealed with radiator that would be good? Since the clutch fan simply sits within the shroud near the radiator?

My plan was to use that strong plastic pvc type glue and glue in some blocking plates over the 2 big open spaces to help direct the airflow through the fans within the shroud.

I should have plenty of room, it's closer to radiator than it was before hooking it to the shroud and I had tons of room between fans and the electric waterpump.

 

[jd4242]

Wow, this is confusing lol.

I'd assume, like a clutch fan, as long as shroud was sealed with radiator that would be good? Since the clutch fan simply sits within the shroud near the radiator?

My plan was to use that strong plastic pvc type glue and glue in some blocking plates over the 2 big open spaces to help direct the airflow through the fans within the shroud.

I should have plenty of room, it's closer to radiator than it was before hooking it to the shroud and I had tons of room between fans and the electric waterpump.

Well the stock fan takes up almost the whole opening.doesn't matter though I missed the part where you said you was going to plate off the space should be fine then.

I was asking how much room you have from the radiator with nothing on it at all, to the water pump? Just wondering on how much room a 5.0 has

 

[willzilla]

Well the stock fan takes up almost the whole opening.doesn't matter though I missed the part where you said you was going to plate off the space should be fine then.

I was asking how much room you have from the radiator with nothing on it at all, to the water pump? Just wondering on how much room a 5.0 has

Ahhh, lol, gotcha!

I'll have to measure once I get new radiator in.

Waiting on a new condenser to arrive.

Anyone have a how to link on condenser replacement? I don't want to poison myself or blow myself up lol.

Side note... I took a new 6 month consulting job in Vegas.. Drive there starting Monday (in my SVTf).. Probably fly back in a month to finish what is left on Xploder and then rent 2 uhaul trailers and drive back my xploder and wife's e350 (towing trailers) and kids and us all stay in Vegas together until end of contract. Busy busy!

Oooo, got my new aluminum radiator in today, only paid $120 for it shipped, Spectra premium... wanted an all aluminum one (w/aluminum tanks) but it appears there isn't any for the 5.0 with stock fitment. Seems much lighter than the stock one but looks mostly the same and the fins aren't disintegrating on touch lol.

 

[Dono]

I looked around for an all aluminum, and couldn't find one either.
The proper way to do your air conditioning is to have the system evacuated with the proper equipment.

Apparently venting that stuff in to the atmosphere is a bad thing.

 

[willzilla]

I looked around for an all aluminum, and couldn't find one either.
The proper way to do your air conditioning is to have the system evacuated with the proper equipment.

Apparently venting that stuff in to the atmosphere is a bad thing.

That stuff u can rent from autozone?

 

[Dono]

I don't think so. Only licensed hvac guys are supposed to use it (At least up here). Its worth a phone call to find out.

 

[jd4242]

I don't think so. Only licensed hvac guys are supposed to use it (At least up here). Its worth a phone call to find out.

Last I checked its the same here

 

[willzilla]

Last I checked its the same here

I guess I'll figure something out on that...

Worked on fan shroud air deflector... Using shatter proof lexin.. Got dark but have a corner roughly fitted and held in place with zip ties. Plan on glue and some kind of silicone sealant on any remaining gaps.

 

[willzilla]

Won't be able to finish anything up for a while.. I start my long drive to Vegas for work. Plan is to fly home next month and stay for a week packing up the rest of the family and hopefully finish the truck as well (or as close to finished as I can.. If not complete, then enough to get it into my garage).

 

[willzilla]

Made it to Vegas Tuesday night... Drove straight 24 hours, lol. Painful. Miss working on the Xploder after making good progress finally :-\

 

[willzilla]

Hope everyone is well! Not much new... STILL working out in Vegas... Xploder STILL on stands back at my home in TN :-/ I was back home for a few weeks but it was too cold and rainy to get any work done on the Xploder, blah!! Plan to do some work on my SVTf out here in Vegas soon... Fixing my squealing brakes, all new oil, replace thermostat housing and thermostat, new coolant, and a few other things. The brake noise though is horrible so def rdy to fix that!!

 

[willzilla]

Back from consulting in Vegas... Once the weather stops being ****ty perhaps I can finish up on my damn Xploder lol.

 

[Dono]

Welcome back.
I think this has been a tough winter for everyone. It looks like we are finally going to start getting some relief from the serious cold.

 

[willzilla]

Thank you

Has been nice the past few days... Got some work done.. Finished up the dual 95 Contour fan mounted into the fan shroud (easily installs onto and off of the radiator). I used Lexan to seal the space around the fans and angled them to direct air into the fan blades and sealed the gaps with waterproof high temp silicone (-60F to 400F). Seems pretty sturdy... Hopefully it works lol. Anyways:

Facing the engine view (before silicone):

Facing the radiator view (before silicone):

After silicone sealed facing the radiator view:

Need to install new radiator and condenser still before getting to everything else (lots of stuff... The more I replace the more I want to do, ugh!! haha).

What do I need to vent the A/C system? I tried removing the vent hose cap and poking it with a screwdriver and yellow **** sprayed out and yeah.. That will be a huge mess. Is there a kit to hook up to vent the stuff into a container or something (for disposal, not to be re-used) so I can remove and replace the condenser??

Thanks!