[JGard18]

I'm currently trying to install an electric fan onto my GT. Long story as to how I got here.

But basically, right now, I have the fan, I believe it's a 13" pusher, and it just won't fit. The battery bracket thing is in the way. Has anyone else encountered this while doing this installation? Any tips or thoughts on how I could kinda move the battery around? Thanks!

 

[Bastian]

Hi!

I have a electic fan out of a BMW, I think 323i, but other from the BMW are the same I think. That fan fits before the battery. But if you want to change the battery, you have to put the fan away.

But what battery bracket do you mean? I only have one down at the battery.

Bastian

 

[JGard18]

I have a metal bracket, brace, whatever, that encompasses the top of the battery, with butterfly nuts on each end, which all hold the battery into place.

I could just remove that, but I don't trust that the battery would stay put without being secured.

 

[ConreroGT]

There's a really good article on this by Jimsky at the ClassicOpels site on the Yahoo Clubs.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/classicopels/files/ Technical Information/



Look for: ELECTRIC RADIATOR FAN UPGRADE FOR OPEL GT.doc


If your not a member it might not let you see it. If your not, JOIN!!

or I or someone could email you the Word format article.

~kyle

 

[Bastian]

@JGard18: If you send me your e-mail adress, I'll send you some pics, how I made it in my GT. Somehow, i can't load pictuers on my webspace at the moment, otherwise i would present them here in the text...

Bastian

 

[JGard18]

bastian, my email addy is [email protected]

From looking at that Word doc., it looks like it may take more skill, tools, and time than I have available. I'll have to figure something out, though.

Oh, and the other problem I'm having is finding how to get the plastic screws through the radiator... I don't want to break anything.

Geez, and I thought this would be easy...

 

[jimsky]

You could go with a smaller sized fan at 13" or less and avoid most of the work, but I've heard about some electric fan installs being "less than adequate". If that means running hot and possibly cracking a head, I'll pass on that. That's why I went for the 14" PermaCool, which has got some awesome CFM numbers to it. You don't need a caged fan, interfering with air flow down in the nose of a GT. With the limited access and the front hindging hood you'd have to work at accidentally hurting yourself.

If you're trying to mount the fan right to the radiator, those PermaCool mounting kits are very easy to use. They are zip tie based, so they slide through the radiator fins pretty easy. You can pick up the mounting kit at www.jegs.com for about $10.

 

[okieopel]

Is it a good idea to ram those zip tie type radiator fan mounts thru your Opel radiator? Couldn't they wear thru the radiator core.

 

[Dan]

I used a VW Rabbit radiator fan... I cut the area off that has the flaps for highway driving (if you look at one you'll see what I mean) and turned it sideways, then screwed it right to the core support in front of the radiator. I reversed the polarity so it is a blow instead of suck fan and used a generic adjustable temp fan conroller (about $15). The fan was free from a junk rabbit my friend had so it was a real cheap way of getting rid of my stock fan (which tore up my radiator when it hit the shroud btw).

Dan

 

[jimsky]

Well I wouldn't say "ram". It was more like gentle prodding, finding the path of least resistance.

The zip tie mounts are made of plastic, and they were narrower in width than the spacing of the active coolant "tubes" that run vertically up and down. So the zip ties are actually resting on the "fin filler" material that is between each tube. Weight would tend to push downwards compressing the fin filler material. So the zip ties are not really in much contact with the actual coolant tubes.

I can't speak from experience since I don't have a lot of time with this setup. My impression of PermaCool is they seem to do quality stuff, and in fact this mounting method is covered under U.S. Patent 4,617,702. Just because a patent is issued dosen't insure this is a good idea that works; only that it was a novel idea that someone wanted to protect . These guys seem to have staked their business on this mounting method, all their fans use it.

The photo below shows the zip tie through the radiator, it's partially obscured due to the spacer washers; but you can get the idea.

 

[JGard18]

interesting. My setup did come with a couple of long zip-ties, so I'll see what I can do with those...

But I still need to move my battery, and possibly trim some metal, first

 

[Gary]

@JGard18: If you send me your e-mail adress, I'll send you some pics, how I made it in my GT. Somehow, i can't load pictuers on my webspace at the moment, otherwise i would present them here in the text...

Bastian

Bastian,
Every member here has a photo gallery available to them. You could always upload them there. You can also use the "Attach File" button below the message reply text box.

 

[Bastian]

Hi!

Thanks for the info Gary, so the photos are now in the gallery for those who want to see them!

Bastian

 

[GoldGT]

Resurrecting Old Thread

I have a 14" fan that is going into my GT. The instructions with it say that it MUST be used as a puller if it is the primary fan and can be used as a pusher if it is a secondary fan. Question is why can't I use it as a pusher primary fan?

 

[jmbinjax]

Fans are usually less efficient/effective as pushers and I think they lose about 15% of their CFM when used as a pusher. As long as you get enough CFM out of it as a pusher it shouldn't be a problem. The closer you get it to the radiator the better. I used the 14" perma-cool refereneced here and in other threads. I had to modify the radiator support and the upper lip of the belly pan. I didn't use the zip tie mounts provided and fabricated simple mounts from flat steel so I can remove the radiator without removing the fan. I wasn't checking battery clearance when installing the fan and it takes a little work to install and remove the battery. The fan works great and you could see the temperature gage move immediately when the fan kicks on.

 

[bear]

Jeff, according to the Perma-Cool folks I got my fan from, they state in the pusher mode their fans lose 20% effectivness than in the puller mode. It has to do with the shape of the fan blades. HTH.

 

[GoldGT]

Jeff, according to the Perma-Cool folks I got my fan from, they state in the pusher mode their fans lose 20% effectivness than in the puller mode. It has to do with the shape of the fan blades. HTH.

My fan came from Jegs and is designed so that you can remove the blades and flip them over so that should help. I wonder if all the fans are less efficient in pusher mode because of their own housing obstructions or is it because you are working against normal atmospheric pressure when pushing, whereas in puller mode you are creating an area of low pressure in front of the radiator and then atmospheric pressure causes air to flow through.

 

[jvandyke]

I've got an electric as a pusher on the front of the rad. My GT always has run cool (need to check thermostat) and supplemental electric fan never kicks in, I all but disabled it last summer. Why PO installed it, I don't know. I can't help but wonder if I could get away without the motor fan and just run the electric. Gain 2 ponies? Yeah, probably not!

 

[opelwasp]

I run just the electric fan on my 2.4L and it never over heats. Try taking the fan off and see how it goes. You can always put it back on. BTW the engine compartment is quieter with the fan gon.

 

[jvandyke]

Good to know it's feasible. I'll give it a try maybe. How's your electric fan wired? Mine has a sensor and is supposed to come on when the coolant gets to a certain (adjustable) level, but it would never come on until after I shut the car down, then 5 minutes later (after the coolant sat) it would come on for 10 minutes or so, which is silly. This time around it may make more sense to just wire to a switched source? Always on. Can't imagine I would ever want to turn it off from the cockpit if there were no motor fan. Maybe wire it to one of the non used rockers (rear defroster) anyway in case I need to put the crank fan back on, then I'd want control again, just thinking aloud.
Quieter is good. More HP is good.