38 Century, electric fan?

[Guest RonJar]

Hi all, my 38 Century doesn't have a heating problem under normal driving conditions, but if I am driving slowly, like in a parade, it will heat up, burn oil like a good thing (clouds of blue smoke) and just run poorly until I can get my speed up to get some air going through the radiator.

I would like to put an electric fan on the radiator, but it would have to be a pusher fan, that is, mounted on the front of the radiator. However, if the fan is on the front of the rad, I'm wondering if it will block enough air flow through the rad at cruising speed to cause a heating problem at higher speed. I don't want the fan running all the time, only at slow speeds when it tends to heat up. I'd use a toggle switch to turn the fan on at slow speed. Has anyone done this electric fan thing? Any suggestions or input on using an extra fan? Thanks .... RonJ

[Guest Grant Magrath]

Ron, some electric fans come with a little thermostat that sits in the radiator fins, and control it automatically. So, you can do away with your old fan and gain a small increase in HP. However, 99% of all overheating issues I've encountered on this forum, and at home, are as a result of a partially blocked radiator. Maybe that should be your first place to check?

Cheers

Grant

[FLYER15015]

Ron,

I'll have to go with Grant on this one.

When I first got my '40 Buick it had that funky 4 bladed fan with one double thick offset blade.

My first fix was the CLR flush, which has been posted numerous times, and which got gobs of crap out of the rad and block. Next I put a pancake pusher fan in front of the rad on a hidden toggle switch, and wired direct to the batt (w/ a fuse). That worked pretty well for the first summer. In the winter "down season" I finally had the rad boiled and installed a Hayden 6 bladed flex fan ($39.00). Now she can "parade" with the best of them.

Lots of discussions here about removing the frost plugs and routing out the block with wire and high pressure copper tubing attached to either a garden hose or a pressure washer. If you feel comfortable doing that, it certainly can't hurt.

Mike in Colorado

[jenz38]

Ron,

Your Car is switched to 12 V ? If not, you can only do it like Mike says.

My Car I have switched over to 12 V and I drive a strong E-Fan (Aircondition Fan from a Opel Omega) in front of the Rad ,controlled by a OE VW 2 Step thermo switch witch is ,like a Lambdasond ,screwed in a insoldering Bushing in the lower Rad Chamber.

I'm very satisfied with it, much better Motor accelerating without the nerved windy Blade noise,no dangerous Blades in the Enginecomp., it's prevent my Waterpump Bearings,and no overheating/boiling after Enginestop if its Hot because the Fan runs on permanent +.

[Dwight Romberger]

JENZ brings up a couple of important points.

1) Thermisatically controlled fans only run when needed

2) Continue to run after motor turned off.

3) Increased fan efficency

I would add no more old slinging in the engine compartment and they do make 6 volt single and double fans with shrouds.

Thanks JENZ.

Dwight

[Guest RonJar]

Unless these Buicks are different, my past automotive experience (just a few years) tell me that a poor rad (restricted tubes, rotten or loose fins) would work at lower speeds when cooling requirements are low but would run hot at higher speeds when cooling requirements increase. The difference that I see is the difference in air flow at low and high vehicle speed. My local rad shop doesn't believe in rodding or boiling a rad. He would want to put a new core in the radiator. For the cost of a new core, I may just try one of these aftermarket pusher fans that fasten directly to the core, no brackets required. A thermo switch on the rad or a toggle switch could control it. My Century is 12 volts so locating a fan isn't a problem. If the fan doesn't cure the problem, I'll certainly look into a new core. Thanks to all for your input. ..... RonJ (CAN ANYONE TELL ME HOW TO START A NEW PARAGRAPH? MY ENTER KEY DOESN'T DO IT.)

[Mark Shaw]

RonJar,

Hit enter two times to start a new paragraph...

[TexasJohn55]

This is an English language forum, you are wasting keystrokes.

[Barney Eaton]

I have been thinking about adding an electric fan also. There are plenty of the in salvage yards and 99.9% are 12V. However these are DC motors and if run on 6V will turn half speed. My Reatta has a fan in front and one behind the radiator, until the water temp get to around 125 F they run in series (which would be like 6V) and turn half speed. When the 125F mark is hit, a relay switches them to 12V and they run full speed.

My thinking is to try this and if it works I have a almost endless supply of used fans available. If it helps but I need more fan speed then spring for a 6V fan.

[danhar1960]

Ron' date=' this has been discussed before. Try some of the suggestions in these.

[url']http://forums.aaca.org/f131/ok-heres-something-weird-348988.html

http://forums.aaca.org/f169/whats-word-processor-function-forum-351686.html

Danny

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Ronj, with all due respect, you are wasting time and money if the radiator has not been recored. Been there, done that. First thing I did on my '50. Money well spent.

In my former life, I was a truck driver,owner. One that I bought had some miles on it. Engine had been replaced, but not the radiator. I over heated the engine so many times in the hills, it started burning oil badly. Should have repaired the radiator sooner. Lesson learned.

Ben

[Guest Grant Magrath]

Hey Barney, just run a 12v inverter! Problem solved! We used one on the coupe to run the hidden stereo.

And Ron, Ben is correct. A recore should solve your problem if your radiator shop won't rod it. In our case, the core was new. It was just about 80% blocked with junk.

Cheers

Grant

[jenz38]

Of course, the core must be in perfect free condition,thats the basic for all.

I think about 12 V Fans in 6 V Cars that you have mostly Generator in 6 V Cars,no Alternator. They have no, or very less Loading while Idle and they are very weak for powerfull electrical Gimmicks and a e-Fan is it .

In my Case,I need very much coolingpower while I'm in Rushhours (mostly at Idle).. or on the Autobahn and came unexpected in a traffic jam for maybe an half an Hour, the Fan run then for 10 min. ,breakless !! then a 6V System is empty (if its dark you have also no parkinglight, no Hazard .. I have to live to see it with a rare 12 V Generator ... after that experience immediately i switched over to my Alternator )

( I hope you all understand my English ...)

[danhar1960]

Ronj, with all due respect, you are wasting time and money if the radiator has not been recored. Been there, done that. First thing I did on my '50. Money well spent.

Ben

I would totally second what Ben says here. I'd rather a good condition radiator working to it's full capacity any day over a thermo fan but that's just me. If the radiator is partially blocked and the reserve cooling capacity has been diminished, it will give you grief at lower speeds and it will only get worse with time.

Just some other thoughts :

If more air movement is what you are after, the bigger fan with more blades is the way I went. You'd be surprised at the difference it makes. It also helps to cool the engine compartment by pushing more air through it. I have always thought that the original blades were a little undersized.

Getting the blades closer to the radiator also helps to increase the air flow but that creates other problems.

I don't know if the '38s had them available (haven't looked) but I have for my '39 an optional fan cowl which also makes a big difference in air flow.

I also got a little cover panel available above the radiator that stopped hot air from the engine compartment being sucked into the radiator.

A fellow '39er I knew improved his cooling by just removing the splash covers.

These things all add up to more cooling efficiency.

Danny

[Guest RonJar]

I pulled the rad, rad shop took the top tank off, the tubes were certainly plugged. The rad shop owner estimates 50% flow if that. One new core coming up!! It would seem the rad is original, never been apart in it's 75 years.

Seeing as things are apart, I'm going to mount a pusher fan on brackets in front of the rad, not mounted on the rad itself as is popular nowadays. Things are easy to get at now and the job will be done!! As a driver, I'll not expect any cooling issues under any conditions in the near future!

RonJ

[Brian_Heil]

To answer the question on pusher fan and will it cause a blockage. The blades will 'windmill' due to the ram air at road speeds so no issue there but there will be a slight blockage due to the fan motor and legs. But at higher speeds this is not an issue as you have an excess of air flow. This issue is dealt with often on modern all electric fan cooled vehicles.

[Guest Grant Magrath]

Great news Ron! You have a great summer!

Cheers

Grant

[danhar1960]

Good to hear Ron.

Now you have to make sure your thermostat is working or you'll have an engine that never warms up. :)

Danny

[chstickl]

I pride myself of having two 37s. One with an original engine, original rad and electric push fan. The other one has an overhauled engine, high performance new core in the rad and no electric fan. Guess which one still keeps overheating in summer? Bingo, the old one with the electric fan. Especially when you start burning lots of oil while overheating, it points to another issue within the engine block or head that needs addressing. My Roadmaster with the overhauled engine can go slow at 95 F as well as climbing uphill at 50 mph without overheating. If you want to really solve the issue, an electric fan is nothing more than a mediocre bandate. That's the lesson I´ve learned from this.

I also tried to flush and reverse flush the whole cooling system with all kinds of agressive substances. Didn´t make a hell of a difference, although it was amazing what kind of mud and scum came flushed out.

[DonMicheletti]

The issues of '37's and '38's overheating has been beat to death everywhere there is discussion about them.

I have 2 38's a Roadmaster and a Special (which I am still restoring). I restored the Ropadmaster in 1985.

When doing the engine on the Roadmaster I took a lot of pains to clean the block of rust and scale - I got 1/2 a 5 gallon bucket of crud out of the block and head. I had the radiator rodded out to be sure it was clear. I also had the water pump rebuilt.

I admit I dont live in an area where it gets terribly hot (San Francisco bay area). However I have been driving the car nearly 30 years. Never once has it run much hotter than the 160 degree thermostat. I have been in traffic crawling, stop and go, up a long hill on 90+ degree days (we do have hills and traffic) and on the freeways at 70. And, yes, the gage is accurate.

I have and had 1910, 1918, 1931, 1932 & 1938 Buicks. None have had overheating problems. They do work.

These cars were OK when new. I believe that they should run at proper temperature if everything is is right with no "assists". I dont think I am just lucky.

[Terry Stock]

Ron,

Your Car is switched to 12 V ? If not, you can only do it like Mike says.

+.

I have a friend with a 6 volt 1948 Ford. He recently obtained a 6v fan that he is going to install at the front of the radiator. He will remove the original fan and is looking forward to better mpg. He got the 6v radiator fan from a US supplier. His new 6v fan is the same size as the 12v version.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Terry Stock (see edit history)

[Guest Grant Magrath]

I agree Don. if they ran ok when new, they should be fine now if everything is in good nick. Too often, and I'm guilty of this myself, we look for the quick easy fix, when really, it's false economy, and we'd be better off biting the bullet, and doing the job properly.

Cheers

Grant

[BUKE]

Ron i brought a 6volt fan for my 1940 centure from a place in RI he advertised in old cars weekly about 2 times a month.After doing everthing that was memtionedit still ran hot at very slow parade speed.Anyone who knows me knows i drive mine all over this beautiful country up the highest mountings.Point i am makeing is when i hit the fan switch it cools it down to 180degres from190.so what i am saying while you are theare put the fan ON.

Frank

Have a great BUICK day

[Guest RonJar]

Ron i brought a 6volt fan for my 1940 centure from a place in RI he advertised in old cars weekly about 2 times a month.After doing everthing that was memtionedit still ran hot at very slow parade speed.Anyone who knows me knows i drive mine all over this beautiful country up the highest mountings.Point i am makeing is when i hit the fan switch it cools it down to 180degres from190.so what i am saying while you are theare put the fan ON.

Frank

Have a great BUICK day

New core, electric pusher fan, didn't heat up in a parade at all like it used to. The fan is set to come on at 190'. The car gets some double looks when I drive into a parking spot and shut it off. Within three minutes or so, after a heat soak, the fan comes on and draws attention because nobody is there. It will usually cycle three times before shutting off for good.

RonJ