RE: Oh Bother... and a query

["Tink, Brian@CBR BSAV Mail" <Brian.Tink@domain.elided>]

JD

This is precisely why I do not use these types of mechanical clutch type
fans
on my cars.  As I I have said before, both the stag and the 2500S sedan,
DO
NOT have, chucked them away years ago.  I rely solely on electric.

There is one exception in the family.  My daughter drives a 2000 sedan,
which
has a shaft driven fan but not a clutch type.  The interesting aspect of
this
set up is that the fan blades do bend.  the gap between the radiator and
the
fan when stationary is about 2 inches, yet there are signs on the
radiator
that the blades have contacted .  No major damage, just marked the
radiator.

my two pence worth

Have  a merry Christmas and happy and prosperour new year

keep Staggering

brian 
________________________________________________________________________
_______
_
From: John R Dombey on 16, Dec 1997 4:57 AM
Subject: Oh Bother... and a query
To: 'stag-digest@domain.elided'


Gents,

I got a call late Friday night from my daughter, who had driven the Stag
to work.  She allowed that it made a funny sound when she started it up,
so she shut it down (good kid, that), got out for a peek, and heard a
gurgling sound.  Coolant, all over the ground.  It seems that the fan
and the radiator have decided to merge in a serious way.  I'm not sure
if the fan clutch allowed the fan to wobble enough to catch the radiator
strap (mine has vertical metal straps, I'm not sure why) or if maybe one
of the engine mounts allowed things to move too much.  Either way, the
rad is trash.  On to the query:

I know this has been beaten to death on these pages, but before I shell
out my hard-earned cash, what's the optimal radiator configuration?  I
seem to recall reading that a 5-row core was not great, but that some
form or other of 4-row was better?  Or maybe modified flow?  (BTW, what
exactly does that mean?).

The fan is toast too (and I suspect that the clutch isn't too happy
either, although I haven't had a chance to disassemble things yet), so
I'll probably just replace them with an electric fan with thermostatic
control.  Any comments?

It's been a tough week so far...

jd



____________________________________
John Dombey
john.r.dombey@domain.elided

'69 TR6, '73 Stag, '81 TR8, '86 XJ6  -  yeah, I got it bad...