Pre-Season Cooling Thoughts

[Johann]

The service manual says the '97 radiator cooling fan has two speeds with low speed being used most of the time below 216°F.

I've been thinking (uh-oh), why not jumper the fan relay so the fan runs at high speed whenever the fan operation is called for? This should provide more air flow for the A/C condensor and cooling in traffic. I realize there would be a higher current draw which the alternator should be able to handle and possibly reduced fan module life.

Any other downside issues that I may be missing? Ideas?

[Johann]

Fifty reads and no opinions?

[BADVENOM]

wait for tator to come back from the other side of the pond and get his opinion

[STL RT/10]

Only real downside I can see is that the life of the fan will be decreased. If cooling is a major concern, I'd consider an aluminum radiator, lower temp. thermostat, or a fan switch. The switch will let you manually turn the fan on from inside the car when you want- like staging lanes at the track, etc. I don't know that I've seen them for the Viper yet, but I have one on a Grand Prix GTP I race.

[ab]

Get the 2000 on up fans...they make a difference. I have a Ron Davis radiator and when moving...it stays very cool, but when I had my 1998 fan just like your 1997 fan...I switched to the newer one and it keeps stuff nice and cool.

[TOOOFST]

Agre with ab,I've got the fluidyne from Roe Racing

[Johann]

Get the 2000 on up fans...they make a difference. I have a Ron Davis radiator and when moving...it stays very cool, but when I had my 1998 fan just like your 1997 fan...I switched to the newer one and it keeps stuff nice and cool.

I have the later centered fan module; the problem isn't the fan coming on, it comes on just fine but runs at the lower speed as designed. Mine never "overheats" but it runs hotter than I like in stalled summer traffic.

From previous posts on the board the consensus seems to be that the lower temp thermostat just delays the inevitable rise in temperature and that's been my experience with other cars. The only way to keep the ultimate temperature at or near the thermostat setting is to have a system with over capacity.

I'd like to avoid the expense of the better radiator, my notion of increasing the air flow costs nothing; I was just wondering if anybody had tried it.

[Tom, F&L GoR]

I have a '94 with OBD-I so I can plead ignorance. But I thought when the AC is on, the fan is always at the higher speed. After a run, I always turn the AC on to cool the engine down.