i have a 1986 trans am v8 tpi 305 5.0 engine

only has one fan


did only cars with 5.7 350 come with dual fans or did they make it an option or did they just add dual to 305 if at all later on?

 

My '89 LB9 (305) car has two fans.

 

My 89 350 has two fans also.

 

350 i can understand. jsut in these hot summer days i wonder if my car would need another fan for those extra hot days

but its a 305 and from 1986 so not sure if it was even a choice back then

 

I think they did it for redundency, not for the larger engine; On my '89, the two fans are totally independent of each-other. One is entirely controlled by the on-board computer via a sensor under the throttle body, the other is all analog triggered by a sensor on the right-side head (or when you turn on the A/C). The odds of both failing at the same time is pretty remote.

 

I have dual fans on my 86, and like Rayvan said, both fans are independent of eachother.

 

Any V8 with electric fans and A/C has two fans.

 

so why on earth do i only have 1 fan on my 1986 305 v8?

 

I've owned an 87 LG4 with AC, and a single fan. A friend of mine has owned an 84 L69 and an 88 L03, all with AC, and all with a single fan.

Perhaps, did you mean "Any TPI V8 with electric fans and A/C has two fans."?

 

Ya, my 86 Trans Am LG4 5 speed with AC had only one fan.
Neat thing was that when I removed the AC stuff, the temp slider in the AC position would turn my fan on, so I had a factory manual fan switch. .

My 88 TPI 305 has Dual fans as well.

 

yea i guess. i have ac but with gas prices i try to not turn it on at all

so does the single fan with ac do the job with the ac off? or should i consider installing a dual setup?

 

+1 your correct sir. My 91 GTA TPI with A/C has two fans...however my old 85 TA LG4 with A/C had one belt driven fan...and my buddies old 89 Maro TBI 305 with A/C had one electric fan.

But does that mean ALL TPIs came with dual fans? I would think they started that in 87 but I might be wrong.

 

yea it just caught my attention and i would think that all v8 engine should have 2 fans

should i consider upgrading to a dual setup?

does anyone know if the 4thgen fans are direct bolt in?

or just relax and im fine the way i am even though tpi v8 305 came with dual later on

 

F-Body Demon is correct. Dual fans were standard on all TPI engines with A/C beginning in 1987.

The single fan was standard on all V8s, including all TPI engines, with or without A/C, up thru 1986. 86_VA-Z said his '86 had dual fans, so perhaps it was optional in '86. But it wasn't standard until 1987.

So in a nutshell, all 1986-and-earlier V8s(LG4, LU5, L69, LB9), all 1987 LG4s, and all 1988-and-later LO3s, with or without A/C, received a single fan.

Bobby, even with dual fans, only one fan runs when the A/C is not on. And that fan is smaller than your single fan. So, yes, a single fan with the A/C off is adequate and safe. So if you're having heating issues, it's not likely due to having only one fan... unless it's not working at all, or unless you've added some serious hp.

 

The second fan will activate, on the basis of engine temperature alone, without the AC. It just has to get to the fan switch temperature, which is ridiculously high (234F IIRC).