1fast97gsx

My car is using a painless switch panel and I always turn the fans on right away when I start the car just so I don't forget to do it later. The fans I have flow a lot of air and the car never realy gets even close to 220 degrees. It reaches somewhere in the 150 area I'd say. Is there a downside or any engine damage I can cause by running it this cool / beating on it at this low of a temp? On my old dsm it was always recommended to wait till it reaches operating temperature before you beat on it or anything, but what about these cars?

Supervisor42

The thermostat will keep the engine temp from falling too low. BTW did you put in a lower than 180' thermostat? Unless this is a "race only" application it should have a 180 to 195 thermostat in it.
Engines should not be run at full power before they reach operating temperature. ("beat on")
The fans running continuously will eat into your gas mileage.
The air dam supplys all of the required air flow thru the radiator above 45 mph. The idea is that the fans should only run when the air from the dam is not there. This saves mileage. The power lost when the alternator converts rotation into electric power and when the fan motors convert it back into rotational is made up when the fans cut off above 45 mph (where the car should spend most of its time.)
It will cost you less money in the long run to buy the switches and relays than to buy gas to run the fans continuously.
(not to mention if you should get in a hurry and forget to turn them on.)

1fast97gsx

This car is by no means a daily driver .. it's a weekend warrior for me with a built motor and already gets around 5 mpg anyways. I just want to make sure I'm not causing any damage by running the engine this cool. I forget what thermostat is in it, but it's a 400 block and a be cool radiator.

kenf729

iTrader: (3)

sorry to Hijack this thread, but could you explain to me what you mean by "to buy the switches and relays" I just finished my 350 transfer (still need to finish timing) but it appears that the previous owner has wired the fan to come on once the key is in the on position, I too was wondering if it would jurt....

Damon

It won't hurt anything to run the fans continuously, especially on a car that's just a weekend warrior. The motor in the fan is designed for continuous operation (the factory chip programming runs the fan all the time when the A/C is on, which can be for moths at a time if you live in the south and like to stay cool).

No engine should be beaten on when not up to temp, regardless of make, model, etc. Operating temp means up to about whatever your stat temp is. A "cold" stat would be ~160, a "hot" stat would be around ~195, like stock.

The real answer actually lies more in the oil temp. Often it takes the oil longer to get up to temp than the coolant. It's not uncommon for oil temps to take 15-20 miles of driving to stabilize- typically longer than it takes for the coolant to hit the stat temp and level off. You need that oil pretty hot and flowing almost like water to get into all the nooks and crannies and give you a good film of protection against wear under high load/high RPMs. That's the real risk in beating on a cold motor.

I never beat on a motor that's never up to temp. At least, not my own motors. Beating on other people's motors is different becuase I don't have to live with the potential longer term consequences of doing so.

Supervisor42

I thought it was a 92 with a 5.7?

1fast97gsx

This car is a 92 with a 400 ... where did I say 5.7???