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recommend me an awesome slimfan...

turbowop

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Apr 29, 2001
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So I reinstalled my OE 190 thermostat, pulled the radiator out of the car and flushed it out, then used this nice non-spill funnel to refill with coolant and to burp the cooling system of all air. It worked great, BTW. While driving, after fully warmed up, my coolant temps stay between 196-203. Even after doing WOT pulls as long as the car is in motion, coolant temps stay in check. When in traffic and stopped, it creeps up to 213-216. This is in 70 degree weather. I'm thinking I need to replace my current slim fan with something that flows more or is of better quality.

It needs to attach to the stock radiator and clear my 4" intake pipe. Or maybe I need a fan switch that comes on sooner, as I think the factory one comes on at 206? Any suggestions?
 
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turbohf

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Nov 18, 2011
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Lake Stevens, WA
is your current slim fan shrouded?
 

H05TYL

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Jun 9, 2007
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752
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Wgtn, NZ
The fan setups in recent Audi's are pretty slim, about half as deep as the stock fan, and have a better blade design than most aftermarket slinline fans I've seen.

Most newer cars probably run similar fans with shrouds on a radiator of similar size to the gvr4 one. It's what I'd be looking into if I still had my vr4.
 

dsmless

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Jun 12, 2008
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224
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tucson,az
I run a spal unit 12 inch its 2 1/2" wide and clears the 4" intake pipe, I have it wired via a relay to a cabin switch were I turn it on at will, also if you can run your factory ac puller fan it moves alot of air, I had mine wired so it was on whenever the car was on, and my car never saw past 195 temps even with ac on in the arizona summer
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
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Mar 5, 2001
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Michigan
Those temps are ok. Are you worried about higher ambients?

Remember that a 50/50 mix under pressure has a much higher boiling point than 212. You don't want to see much higher than 230 though since that temp can start oil breakdown if I remember correctly. (Maybe its 260 F)
 

turbowop

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I'd rather not see anything over 206-210ish since the last several years that's the highest I ever saw. I am worried about higher ambient temps, and the fact that I wasn't even running AC. I don't wanna be doing random WOT pulls wiht the coolant temps that high, yanno? I'd swap in a lower t-stat, but I know that that only means it will open sooner and be full open at a lower temp.
 
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bazeng

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Feb 6, 2003
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2,520
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Spal fans are great.... I use them on my cars...

Curved blades (directional).. I run a single 14" pusher on my VR4 and 2x 12" pushers (a/c and rad) on the AMG... Both are quite and do not overheat.
 

4Grim

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Sep 30, 2004
Messages
2,514
Location
Orlando FL
I am using a single SPAL slim fan...never overheated and stayed right around 200 degrees in the humid florida heat. A bit more quiet compared to stock fans.
 

thecman02

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Nov 3, 2007
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Kalamazoo,MI
Quoting iceman69510:
Those temps are ok. Are you worried about higher ambients?

Remember that a 50/50 mix under pressure has a much higher boiling point than 212. You don't want to see much higher than 230 though since that temp can start oil breakdown if I remember correctly. (Maybe its 260 F)



I'd just like to say that the higher boiling point is mostly due to the pressure of the cap. 15 psi cap raises the 212 boiling point to 257 by itself. Another 8 degrees Farenheit is contributed to the antifreeze at a 50% mixture.

As far as slim fans go, FAL 12" that I have that was designed to fit my half radiator moves a #$%^* ton of air. I don't have AC, but my car in traffic/idleing on 90* days is always sitting on 190*
 
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turbowop

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The fans on the car now are a stock AC pusher and a slim 14" puller. I bought it back in '06 and can't remember the brand. I don't remember it being more than like $80 though so maybe it's just a cheapie. It's unshrouded, BTW.

Has anybody used one of the FAL shrouded 12" units? They're $150 and should fit just fine. I think an unshrouded 14" SPAL is about the same price, but I would rather have something with a nice shroud.
 

curtis

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May 4, 2003
Messages
11,892
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Clarksville TN
Mark on mine I have a Scirocco radiator with early 90's Passat fans. The factory Scirocco had a single fan. The passat radiator is also a dual pass like the scirocco but a few inches wider so I had to build some tabs that run back to the mounts. Its just what I found to fit. The motors on these are dual speed but long and run back towards the turbo intake pipe but the corrado's use the same type set up with a shorter motor. The fans are twin blades and connected with a belt. Reason for all this info...... they work. I actually had a hard time getting the car up to temp.

You just have to source out the parts because on ebay they usually pull good money. Also audi's from the same time line have the same set-up as the passats.

When mine goes back together I'll probably get a Passat/Audi radiator since its longer and put it in front of the Scirocco unit for my water to air heat exchanger. That way the two cores can be sealed together with pieces of bent sheetmetal and the passenger side can be offset so the pipes stick out just to the side of the scirocco unit.
 

turbowop

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Curtis, that won't work for me. I still have a factory radiator and AC. I need a single that will fit a stock radiator tha's thin enough to clear my 4" intake and turbo outlet. The FAL looks like it will fit great based off the dimensions listed online.
 

JNR

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Apr 23, 2004
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ca
Definitely get one with a shroud, or make a shroud for it; otherwise, it won't work as well. It's too bad it wouldn't fit, but the oem puller is pretty good...you may be able to modify it with a custom shroud, but don't recall how close the blades are to the radiator.

There are many oem fans that work quite well, but not sure I know of one off the top of my head that is thin enough. Ford (or their suppliers) makes some outstanding fans that flow all sorts of cfm and are super reliable. The Mark VIII flows 5,000 cfm which is far more than any aftermarket, and while it's relatively thin, probably too big OD + it pulls 40 A!

since you have a pusher for the A/C then you can get away with a smaller puller and not worry about a two-stage. While the pusher is not as effecient as a puller, I bet if you changed the setpoint to come on at a certain temp, in addition to the a/C kicking it on, that may help.

The cap determines the boiling point of water, as mentioned, and I wouldn't run anything over 50% glycol, as that stuff is nasty on the aluminum (corrodes). Pure distilled water is the best, but since you live in an area that freezes, not a good idea.
 

EMX5636

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Jun 28, 2008
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Just stay away from the cheapies. I had Mishimoto fans (although their radiator works well), a 10" A/C and 12" primary, would start to creep up in traffic even without the A/C on. I swapped to SPAL 11" and 12" respectively, and temps never get above 210* with A/C on with a DSM Rad. The SPAL fans seem to be measured by fan blade diameter, while the Mishimoto (and probably anything else on Ebay) seem to measure by the shroud size. I am running both fans as pushers, in front of the A/C condenser.
 

citymunky

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Sep 22, 2010
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Chesapeake, VA
for that price it better
 

EMX5636

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Jun 28, 2008
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Bucks County, PA
It should work well. We use those at work on hydraulic coolers. They are pricey, but FAL is a good name.
 

turbowop

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Apr 29, 2001
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Yakima, WA
I like that it has a shroud already built in. Most of the SPAL's I was looking at were in the same price range, but just had the cage around them, so I opted for this.
 
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