Cooling

Torque Junkie · May 14, 2002

How many CFM should I look for for adequate cooling in my 350? The 16" electric fan I have on ther enow is rated for 1650cfm.... I'm looking to add a secondary 12"er to fill in the rest of the radiator space, but want to know how many TOTAL cfm I should look for for really good cooling? And how much is over kill?

I found 2 12"ers on Summit.. one's rated at 900 cfm which would bring my total to just about 2500 cfm.... and they have another that's $25 more that's rated at 1500 cfm, bringing me over 3000 total?

Do you think 2500 would be adequate, or would the extra 500 cfm be worth the extra $25? Or should I even bother and is 1650 enough?

Thanks!

-Mike

76BBSub · May 14, 2002

Have you been experiencing any cooling problems? That would be the first thing I'd think about. If not, I'd just leave it alone. If so, think about how severe and try to pick something based on that.

The other thing you can check...I think Summit rates their fans by estimating the horsepower engine that the fan can support, but I haven't looked at that part of the catalog in quite awhile.

If you add an auxiliary manual switch to the new fan you can turn it on whenever temps rise a little and then if it's too big it wouldn't really matter.

Jeff

Torque Junkie · May 15, 2002

That's the thing.... THe only time i've seen cooling problem is when I came up my driveway, turned around, idled for 3 minutes, and then backed up a 150' steep hill. That was before i put the fan in. I'v eonly got a couple miles on it since I put the 16" fan in.

My concern, is cooling with a full load of furniture in the bed, going up Homestake Pass (7000' over the continetial Divide) potentially pulilng my Camaro on a dolly, when I move in July. And I have no way of testing it really unless my dad lets me hook up the boat and take it up the local hill on a warm day.

Maybe I"ll do some more testing beore i go and spend $60-80 for a new fan.

Thanks Jeff!

-Mike

Colorado Kid · May 16, 2002

For heavy loads at high RPM there's nothing that even comes close to the engine driven fan. Electrics are better for the situation that overheated yours...idling, low speeds, backing up, but for pulling the air thru when it really need it...towing up a big hill at high elevation in the summer...the stock setup (assuming a working fan clutch) is hard to beat.