radiator w/electric fans upgrade questions

[thenewminator]

Alright..so..while I was working on my 93 GMC the other day I had the fan shroud off, then I had an oops. Said oops resulted in a pin hole in my radiator. As anyone could imagine I was/am quite upset. After having a day to think on the situation I have decided to upgrade to a setup with fans. The truck currently has a 4.3 that I am considering swapping for a basic LS or even just a basic small block with an aftermarket TBI at some point. If I were to do that I would want/need to swap the rad anyway. Given this possibility my thought is I can get the rad upgrade out of the way. Plus I'm thinking that switching to electric fans wouldn't be a bad idea even if I don't swap my 4.3. I'm sure a few of you have done this already for various reasons.

I would like to do this on a reasonable budget (like under $400 reasonable). Just doing a bit of window shopping I have seen A LOT of kits online in the $200-$400 range. There are tons of the same 3-4 kits on ebay. Has anyone on here used a budget setup like what I found on ebay? I'm also wondering about connecting the electrical for the fans, and an upper brace/bracket for the rad.

Some tips, info, and pics would be helpful and much appreciated.

[LeesTruk]

Here's how I chose to cool my LS swapped '89 (same basic truck as yours). I'm using a radiator for a 350 engine from Spectra Premium. It should fit your existing saddle mounts. For cooling fans, I did some boneyard scrounging and found that a V6 Chrysler Sebring fan assy. will cover the radiator core nicely. To hold the radiator in place, I bought a new upper shroud and cut it so that all that was left was the mounting saddles for the upper radiator, and the mounting surface for the core support. How you choose to trigger your fans on/off will depend on your engine choice. I'm using the LS PCM and relays to turn my fans on/off. You gotta be careful with the aftermarket aluminum radiators, as they are not noted for longevity. Corrosion is another concern with them

[sntrym95]

You will need a bigger alternator and wiring upgrade if you go with electric fans. Mine was not as budget as yours, but I still use a stock radiator with two Flex-A-Lite Black Magic fans https://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-104310.

I upgraded recently from a 200a CS130 (dead rectifier) to a 250a CS144 from JS Alternators. I have 2ga wire from the alternator to a fuse block, then to the battery. Relays control power to the fan, while a separate fan controller exists inside the cabin for temp and A/C kick on. I highly doubt you'll do this for under $400, but you might be able to find some gently used parts out there.

[thenewminator]

Originally Posted by sntrym95

You will need a bigger alternator and wiring upgrade if you go with electric fans. Mine was not as budget as yours, but I still use a stock radiator with two Flex-A-Lite Black Magic fans https://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-104310.

I upgraded recently from a 200a CS130 (dead rectifier) to a 250a CS144 from JS Alternators. I have 2ga wire from the alternator to a fuse block, then to the battery. Relays control power to the fan, while a separate fan controller exists inside the cabin for temp and A/C kick on. I highly doubt you'll do this for under $400, but you might be able to find some gently used parts out there.

thanks for the info about a wiring upgrade. I did upgrade the alternator with a 225A (supposedly) last year after getting the A/C working. I was already thinking about having the fans hooked up to a switch just to keep it simple.

[thenewminator]

Originally Posted by LeesTruk

Here's how I chose to cool my LS swapped '89 (same basic truck as yours). I'm using a radiator for a 350 engine from Spectra Premium. It should fit your existing saddle mounts. For cooling fans, I did some boneyard scrounging and found that a V6 Chrysler Sebring fan assy. will cover the radiator core nicely. To hold the radiator in place, I bought a new upper shroud and cut it so that all that was left was the mounting saddles for the upper radiator, and the mounting surface for the core support. How you choose to trigger your fans on/off will depend on your engine choice. I'm using the LS PCM and relays to turn my fans on/off. You gotta be careful with the aftermarket aluminum radiators, as they are not noted for longevity. Corrosion is another concern with them

your setup came together really nice. thanks very much for the pics and info. I had considered trying to put together something similar with a stock rad. The only issue I had with trying that is that the closest u-pull it yards are an hour away, plus spending most, if not a whole day, trying to figure out what would fit if anything. now that I know what to look for that option is back on the table. I would have to do a bit of online searching before I make the trip. or I might find a good used one on ebay or something.

[LeesTruk]

The fan assy. is from an '08 Chrysler Sebring with either a 2.7 or 3.5 V6. Cost me all of $35. You can get a new fan assy from Rockauto (TYC# 621570 or Four Seasons #76103). If you're handy with fabrication, it's easy to mount the fan assy to the radiator after you cut the mounting ears from the sides of the housing. I don't know what the amp draw is, but my 130 amp alternator doesn't seem to have a problem. The volt meter doesn't show much, if any voltage drop when the fans turn on, and they are very quiet, unlike the aftermarket fans. Also I don't have any heat related issues with the engine, even on the hottest days so far (temps have been in the 90's to 100+, unusually warm here in New England). I've also used a fan assy from a Ford Windstar for my last LS swap into a Squarebody. That worked well also, but the housing is larger, depthwise, than the Chrysler unit

[EVRLET]

I have to disagree about higher amp alternator. I have a 150A and no issues. Dual 16” spal fans, 34” core aluminum radiator, pcm controlled dual speed. Fans push 2024 cfm each.

I will say from experience that these ebay and Amazon fan kits are subpar. Look at the cfm spec. Also the motors rarely last past 1-2 years. Don’t skimp on the wiring. Cheap is not the goal here for your cooling system or you’ll regret it.

[sntrym95]

Originally Posted by EVRLET

I have to disagree about higher amp alternator. I have a 150A and no issues. Dual 16” spal fans, 34” core aluminum radiator, pcm controlled dual speed. Fans push 2024 cfm each.

I will say from experience that these ebay and Amazon fan kits are subpar. Look at the cfm spec. Also the motors rarely last past 1-2 years. Don’t skimp on the wiring. Cheap is not the goal here for your cooling system or you’ll regret it.

Stock alternator is 105a and cannot keep up with two fans and the normal load. He will need to upgrade in some fashion.

[thenewminator]

Originally Posted by LeesTruk

The fan assy. is from an '08 Chrysler Sebring with either a 2.7 or 3.5 V6. Cost me all of $35. You can get a new fan assy from Rockauto (TYC# 621570 or Four Seasons #76103). If you're handy with fabrication, it's easy to mount the fan assy to the radiator after you cut the mounting ears from the sides of the housing. I don't know what the amp draw is, but my 130 amp alternator doesn't seem to have a problem. The volt meter doesn't show much, if any voltage drop when the fans turn on, and they are very quiet, unlike the aftermarket fans. Also I don't have any heat related issues with the engine, even on the hottest days so far (temps have been in the 90's to 100+, unusually warm here in New England). I've also used a fan assy from a Ford Windstar for my last LS swap into a Squarebody. That worked well also, but the housing is larger, depthwise, than the Chrysler unit

thanks for more info LeesTruk. after your 1st post on this I did a bit of online searching for a sebring fan. the only u-pull yards anywhere near me dont have one with a v6. i considered bying a new one. i found some for under $100. the only problem with that is i wouldn't have the og male plug to the fans.

[thenewminator]

Originally Posted by EVRLET

I have to disagree about higher amp alternator. I have a 150A and no issues. Dual 16” spal fans, 34” core aluminum radiator, pcm controlled dual speed. Fans push 2024 cfm each.

I will say from experience that these ebay and Amazon fan kits are subpar. Look at the cfm spec. Also the motors rarely last past 1-2 years. Don’t skimp on the wiring. Cheap is not the goal here for your cooling system or you’ll regret it.

thanks EVRLET. i've been doing more research looking at the fine print of budget setups and opinions of people on several other forums. the overall result of that is that a budget setup wouldnt be worth the risk of not being good enough. quite a few people on other forums use and recommend spal fans. i havent checked them out just yet. i am trying to keep this semi simple with a kit that has everything, rather than piecing something together.

considering that i may do a V8 swap in the future i still feel like i should at min upgrade to a larger rad now, so i wont have to later. so after research and great advise from you guys im leaning towards 2 options; up my budget to something like this cold case setup https://www.summitracing.com/parts/r...1500/year/1993 or a more budget friendly, less complicated upgrade would be a fair priced 34" aluminum rad and an og fan shroud, and stick with my clutch fan.

[thenewminator]

for anyone following this, this is what I decided on was an all aluminum 2 row V8 rad I found on ebay for $135, and a V8 fan shroud to go with it. The only "issue" is that the fan is now like 6" away from the shroud. So naturally sitting at idle on a hot day the temp did get up to around 210 after about 15 min. Cruising around town at even 30-35 mph it's fine, and above 50 mph it runs even cooler that it did with the old rad. Last weekend the wife and I made an estimated 800 mile round trip to IN for the Hoosier GM truck rally with no overheating issues. Even though it is mostly fine the way it is I do plan on installing an extension on the fan shroud and a short spacer on the fan so that there aren't issues during the rare occasion of sitting in traffic.