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radiator fan direction


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I recently purchased a new fan/clutch assembly as my fan clutch was seized. I noticed immediately that the new fan blades were angled opposite of the one I removed, thus directing the air away from the radiator, whereas the old one pushed the air toward.... I have read several arguments concerning how the fan should operate, and it makes more sense to me that since the air is coming through the rad. from the front, that the fan should pull air from the engine side. Since I put the new fan on, the engine seems hotter. It may have been hot before and I just didn't notice, and my temp. gauge doesn't work, so I have no way to tell..... The fsm gives no info on this matter, not even the proper direction the fan should turn.

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It depends where you mount the fan... If its in front of the radiator/engine, you want it to push air through the radiator. If mounted behind the radiator and in front of the engine, you want it to pull air through the radiator... You want air flow to be parallel to the incoming air and not fight against it.

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I 'rebuilt' a few clutches and on every one I encountered, the fan pulled air thru the rad. from the front. The blades' angle of attack should pull from the front, unless your engine turns counter-clockwise, (as viewed from the front cover) lol! The easy way to tell if it is correct would be to start the car, open the hood and put your head under there and rev it up a lil. If it seems like a tornado force wind is hitting you in the face, then it is more than likely good-to-go.

It might be interesting to note, that after I rebuilt the clutch in my car, the temp gauge behaved a lil funky. I use a mechanical type so I trust it on most days. It used to take a while to warm up, then it would hover around 175. After the rebuild it warmed up a lot faster, came up to about 165; while driving in 4th gear, temp stays around 165, cruising 5th gear it goes to around 173 or so. But its hard to know what the temp is up at the t-stat, cause my gauge didn't have a long enough line, so I T'ed it into the block where the heater hose comes out. when the climate control is set to vent or A/C (not that I have any) temp is way down. That usually freaks people out when they ride with me!

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if I were seated in the car, the fan would turn counter clockwise with the blades blowing air upwards like you described. I'm wondering if my t-stat is stuck closed........ and btw, the temp gauge hasn't worked since i've owned the car, and i'm not quite sure how to get it to.

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Well, at least we know your engine is turning the right way :lol:! Thermostats have given me problems more times than I like to admit. Often times mine will seem stuck and it really does scare the sh*t outta me when I look over and see the needle moving up past 200*, only to see it drop back down after it reaches something like 220+*! I chased that one for awhile and thought I was buying junky t-stats, but new ones never seemed to make any difference. Last time I bought one it was a bit hotter, I'm not sure, but I believe stock, is 185*, the one I got is 195, but hey, it was winter at the time. I don't have any over-heating issues in the summer, but if anything, that may make it run a bit lean...I haven't replaced it over a year-n-half. I just put up with it not opening sooner.

As far as getting the stock gauge to work, you would probably need to test the temperature sending unit on the housing, I think it only has one wire. I'm not sure if that is the problem but it's a good place to start. Back a few years ago, I had no fsm, but I somehow came to the conclusion that mine was DOA, so that's why I decided to go mechanical. Actually, I'm not sure if the fsm details how to, My PC was hit with a virus and a lot of stuff is missing now that it has been revived.

I can't imagine why the blades would be angled the opposite way, but if it is blowing air the right direction...

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The leading edge of the blades should be pointing toward the front left (drivers side) of the car. Worst case, take your old fan off and bolt it to the new clutch. It's only 4 bolts.

 

With respect to thermostats. Quit buying junk. Any thermostat that is not factory Nissan is JUNK. Period. I've gone round and round with this subject many times. The Nissan factory t'stat is the only one to use. Grab one of those and then look at them side by side next to a Stant or other model, and you will immediately see the quality difference. What's that old saying??? Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten?

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