Electric Fan, and mechanical fan.
 

I have a 1984 RX-7 and she likes to run normal untill stop and go traffic. Then the temperature wants to slowly rise, if I keep the air flowing it'll cool back down. Now I have a small electric fan that I got from black dragon years ago, and I don't necessarily want to get rid of the mechanical fan, even though I feel as if they don't pull nearly enough as any other engine.

If I open up that space in front of the condenser with that cover plate, theres plenty of room for that fan to go into, and I don't think it would be blocking any airflow.

What do you all think, I was going to just hook it up to a switch for stop and go traffic. Not that im covering up any problems, I think with the Louisiana heat, humidity, and the power steering, air conditioning, etc is abit overload.

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Make the efan come on with temperature not a swiitch. You wil end uup forgetting. Have you blown out the radiator with compressed air? (Dirt/ grime will make heat transfer suffer.)

Agreed. Check the radiator to make sure its clean and functioning properly. Just because it holds water doesn't mean that its good...I like the e-fan idea though. I have an mr2 fan on mine and om in norcal so summer temps hit around 100-115 most days.

The mechanical clutch fan is way better, much cleaner design, that stock cowling is designed to cool. Especially when you got that Lousiana heat.

Get a proper radiator and a functioning clutch fan and you'll be fine.

In Oklahoma during summer (95+ temps), the stock fan has been enough to keep it cool, although I deleted my AC for the time being.

Personally, I'm looking forward to adding my FMOC to see what effect it has on my engine temp during these hot summers

When I get paid I'm going to order a new waterpump and flush the system. I blew a hose off of the oil cooler the other day and immediately shut it down and had it towed. Today I put the hose on and refilled with water and noticed a ton of buildup.

^^ A flush will do you wonders...I couldn't believe how much sludge came out of my radiator when I did a full flush and thermostat replacement. No temp creeps anymore, not even a little!

I have a different aftermarket radiator... But never even get up to halfway on the temp... I run mech fan and will never use an electric one... Just my .02

Most of the cooling is via the oil and not the radiator. If you have a beehive, then your oil cooling
is limited to the water temps. If you had a FMOC I'd say change the hoses, it can make a huge
difference in cooling.

I guess what I'm trying to say is putting extra fans or more air through the radiator may not be
a solution or at least not a long term solution. Flushing, new hoses, correct tstat, clean radiator and
well functioning oil cooling is the answer.

rod out is much better.

Oh and I tested my clutch fan today,,,, soooo your not supposed to be able to hold the fan with your hand when you start the engine warm are you......... I was burping the system some more and decided to grab my fan...

I am going to put on another fan clutch and waterpump....

Yes you should be able to grab your clutch fan on a warm idling engine (although I wouldn't recommend this test to amateurs, better use a broom).

A properly functioning clutch fan only engages when the thermoelastic fluid inside reaches a certain temp, which is quite a bit higher than an warm unstressed engine at idle.

On a cold start up, the clutch should engage briefly, but then disengage and free wheel after 10-20 seconds. You should be able to hear this on cold starts.

The clutch only engages when the engine is really stressed, generating a lot of heat and air flow is insufficient, like stop-and-go traffic or drag racing.

That's the beauty of a clutch fan, it almost never engages and therefore almost never sucks power.

But then, a properly installed and adjusted efan should do the same thing, just a bit less efficiently because the air flow design won't be as good a stock.

Will 5w30 cause this too? I meant to buy 10w40 but grabbed the wrong bottle.

Has no one mentioned a new radiator? Sorry if someone already did, but a new OEM style radiator and a stock clutch fan will work perfectly. I see no need to buy an aluminum one and put up will all the fitment problems/shoddy design they tend to have.

I have beehive and big rad with stock fan 0 shroud... 0 problems

This is good advice. The price to service a radiator can run 1/2 the price of a new one. I just bought a new radiator for Advance Auto for $170 after a $40 discount code online.

Adding a FMOC is also good advice. I can get costly if you buy a new one. You can find used ones for much cheaper.

the only time its nice to have an electric fan in the front is with the AC, all new cars have a condenser fan, and it does help the ac work when the car isn't moving very fast.

so adding one to the car is actually valid, but notice its got nothing to do with coolant temp!

I'm getting ready to address my SE's cooling system as I've noticed it runs much warmer than it used to, and gets really hot on really hot days. I have no idea if the waterpump has ~150k miles like the car does, I doubt it since when I bought it, the front cover and water pump were orange(and still are). I've never replaced the thermostat, and last year I "flushed" the system and refilled.
Just in case I might need it, I pulled a radiator out of one of my parts SE's. I called a rad shop, they quoted $80 to flush it and pressure test it. They don't do anything else. The rad I pulled came from a car that sat unrun since '91. #1:What is the "rod out" mentioned above? #2:What is the proper way to flush? Just drain and refill? Run a hose thru rad whilst running? #3:Also, iirc there are two oem thermos, which one do I want? Any chance it could be my fan clutch? It DEF. engages on startup, and whilst sitting in traffic, etc. It seems to function properly, but I have concerns since I bought the clutch itself from autozone or somewhere.(It was WAY cheaper than oem). #4:Is this one of those "must be oem" parts?

Since you have an SE you will have a FMOC and if the lines are the originals then you should get
some new ones. By now the old ones will be swollen and probably flaking apart inside. You
won't be able tell from the outside but once you get em off you'll see what I'm talking about.
RB sells a nice set that is very fairly priced. Remember the oil does most of the cooling.

A new rad from AutoZone is only $160. When draining to coolant, make sure to also darin the block. There is a small bolt below the oil filler neck near the oil pan.

Radiator | 1985 Mazda RX7 1.3L FI Rotary | AutoZone.com

the OE water pump is painted black, and if the whole pump is just evenly rusted orange, its probably aftermarket. if its been leaking rusty water for a decade it'll be orange too

they take the top tank off the radiator and literally clean out the core with a rod.

to flush, i like to drain it, remove the radiator (optional) and run a hose through both the top and bottom until it comes out clean.

there is one 8553-99-152. its made by a company called NTC.

if it seems like it works, then it works, i put a temp gauge on an SE once, and the fan turns on @91C, with a good radiator, and thermostat, you probably won't hit that temp unless its more than like 80F outside. or you're driving hard, or are stopped with the AC running.

Thanks j9fd3s for the informative information. I was sure there were two different(temperature) thermos available(oem). But if not, then that makes that one easy. As far as the front cover and water pump, they are painted or powdercoated orange, not rusted.
t_g_farrell: Thanks for the suggestion, but I paid a FORTUNE for a brand new FMOC(Calsonic) and brand new lines (All from Mazdatrix) when I first went over the car after purchasing it about 6 yrs ago.
thanks again

I put another clutch fan on 80%improvement! Now I've just got to get that tiny leak fixed on the heater hose from old system too much pressure blew off the hose before.

Wait you don't have a fan shroud?

That could be a huge part of your problem right there...install your fan shroud...