Ok so I bought my 86 n/a coupe back in September of last year, since then I have givin it a tune up but have not changed the coolant, stat, trans or diff fluid.

Well I decided this week would be a good time to take the rest of the AC out, pull the radiator, flush the rad and engine, new nippon stat and put the electric fan on...

Now mind you I have never had any cooling problems or never used any coolant either...

I pulled all the old stuff out and I found this for my current thermostat



It is packed with rust and the springs are deteriorated...

I put the new nippon stat next to the no name stat that was in my car and I noticed the old one is taller (prolly a stant)




I put in the new stat, new gaskets, replaced the coolant with the CORECT MIX of -25 deg Elf Total Glacielf This is a non phosporous coolant, blue in color and can be mixed 1 litre of coolant to 2 litres of distilled water..

I put in about 8 liters of mix and started the car and ran it while it bleed out with the new electric fan off..

After the temp got to 1/2 on the gauge I plugged the fan in and allowed it to cool it (went to 1/4 gauge in about 60 seconds or so while sitting)

Tommrow I will top off the coolant as the system is to hot and when I release the cap it spues coolant out of the neck...

So anyways this was just a reminder that even if you DONT have cooling problems, or the coolant seems to be find it is a good thing to replace that stat and change out the coolant ASAP.. My radiator and engine were full of rusty red thick crap...

BTW before anyone asks the radiator fan is a 3600 CFM puller I have mounted on the inside of the radiator and yes it cools VERY effectivly with only using 10w at
12v

And after doing this I now know that next weekend I will be changing the diff and trans fluid

 

I have a 16" SPAL that pulls 2600CFM I think and it cools the car dramatically. 3600 CFM is overkill & I love it.

 

yeah this is a 16" 3600cfm fan...

 

you guys can test your coolant with a voltmeter. So if you think you may need a coolant flush give it a test. If you are putting out some volts its time for a change. You need to check the coolant thats in the rad.

 

hard to check the coolant that is in the radiator if u dont have a cap... people like me with s4's have to test at the water neck or disconnect the hose, make a mess and pull fluid form the radiator hose end

 

LOL i wanted to say the water neck I just didn't type it. as long as its in metal you can test it. Once it builds up a charge it can start making rust quick.

 

Really? I've always just used the little tester thingies. But I've always changed mine anually.

 

why would you need to test the stuff that's right in the radiator? it all flows through and should be relatively well mixed...

 

Okay, I hope that was a typo, and you meant 10 *amperes* of current and not *watts*.

10 watts is not even 1 ampere of current @ 12VDC!

What kinda fan is it, BTW?
Everything that I seen pushing 3000+ CFM's runs at like 50A!


-Ted

 

The ones with the 2 bars on the top instead of 3 are stant im pretty sure. Thats how mine was.

 

Good catch Ted.. it is 10amp not watt lol...

To be honest I dont know the brand I found it on ebay and when I got it here I tested it and was VERY suprised..

I paid like 40.00 to the door for it to.

As for the stat Monkey.. I have never seen one with 3 bars on it then again this is the first time I have pulled a stat form a rotary.. I will check our junko motor rad stats at the shop today and tell u how many bars it has..

 

So your fan has a huge claimed airflow, very low current draw, and it was very cheap. And you're not even a bit suspicious...?

 

But it might not matter, because he is nearly in Canada.

Hey spooledup, seriously, how many +90* days do you have per year, 5-10? I have spent lots of time with friends in Grand Rapids and in Hudsonville, so I am somewhat familiar with the Michigander summer life, i.e. the State Bird of Michigan is the Mosquito?

 

If you're using a non Mazda stat, you probably need to drill a ~3/32" bleed hole just outside the valve seat.

 

this is a nippon stat (nippon is oem for mazda) it has a jiggle valve so no need to drill anything..

the old stat had a hole drilled next to the valve in the center of the stat..

we have had about 6 90 deg days in a row and currently all upper 80's this week..

and I checked the stats for the fan with a volt meter they seem to be quite accurate... 12volts at 120w which equals 10amp

This car wont see winter so this is only for summer and yes it is hot enough and the fan is overkill but for the price I could not turn it down

 

it needs to be in metal you cant test it in the over flow tank.

 

I see, but can't you test it at the fill neck then??

 

yep thats fine

 

Dave,
Ted is absolutely right. Fan power is directly related to it's amperage. The higher amps the more power! You say you bought it on ebay. I hope it was not from a guy going by the user name of FAT RODDER. He's so proud of his products that the fans he sells don't even have a sticker or any type of markings on them so you can know what you are buying. It seems that no one wants to lay claim to who made the fan or what is in it for a motor. Just emptyclaims with nothing to back it up.
If you can't see what he sold you he can't be charged with false advertising. Then when you call them they tell you what did you expect for $70.00. They are very nasty people and sell CHEAP CRAP IMHO. Warning do NOT deal with FAT RODDER on eBay! Stay with Flex-a-lite or Derale.
Robert

 

this was not from him and there is a clear sticker on the motor that reads..

120w 12v

and like I said this cooled the car SUPER FAST.. and if I put the fan face down on the ground and turn it on it will lift off the ground..

thx for the heads up though

 

I've had 2 Flex-a-lite's fail.
On my 91 NA, the thermostat failed in less that a year.
On my son's Nova, the fan motor siezed.
The Tarus fan was running fine when I sold the NA.

 

Yea I have read about flex-alite fans dying prematurly

Dave

 

Taurus fan FTW!!!!

 

Wow, thats pretty bad looking. I hate to think what the housings look like....

 

yeah I think somone was dumping water into the system.. oh well I flushed the block and the radiator out good hopefully it is all taken care of now

Dave