M roadster fan shroud?

[funcrew]

After many years of driving many cars, I have come to think of a "good" car as one where the engine coolant temperature gauge rises to about 1/3 of span and then remains there no matter what happens.

Unfortunately, my S52 is not achieving that in 115F in Las Vegas with the A/C on. After searching this forum, I'm going to order an [edit: 80 degrees C] M20 thermostat. On pelicanparts.com, I found this:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...er%20S52%20%20

If this fits even half-ass, it seems like it would improve the cooling a lot, since the current OEM fan setup on the S52 does not pull much air through the radiator.

Has this been done?

I should probably also do the re-wire on the electric a/c fan so that the high setting kicks in at 80C, but I'm mostly electrically illiterate, and the thought gives me the creeps.

Discuss.

[jonmon6691]

...I have come to think of a "good" car as one where the engine coolant temperature gauge rises to about 1/3 of span...

Dumb statement is dumb.

Anyway, assuming the thermostat fits, then sure, it would flow more coolant. But unless the car is actually over heating, I would stay with what you have.

And as far as the fan wiring, doesn't the s52 still use a fan clutch? or was that the m50? I don't know anything about those newfangled power plants.

[MR 325]

Tim, how high up does the temp gauge get?

I bet replacing the stock A/C fan with a stronger one would solve the whole issue.

[flyboyx]

other than the thermostat, i really don't have much of an idea what you are asking. 80f thermostat seems really low. are you sure its not 80c? that would make more sense. no offense, but it sounds like you are trying to fix a potentially serious problem in a half ass way. the only way to make it cool properly is to increase the capacity by using a larger radiator or increasing fan cfm. i can tell you from experience that nothing from the mz3 is going to work for you. there is no way to tell from your post which fan you have in mind to try. the puller that is engine driven is too long. it physically will interfere with the radiator on the back side. as far as the pusher/ac fan is concerned, that won't work either. the mz3 fan is a better design than the e30 it has curved blades and a shroud. unfortunately, the shroud is the problem if you have a/c on your car. it will not physically fit. probably won't fit without it either. i know this because my donor car is an mz3. believe me, i tried it. it just doesn't make any sense to do a cheap ass fix here with such an important system. how much did you spend on your swap? why take the risk of overheating your engine?

[M-technik-3]

Z3M has a 3 core radiator so it has a bigger cooling system.

[windnsea00]

Z3M has a 3 core radiator so it has a bigger cooling system.

The S54 one does, not the S52.

[funcrew]

other than the thermostat, i really don't have much of an idea what you are asking. 80f thermostat seems really low. are you sure its not 80c? that would make more sense. no offense, but it sounds like you are trying to fix a potentially serious problem in a half ass way. the only way to make it cool properly is to increase the capacity by using a larger radiator or increasing fan cfm. i can tell you from experience that nothing from the mz3 is going to work for you. there is no way to tell from your post which fan you have in mind to try. the puller that is engine driven is too long. it physically will interfere with the radiator on the back side. as far as the pusher/ac fan is concerned, that won't work either. the mz3 fan is a better design than the e30 it has curved blades and a shroud. unfortunately, the shroud is the problem if you have a/c on your car. it will not physically fit. probably won't fit without it either. i know this because my donor car is an mz3. believe me, i tried it. it just doesn't make any sense to do a cheap ass fix here with such an important system. how much did you spend on your swap? why take the risk of overheating your engine?

You are correct - 80C not 80F. The factory S52 thermostat is 88C if I am not mistaken. I had the swap done by a shop, however they pulled a blown up S50 with the same fan setup and I didn't ask them to change anything with that. The fan is the OEM clutch-driven unit that came on the engine, - it sits in a different position relative to the radiator than the M20 fan did, thus the E30 fan shroud won't fit. If in fact the M roadster fan shroud will fit with the S52 OEM fan, that should pull a lot more air through the radiator. My question is whether anyone has fitted this combo up.

[funcrew]

Dumb statement is dumb.

Anyway, assuming the thermostat fits, then sure, it would flow more coolant. But unless the car is actually over heating, I would stay with what you have.

And as far as the fan wiring, doesn't the s52 still use a fan clutch? or was that the m50? I don't know anything about those newfangled power plants.

Dumb? That's kinda mild for R3V! Living in the <bleep> desert gives you a different set of priorities. Anyway, the engine detonates slightly at 2/3 span on the T gauge, not at all at 1/3, so I'd rather run it at 1/3. If that's dumb, OK by me. And I agree with you on the newfangled motors. Once I get the S52 squared away, I'm going to sell that car and put together an M30 - old and obsolescent like myself.

[funcrew]

Tim, how high up does the temp gauge get?

I bet replacing the stock A/C fan with a stronger one would solve the whole issue.

roughly 2/3 span in stop&go traffic at ambient 115F with the A/C on. I'd like to achieve 1/3 span at those conditions - both of my M20's do this but the A/C doesn't work.

[flyboyx]

You are correct - 80C not 80F. The factory S52 thermostat is 88C if I am not mistaken. I had the swap done by a shop, however they pulled a blown up S50 with the same fan setup and I didn't ask them to change anything with that. The fan is the OEM clutch-driven unit that came on the engine, - it sits in a different position relative to the radiator than the M20 fan did, thus the E30 fan shroud won't fit. If in fact the M roadster fan shroud will fit with the S52 OEM fan, that should pull a lot more air through the radiator. My question is whether anyone has fitted this combo up.

i can tell you from experience not to waste your money on buying the shroud. i would be willing to give you mine for the shipping, but i am telling you that it won't fit. among other issues, it has an integral radiator reservoir that will not have enough clearance to fit between the head and radiator. hell, even if you cut that off, the a/c compressor is in the way, etc, etc....... also, as mentioned above, the puller clutch fan won't fit either. it will hit the radiator. you might be able to get your m20 fan in there and you will have about 1/4" of clearance. that will be great until you have an emergency braking event and push your fan into the radiator. i suggest that you just pay someone to wire up and install a spal pusher so you don't have to worry about it.

brian

[jonmon6691]

Dumb? That's kinda mild for R3V!

Fuck you ;)

[funcrew]

Fuck you ;)

That's more like it!

[funcrew]

i can tell you from experience not to waste your money on buying the shroud. i would be willing to give you mine for the shipping, but i am telling you that it won't fit. among other issues, it has an integral radiator reservoir that will not have enough clearance to fit between the head and radiator. hell, even if you cut that off, the a/c compressor is in the way, etc, etc....... also, as mentioned above, the puller clutch fan won't fit either. it will hit the radiator. you might be able to get your m20 fan in there and you will have about 1/4" of clearance. that will be great until you have an emergency braking event and push your fan into the radiator. i suggest that you just pay someone to wire up and install a spal pusher so you don't have to worry about it.

brian

OK Thanks - I'm glad somebody tried it before me.