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Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:07 am

My 89 Westfailia has about 260k miles on it (I don't know the age of the radiator), thus I'm thinking it's a good idea to replace it & the baffles. The rest of coolant system has been R&R'ed. The fan sounds OK, but as we all know it's NOISY. I'm thinking about replacing it with on the these.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-119#overview

What does the community think about this?

Thanks

Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:53 am

I only notice my fan being noisy if the second (high) speed kicks in, which is almost never. Could be that your radiator is clogged causing that high speed to turn on more than it should. But I understand wanting to deal with it while the you’re in there.

Sorry, I have no experience with the Summit fan.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:11 am

Do you know the CFM of the stock fan (I don't)?

The late fan you have is a pretty good unit IMO, I put one on my 84, replacing the earlier style fan when I reworked the AC. Yes, it's noisy, especially on high speed.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:17 am

SCP makes a fan and shroud that's pretty neat for the Vanagon.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:26 pm

RicMcK wrote: My 89 Westfailia has about 260k miles on it (I don't know the age of the radiator), thus I'm thinking it's a good idea to replace it & the baffles.
[...]

Careful now. New radiators (at least in my experience) seem to be less able to cool, are thinner, etc. than the originals. Be sure to check around to find out who has equivalent units, good name brands, etc. I sure wish I had known more back when I ordered one just to have on hand (figured I'd need one some day, saw a new one for a good price, and had it sitting in my garage 3 years before I developed a leak on one side of my radiator 'tanks').

As for the fan, I've also looked at the fan described above, and sure wish I had seen that info prior to the radiator job, since mine is loud and getting louder, AND I'll still have to drop my radiator and A/C condenser AGAIN to do either or both of the radiator and fan jobs.

My major complaint with the new radiator I found is that the heat builds up something like twice as fast now when I am going slow, like in traffic jams, or being the second vehicle in line at a drive through coffee place, etc.

In addition to a change out of the radiator and fan, I suggest looking into sending your high speed fan relay an extra + wire from a switch on your dash, so when you know you are getting hot, you can turn it on by hand. My PO spent a lot of time in mountains and had one rigged up when I took possession of the rig in 2015.

-bobby

Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:35 pm

To clearify. The current fan operates properly (tested both speeds & new sendor & resistor) and sounds fine (just its typical noisy self). It cycles on low speed just like it should. No current over heating issues, now or before the rebuild so I'm confident the radiator is not compromised. I'm in Seattle so there's little chance of getting to high speed while driving until summer comes.

Revised question is:

What's the typical service life of the radiator, and fan? Is it a good assumption that at 220k (mi) the rad and or fan should be replaced? I've replaced everything else WRT the cooling & fuel systems, with the new 2.2 WBX engine build.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 2:40 pm

Unless you are running AC, most conditions the fan rarely runs. It runs on high even less. But it’s hard to predict when it might seize.

As far as the universal fans, I’d only use one when an original was wasn’t available.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:00 pm

l see it as one of those, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, moments.
if it bothers you that much buy the stock replacement parts, and put them away until they are needed.
in 10 years of working in san diego, l've yet to need to replace a dead radiator fan, radiators yes, fans no.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:38 pm

Mark & Mark thanks for the advice. I like if it ain't broke don't fix it right now as I've done too much fixing lately 🙂