My 1969 Charger Daytona is not and by far a city car. Even though the radiator has been completely restored the temperature quickly shoots up to 220-230 when idling in stop and go traffic. Revving the engine helps but makes me very unpopular with the drivers behind (Raw exhaust fumes are quite irritating...). Anyway, a friend of mine that owns a 68 Olds 442 W30 told me that he'd put an electric fan in front of his 455 cid's rad to push more air in, keeping the belt driven fan on the engine side, and it solved the problem. However others say that the fan casing will actually restrict the air flow and worsen the problem. A search on the net brought more of the same pros and cons confusion with some even suggesting adding a shroud on the other side of the rad and mounting the fan to it. Sooooo.. I thought I'm better off going to the real Dodge experts e.g. Dodge forum. Should I install the electric fan or not? In the affirmative, with or without the additional shroud?

Thanks,

Jacques

 

Puller fans are more efficient than pushers. There should already be a shroud on the engine side of the radiator, right? If so, mount the electric fan as a puller inside the shroud, right up against the radiator. Use a temp switch to turn it on right around the same temp as your thermostat.

 

Hi HeyYou,
Thanks for the quick response. There is indeed a shroud on the engine side of the rad. The original fan with clutch is installed and I would not have any room for the electric fan without removing that fan. I wanted to keep the original fan (air puller) and put the electric fan as a pusher on the other side to increase air velocity at slow speed or idle because of the restriction caused by the aerodynamic nose cone. The additional shroud would be on the nose cone side, not directly mounted on the rad, attached to the inside of the cone to direct all the air toward the rad instead of some of it going to the sides. The electric fan does come with a coolant temp probe and would be on a 160 and off at 180. In my case it is likely that the fan would be on at all times. The original thermostat is set at 145 so it means I'd have to find an other coolant temp probe or go manual. Long story short, do you believe that mounting the fan directly on the rad as a pusher on the nose cone side and keeping the other fan with shroud on the engine side would make a positive difference?

Thanks again,

Jacques

 

The engine driven fan is that close to the radiator???? Been a while since I have seen one of these.

Mounting the fan as a pusher on the front then, seems like the only viable option. Mount it directly to the radiator, so air can't escape around it, and not pass thru the radiator. Any restriction it adds won't matter, as if the radiator gets too warm, the fan will simply come on.

I know various companies make temp switches, that will screw into NPT holes in the heads. Not sure if you have any of those available though.... another alternative would be just drilling/tapping a hole in the intake for the additional sensor. I know most of the probes get stuck on the radiator itself, or inserted into the upper radiator hose.... those would likely require an adjustable controller, though, you run your engine pretty cold..... not sure if they go that low.

Anything you can do to increase airflow thru the radiator will help with cooling.

 

Thanks HeyYou I will follow your advice. The fan is indeed so close to the rad (About 1/2 inch) that it's hard to install it without scraping the paint from the fins as it must be done with the shroud in place but not bolted otherwise it can't go in. One thing is for sure its painful on the hands and I have the scars to prove it... As for the probe, no problem. The water pump casing comes with an additional hole (Plugged at the factory) that I can use without any modification. The normal operating temp for the 440 in the Daytona is around 180 but it does initially go down to 160 at speed above 100 mph but goes up to 190 above 120 mph, something that I can rarely do today for obvious reasons.
I'll let you know how it worked.

Jacques

04/20/2022 edit:

I misread the number on the stock thermostat. The number was 195 and NOT 145. Further research showed two options for the 69 Charger Daytona with a 440 c.i.d. engine: 195 F and 180 F. I guess I got the 195 because it was for the Canadian market. However, there is a 160 F thermostat available aftermarket and this is what I installed to alleviate the idle high temp issue but obviously without success.

 

Hi HeyYou,
JJust to let you know that the addition of a fan in pusher mode to the nose side of the rad did the trick. Temperature is now around 160 and does not exceed 200 in stop and go traffic. Thanks again for your assistance.

Jacques

 

Awesome!

Always happy to help.

 

Very similar to what Liberty's used for the towing package. Non tows just had a single electric fan, tow packages came with a clutch fan and a puller fan within the same shroud. Vastly increased the tow rating when so equipped (also vastly improved low speed A/C function as well).