Dan Wheeler's Explorer 4.0 Radiator and Taurus Fan Thread

[fungus]

Mounting the fan vertically left the fan shroud hanging down below the rad a couple inches so I cut a piece of 16 ga to fill the gap. I welded 1/4" bolts on the inside of the 16 ga for mounting the sheet to the bottom of the rad (inaccessible w/ shroud mounted) and secured the top of the sheet to the rad w/ 1/4" SS locknuts. The Taurus fan was mounted in the Taurus w/ the clips you see here (that I took when I pulled the fan in the yard). I welded these onto the bottom of the sheet so the bottom of the fan just slides in and is held tight. This makes for EASY R/R of the fan! Undo the two top bolts, unplug the weatherpack connector and slide it out the top... The shroud would not fit flush on the top of the rad so I used nylon spacers to get the 1/4" bolts tight w/o warping the shroud. I also used sticky 3M camper shell padding to pad the shroud where it rests on the rad fins. You can also see the clearance I have between the drivers side rad tank and my 4x4x2 stearing box. I DID mount the rad offset 1/2" towards the passenger side just for a little added buffer.

 

[fungus]

All said and done, I couldn't be happier with the fitment, functionality, reduced cost and easy replacement on this setup! Doesn't look half bad either!;D

Keep in mind the clearance I have is because my c/s has been moved forward 1 7/8". I did this PRIOR to scoring my exploder serp and intended on running the Taurus fan w/ my V-belt setup. Not sure the c/s mods were required but it sure makes for some nice room to work on the front of my engine!

 

[Tito]

I am hoping to run the radiator against the core support without mods except for mounts. I am running the explorer serpentine on the motor. Hopefully drivetrain will go onto the tubless frame here next week. Then get the tub on and go from there.

 

[DanWheeler]

mech fan or electric?

 

[Tito]

Going to start with the stock explorer clutch fan. I know with the one in the beast I have about 3" of room between the fan and the stock radiator.

 

[DanWheeler]

Had the new fan and radiator out wheelin for the first time and they did great.

it was about 65 degrees that day and I was doing plenty of climbing and idling. Fan was coming on around 210 and back off at about 180. I need to adjust it downwards so it comes on at 200.

I've noticed when cruising, it stays at about 165 which is actually a little too low but again, my temp gauge sender is in the water neck so I may be getting a false reading.

Still waiting for a 100+ degree day sitting in traffic to give it the stamp of approval.

 

[fungus]

Mine's still running strong out here in HI Dan and its been my daily driver for about 3 weeks in and out of traffic. Couldn't be happier with it! Glad you got it all going and I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[DanWheeler]

had a Taurus fan go out on me over the memorial day weekend. It had been showing signs and just finally gave up

I was finally able to remove the fan from the motor which allows you to move the motor from the shroud. You have to file down the shaft a bit so you can tap it through the fan

looks like there are 2 motor types, one of which can be disassembled

here are some detailed pictures of installing the Taurus fan on Explorer 4.0 radiator:

drill bottom holes here:

should be a quarter inch away from the casting marks:

cover the gap on the side:

oops, gotta run to a mtg - will post the rest later today

 

[DanWheeler]

top left:

top right:

piece of aluminum or sheet at the bottom to fill the gap left by the shroud being mounted vertically (hangs down below the radiator)

top right hole on shroud:

I think the top left is just about the same. .5" from the inside lip and 2.75" from the side

put the shroud on and secure with a nut and lock washer at the bottom

at the top, use some foam or something to fill the gap and secure with nuts and lockwashers:

basically the idea here is to seal the shroud as well as possible. This will make sure all the air going through the fan blades has to come through the radiator. I've found that the inch or so not covered by the shroud will be too hot to touch but just 1/2" to the right where the shroud is will be cool to the touch.

when my fan failed up in the mountains, i removed the fan completely to improve airflow and drove home for 2 hours at speed and didn't overheat.

 

[Bronchole]

I'm trying the Explorer 4.0 radiator because its cheap, plentiful and apparently you can use stock Explorer hoses with it.

Dan,

Exactly which hoses did you end up using? I am getting ready to put a 92 Explorer 4.0 Auto radiator in my rig and I have the hoses that were from the same Explorer.

Thanks,

The other Dan

 

[fungus]

I used both upper and lower hoses for a '99 Explorer 5.0. '98 or '99 I believe was the first year they deleted the oil cooler/ filter gizmo so the lower hose runs straight from the water pump to the radiator. Any explorer 5.0 upper will work ('96-'01), just get the later model lower hose.

 

[Bronchole]

Great, thanks fungus. Hey Dan, if this is the way you also went may I suggest that you update your first post in this thread to include that info. That way someone else looking for that info won't have to dig like I am

The other Dan

 

[DanWheeler]

Great, thanks fungus. Hey Dan, if this is the way you also went may I suggest that you update your first post in this thread to include that info. That way someone else looking for that info won't have to dig like I am

The other Dan

I did whatever Fungus did, so yes I believe I used the 5.0 hoses.

The lower required a bit of cutting if I recall correctly. I think I had to cut an inch or so off the radiator side of the lower hose. It is still a bit kinked at the bottom but seems to flow OK. it would be better if I were able to push the bottom of the radiator more forward but it can't go any further forward without significantly modifying the lower core support which I didn't want to get into. I'll add that to page 1.

 

[DanWheeler]

BTW - this thing is still working great. It takes whatever I throw at it. Did about 30 minutes of just straight up climbing a few thousand feet of vertical and no problems at all. 90+ degrees around town and it has cooling capacity to spare.

I dont believe i've ever actually had to turn on the high speed on the Taurus fan. Sometimes I do just to keep it cool when I'm running it hard.

 

[fungus]

BTW - this thing is still working great. It takes whatever I throw at it. Did about 30 minutes of just straight up climbing a few thousand feet of vertical and no problems at all. 90+ degrees around town and it has cooling capacity to spare.

I dont believe i've ever actually had to turn on the high speed on the Taurus fan. Sometimes I do just to keep it cool when I'm running it hard.

X2! Mine's still working like a champ. Went to high a couple weeks ago as I was workin' it HARD getting my ass outta some super soft sand! The beauty is, when you actually need High, it brings the temp right back down quick even working the motor hard...

 

[todd.gorman]

Can anyone give me the ford part number of that radiator? I'm trying to score one in Europe and I've already recieved 1 wrong one.

Thanks,
TOdd

 

[todd.gorman]

Can anyone give me the ford part number of that radiator? I'm trying to score one in Europe and I've already recieved 1 wrong one.

Thanks,
TOdd

Anyone??

 

[DirtDonk]

Darn, sorry I didn't see your post yesterday Todd. I could have gotten one for you at the shop today.
Someone here should have it handy of course, but if not, I'll try to get that for you tomorrow.

You need the specific "Ford" part number then? And you are asking for the V6 radiator, and not the V8?

Paul

 

[DanWheeler]

Sorry Todd, no idea on the Ford part number. I would think getting a Ford replacement for that would be nearly impossible. I can't even seem to find my old receipt from what I think was www.discountautoradiator.com

I think it was this one:

http://www.discountautoradiator.com...64+4294966120+4294966840+4294966877&Ntt=P1164

man... can't believe it was only $103.

[edit] this is the 2 row version which is what I have. they do show a 1 row version and thats what I see most often at the junkyard but I'm not sure that would do the job.

 

[fungus]

Yep, you want the version with 2x 1" cores.