Engine: How many blades on a fan blade?? Will too few cause overheating??

[mjeansonne]

I guess I'm getting old, but I just noticed that the 62 Hawk with 289 V-8 has only 5 blades on its radiator fan!! When I had the engine out last year cleaning the water jacket and resealing the engine, I repainted the fan, so I didn't notice any broken blades, nor do I note any broken blades now. Where there 5 bladed fans? I have a 6 bladed fan on the Champ PU and see only 6 bladed fans in the S.I. catalog.

I still am having overheating problems even after cleaning the water passages out, particularly when I have the A/C on and in stop and go city traffic. It runs cooler, but still peg the temp gauge in city driving with A/C!! Could this be my problem with overheating? Surely not that simple!!?? Don't guess that such overheating would cause the excessive oil consumption I'm experiencing!!??

Any thoughts??

[Tom Bredehoft]

Four blades seems to be the standard car fan, the fans with 6 are usually for heavy duty service.

Five bladed fans are available.

[Chucks Stude]

Five bladed fan makes some sense, even number of blades seem to be rather noisy. I have a 6 bladed fan for sale cheap..... just swapped it for a 7 bladed fan out of a 442. Much quieter. You need to get a remote thermometer from Harbor Frt, or Northern tool, and check the temp of the thermostat housing. Are you throwing out any coolant,when you shut off the engine? Turn off the engine when it shows like 200 degrees, and let it sit for a minute, then check the temp of the back of the thermostat housing and the back of the cylinder head, where the water temp sending unit. If it is getting hot, the thermostat housing should read 190-200 degrees. You need to check the temp at the top tank, and at the bottom tank of the radiator. There should be about 40 degree difference when running. Do you have a fan clutch? Is it working correctly? Use the search feature to find threads on the subject. Did you have the radiator cleaned? There can be a lot of reasons for this. Living in Dallas, I feel your pain, as it was only 107 here yesterday.

What oil are you using? Is it leaking, or using? How long has it been since you went thru the engine?

[mjeansonne]

Had the radiator cleaned while I had the engine out last year. Using Valvoline VH-1, 5o weight oil. Drove the car to Shreveport, LA Saturday for International Drive Your Studebaker Day. It only used 12 quarts of oil from Alexandria to Shreveport and back, which is only 200 miles!!! Don't see it burning the oil nor is it leaking it! Suspect it is leaking around the valve guides or perhaps boiling it out because of the excessive heat.

Even checking the search feature of this site and looking at how to check the fan clutch, I don't find a fool proof method to check whether the clutch is working, so I'm thinking about changing it too.

The Tropical Storm last week brought some much needed relief, but its starting to get hot again!!

[Chucks Stude]

If the fan clutch spins more than a quarter of a turn after you turn off the engine, than it is bad. If you can wiggle it on the shaft by grabbing the fan blade(not running), and wiggle it, the bearings are bad. Check your temp.

That kind of oil useage may not be the valve guides. Have you pulled the plugs to see if you have a bad cylinder? It may be that your rings or something like that have let go. Another thing, check the oil drainback holes at the end of the heads, under the valve cover, and make sure they are not stopped up.

[showbizkid]

This is my fan. It is a genuine Studebaker Viscous Drive clutch and fan.



Note the five blades

If you had broken a blade off, you'd have a heckuva vibration up front, not to mention a big hole through your hood, most likely!

[studegary]

On cars with the four blade fan, a five blade fan was an option. These are both without a clutch. The five blade option has bigger blades with more pitch than the standard four blade fan.

[Johnnywiffer]

... The five blade option has bigger blades with more pitch than the standard four blade fan.

And makes noise like a sonuva gun, to let you know it's still there!

John

[ivorydan]

So you're getting about 17 miles to the quart of oil? I believe that's some sort of record, even for a Stude! Dan

[Chucks Stude]

That 5 bladed fan is for an Avanti, IIRC. On a Hawk, it is about 3 " in diameter too small for the fan shroud. You would think that at 17 miles to the quart, than there would be some sign of it somewhere. Didn't need much gas, it used enough oil.

[mjeansonne]

While reading Bob Johnstone's Studebaker Website, I notice an article in the PVC area that if you use the rear vacuum port on an Edelbrock Carb that you will foul the two rear cylinder plugs. Well, I'm running an Edelbrock and using the rear vacuum port. My understanding now is that I am suppose to use the vacuum port in the front of the Carb!! Could that be causing the excessive oil usage, as well as the plugs fouling (which they are). Surely not that simple a solution?? Will move the PCV hose from the rear to the front of the Carb in the morning.

Any ideas?

[JoeHall]

Sounds like you may be onto something. There may well be a connection between the near record setting oil consumption, the fouled plugs, and the PCV at rear port on the Edelbrock. Other, simple things to check: Is the oil plug in the engine? Is the oil filler tube connected to the engine?

Joe

[Chucks Stude]

Are you sure the PCV valve is facing the right direction? Is it the right one? Is the ball in the valve stuck? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!!!

[Greenstude]

Engine oil consumption

Does your car have an oil pressure gauge which has an oil line going to it? If so, here's one possibility: When the rubber section of this line fails, you may not see it leaking with the engine off, or even idling. When the pressure is increased by the engine running at road speeds, it can leak a lot of oil very quickly. I had this experience with a 1949 2R5 pickup, with even more oil consumption than yours @ 40 p.s.i. on the gauge, but none at idle.

Bill Jarvis

[64V-K7]

The bit about using the front port vs the rear is from a Studebaker/Carter service bulletin on the R series engines, where the minimal usage of the rear barrels of the carb don't provide enough vacuum to the PCV and allows the oil vapors to build up. When the rear barrels are used, it inhales all the oil buildup and contributes to oil fouling on the rear cylinders. This was acknowledged by Carter and they recommended using the front port to even out the vacuum.