new record?

[NeedCAforS13]

well today sucked enormous a$$.

I managed to kill not one, but two water pumps WITHOUT even leaving the driveway. gaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr!

today started off good, went for a test drive around town with the new s14 turbo. Turned it up to 10psi and damn does it move Feeling good about things, I then run into a huge traffic jam. Overheating soon occurs, leaving me stuck in a parking lot waiting for the car to cool down and limp it back home. Its been doing this to me randomly when I get stuck in traffic jams. Florida heat and humidity is taking its toll on my cooling system, and I started thinking of ideas of how to cool down my engine. I started by ordering a B&M oil cooler because hopefully if I cool down the oil some, the rest of the motor will remain cooler too. I also decided I should try putting my fan shroud and clutch fan back on, to replace my pulsar electric fan.

Everything is going well, get it all on there, and try to fire it up. Holy crap clutch fan and fan shroud pulls so much air the engine bay feels like a hurricane is happening in there. At this point I'm stunned, and very excited to see how this is going to affect my overheating issues. I try revving up the motor, and sudddenly all hell breaks loose. The fan starts wobbling all funky and starts tearing itself apart on the p/s pump and pretty much anything in that general area. I shut the car off, and determine the cause to be a twisted water pump neck. water pump #1 (CA18DE pulsar one) fails after appx. 30 seconds of run time with the clutch fan. This was the same pump that has lasted me for 2 years with electric fans!

At this point I'm feeling pretty upset, but I figure, no real harm done, water pumps are like $30, and thats not a big deal. I've done it before and I can do it again. I head off to advance autoparts. They don't have any 200sx RWD pumps, and the earlies they can get me one, Tuesday. Next I swing by Autozone, same story. I even called Napa, and they said earliest would be Monday. Damn. Oh well, I have a CA20E I pulled from my s12 in the garage with a basically new water pump on it that I got off ebay. It was marked "200sx water pump" but on the box it listed the CA20E stanza as well as the 200sx. It had the smaller water neck, but it was larger than the previous one I had. With no other option, I figured I would try out this one.

Pulled off the busted water pump, and reinstalled the new one. Everything went well (I'm getting to be an expert at installing timing belts) until I tried to start it. When I was setting the belt tension, I didn't realize the tensioner spring was stuck against the timing belt. When I tried to start the motor, this spring dug into the timing belt and made the engine refuse to start. The friction was too much. I pulled the timing belt covers off, and noticed the tensioner had pretty much shredded my belt up. Lucky me, I have another new timing belt in the garage from another project. So I get to reset all the timing one more time. This time I make sure there's no binding, and the engine starts up fine. I rev it up some in the driveway, and for the first few minutes it sounds nice.

after afew minutes I start to hear a clicking noise again, so I rev up the engine and lean in to see if I can tell where it's coming from. About this time the shaft (and attached fan) come flying out of the water pump, absolutely destroying my fan shroud and fan, killing the water pump (of course) and putting afew nice holes in my expensive god damn koyo radiator. At this point I decided, hell its time for bed, and walked inside

Tomorrow I'm going to Nissan to figure out when they can get a 200sx water pump for me, and I will be DAMN sure its the thick shaft one, and not this ***** FWD pump that grenades itself in a matter of minutes (with a clutch fan). So be warned, FWD pump and clutch fan really don't mix. What a day! I guess I have to find a radiator shop to patch up my koyo as well... money money money

Sean

[Pumaking]

did you forget to use the FWD water pump pulley as well. If you didnt shame on you its in the Stickies and your a mod, if you did use the fwd pulley than that sucks for you.

[Not_a_sr]

sean, pick up a DSM radiator with a set of fans attached. then you will need a 1-1/2 pipe type deal with a cap on it or a radiator cap on it to fill it at. put it in and never worry about your cooling problems again!! they have two fans both dual speed i run the smallest fan on low and never see temps over 80-90deg C no matter how much i run it and even in 90+ deg weather.

[Not_a_sr]

actually with a KOYO just grab the fans off the DSM and mount them to the rad. i may have a set to sell ill round them all up and see how many extras i have laying around.

[rexhunta]

wouldn't it just be easier to run a fwd water pump and an electric fan.. gain a couple of hp while your at it..

[c-rad]

Get the Altima fans.... they flow ridiculous amounts. I had two sets of DSM fans fall right off the their motors.

Also, check this out.... http://home.satx.rr.com/nissan...t.htm

The mechnanical fan is probably the worst fan you can use. Just take a look at this chart from the test I linked to above...

Also, if you notice, the Koyo Aluminum also has the most restrictive airflow through it. But it also shows the Altima fans dominate everything else when it comes to total airflow....

[NeedCAforS13]

did you forget to use the FWD water pump pulley as well. If you didnt shame on you its in the Stickies and your a mod, if you did use the fwd pulley than that sucks for you.

fwd pulley was used. still didn't make a difference... it had been working find for over a year, and upon adding the extra weight of the clutch fan killed it instantly.

[NeedCAforS13]

wouldn't it just be easier to run a fwd water pump and an electric fan.. gain a couple of hp while your at it..

thats a poor misconception. electric fans don't really "add" HP because all the current they draw puts an extra strain on your alternator. and clutch fans cool awesome if they work properly. For some reason here in the states everyone runs them, but whenever I see pictures of high HP japanese CA's they still run their clutch fans and shrouds.

[NeedCAforS13]

Get the Altima fans.... they flow ridiculous amounts. I had two sets of DSM fans fall right off the their motors.

Also, check this out.... http://home.satx.rr.com/nissan...t.htm

The mechnanical fan is probably the worst fan you can use. Just take a look at this chart from the test I linked to above...

Also, if you notice, the Koyo Aluminum also has the most restrictive airflow through it. But it also shows the Altima fans dominate everything else when it comes to total airflow....

I was going to get a set of altima fans if this didn't work... and well, it didn't work. See any in the junkyards near you chris?

[rexhunta]

thats a poor misconception. electric fans don't really "add" HP because all the current they draw puts an extra strain on your alternator. and clutch fans cool awesome if they work properly. For some reason here in the states everyone runs them, but whenever I see pictures of high HP japanese CA's they still run their clutch fans and shrouds.

What about if you kept it on a solenoid so when it hits correct temp it'll work.. like a thermo switch, then you wouldn't be draining power all the time, only when it needs too..

I've noticed most high jap cars still run them too.. i guess the shroud maybe for safety, and because the fan is running all the time, not just cutting in and out, it'd work the best as stock.. maybe under driving it would work ?

Pete

[NeedCAforS13]

I agree. A thermostat controlled electric fan is a better solution than a hard wired "on" one. I just ordered a new set of altima electric fans, so I'll just run those.

Sean

[c-rad]

I agree. A thermostat controlled electric fan is a better solution than a hard wired "on" one. I just ordered a new set of altima electric fans, so I'll just run those.

Sean

I plan on running the Greddy MSS to control the fans. You can control each fan individually, and you can make them come on at preset temps... like one fan will come on at 85°C and the other will come on at 90°C. Also tells you the coolant temp of the car and can alarm you if you start to overheat.

[zero_gripS13]

i want one, but please do a write up on the altima fan wiring for furture peopole, what do u think ull do with the dual speeds?

[NeedCAforS13]

haha Chris has to put the motor in his car before he can do a write up on fan installs

Sean

[c-rad]

haha Chris has to put the motor in his car before he can do a write up on fan installs

Sean

LOL....

Speaking of.... I need to get that turbo from you next weekend if you'll be around. I am bringing the motor to the storage place next Sunday to start assembling it.

[float_6969]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck Sean. I'm going to have to figure out my cooling situation soon also. I was OK before with a stock KA-E radiator and no fan, but I don't think that is going to fly whith the new setup. I'm gonna try and find a set of altima fans and I haven't decided what I want to do for a radiator.

[NeedCAforS13]

LOL....

Speaking of.... I need to get that turbo from you next weekend if you'll be around. I am bringing the motor to the storage place next Sunday to start assembling it.

I will be around. Working Sunday at 4pm, but otherwise I'm free.

Sean

[sdtouge]

The mechnanical fan is probably the worst fan you can use. ]

you cant really say that, becase the electric fans are programmed to run when the flow maximum cfm, whiel the cltuh fan flows max cfm at 3000 rpm.

i would be willing to be at 3k rpm, the altima fans are not flowing as much as the clutch fan.

btw i dont have a clutch fan so cant say im biast...