fan/waterpump pulley too close on 350 YJ

[HeyZeus]

93 YJ w/ 3 core radiator, 95 350 TBI, AA bolt in motor mount crossmember.

I am currently using a Flex-a-lite 475 which is very close to the water pump pulley (about 1/2 inch) I have already moved radiator forward as far as it will possibly go. Knew it was too close but went out anyway. Got Jeep twisted up pretty good yesterday while hitting a hill coming out of a creek and the water pump pulley hit the fan and broke off two blades(lucky thats all that happened and I got home with a vibrating electric fan).

Here's what options that I have came up with thus far...

1. Move motor back. Would rather not have to do this if at all possible due to exhaust, driveshaft, tranny mount, and misc other fitment issues that would probably need to be addressed.

2. Take off electric fan and put on a mechanical fan. In doing this, what type should I use to have the most room between it and my radiator (flex fan? stock clutch type?). Find a shroud that will work with the fan possibly off of a Wrangler with a 4.0 or 4.2.

3. Replace broken fan blade and find a water pump/pulley combo that doesn't stick out as far. This seemed like the best idea to me, but can't find a low profile water pump for my application. I don't really want to use an electric water pump if at all possible just because I have not used one before and worry about the reliability.

4. Get a lower profile electric fan.

Anyways, any recommendations as to what to do would be very much appreciated.

[JEEPSKEET]

I had the same prob !!
I put the Electric pusher fan in front of the radiator 2000cfm with a ajustable t-stat. I also run a flex-fan on the waterpump.

[thundr undrgrond]

id see if theres any other way to move the rad forward. i had to move mine almost an icnh forward and angled the rad some so thatw ay the pully would clear

[sandusk]

I also use the saddle motor mount from AA. i have a stock mechanical fan on mine with about 1/2 inch of clearance till it hits the radiator, no shroud. I havent had a problem yet, and it has not once gotten above 180 degrees. I'd give the good ole mechanical a try.

[EMIEVEL]

My friend is doing this very same swap, and it seems like he has plenty of room. What's the difference here? What is your measurement from the firewall to the distributor? That should give us an idea if we did something wrong, or if your motor mounts are too far forward. Also, we made our own mounts and had to lower the radiator 1.5" to line up with the fan. I thought the lower and farther back the motor was, the better. Is that wrong?
Thanks,
Chris

[trkklr77]

get a short water pump.. 5"s early chevys ran them. very easy to get new or used.
you will need a new set of pulleys.

a pusher fan like jeepskeet.

[79CJLongmont]

Find and install a DJ (Postal) Jeep grille. You can move the radiator forward quite a bit more with one.
-OR-

Build your own motor mounts and put the motor wherever the hell you want to. I swapped a 5.3L Vortec into a YJ for a customer and just built my own motor mounts so that I could put the motor as far back or forward as I wanted to.

[HeyZeus]

Originally Posted by JEEPSKEET

I had the same prob !!
I put the Electric pusher fan in front of the radiator 2000cfm with a ajustable t-stat. I also run a flex-fan on the waterpump.

May end up doing this if I can't get a stock clutch fan to fit.

Originally Posted by thundr undrgrond

id see if theres any other way to move the rad forward. i had to move mine almost an icnh forward and angled the rad some so thatw ay the pully would clear

Already moved it an inch forward to clear the 475 fan (which was nearly 4 inched thick I believe). It cannot be moved forward anymore without major hacking and slashing.

Originally Posted by EMIEVEL

My friend is doing this very same swap, and it seems like he has plenty of room. What's the difference here? What is your measurement from the firewall to the distributor? That should give us an idea if we did something wrong, or if your motor mounts are too far forward. Also, we made our own mounts and had to lower the radiator 1.5" to line up with the fan. I thought the lower and farther back the motor was, the better. Is that wrong?
Thanks,
Chris

No, you're right. Lower and farther back is better for weight distribution and COG. Forward/up gives you better rear driveline length/angle, which at the time I was guessing would be important, but in actuality was not an issue for me. Knowing what I know now, I would have put my engine back as far as my saddle mount would have allowed me to (an extra 5/8 inch) or better yet used weld in and placed the engine where I wanted to. I have built my Jeep as I could afford parts, so I didn't have the luxury of placing everything before mounting, which would have made everything easier.

Originally Posted by sandusk

I also use the saddle motor mount from AA. i have a stock mechanical fan on mine with about 1/2 inch of clearance till it hits the radiator, no shroud. I havent had a problem yet, and it has not once gotten above 180 degrees. I'd give the good ole mechanical a try.

This is the route that I am considering the most. Are you using a chevy clutch fan or a 4.0 YJ clutch fan? I am possibly thinking that I can fit a 4.0 fan and shroud, but I will see. Also, did you mount your engine in the middle of the saddle mount or use the spacers?

[EMIEVEL]

My friend measured just under 8" from the firewall to the dist. I'm pretty certain he is running the shorter water pump.
Chris

[HeyZeus]

I can't run a shorter water pump because I have serpentine system that requires reverse rotation water pump. The shorter pumps that I have found are only standard rotation.

Currently looking into mechanical fan solution...

[sandusk]

[QUOTE=
This is the route that I am considering the most. Are you using a chevy clutch fan or a 4.0 YJ clutch fan? I am possibly thinking that I can fit a 4.0 fan and shroud, but I will see. Also, did you mount your engine in the middle of the saddle mount or use the spacers?[/QUOTE]

I used the spacers to put it back a little farther. I used the chevy clutch fan. my radiator was a pretty random one that i found at the junkyard, and it sits on top of the fraim rails and is very wide. it sits really snug up to the headlight wiring plugs. in other words, the radiator is pretty far back, so if yours sits in the grill at all you should have way more clearance then i do. like i said, no shroud and no problems to speak of thus far...

[ScottN]

I'm running the same setup as you are. I ran into the same clearance problems. I switched to the 4.0L clutch fan and moved the motor back as far as the AA saddle mount would allow. I ran into heat problems when crawling up hill on 90+ degree days. I'm using a 4 row steel rad. A full shroud will probibly be enough to fix the current heat issues on my setup.

Looking back, I shouldn't have used the AA saddle mount. The motor should be at least 1" further back and at least 1" higher for my setup.

[HeyZeus]

Originally Posted by ScottN

I'm running the same setup as you are. I ran into the same clearance problems. I switched to the 4.0L clutch fan and moved the motor back as far as the AA saddle mount would allow. I ran into heat problems when crawling up hill on 90+ degree days. I'm using a 4 row steel rad. A full shroud will probibly be enough to fix the current heat issues on my setup.

Looking back, I shouldn't have used the AA saddle mount. The motor should be at least 1" further back and at least 1" higher for my setup.

Yeah, the saddle mount seemed like a good idea at the time. I also had heat issues at crawling speed in 4 low, until I spaced the hood hinges in the back up a little to allow heat to escape (louvers would probably have also worked, but didn't want to cut the hood if it wasn't going to help). Went from 230 to <200. Its a quick temp fix that totally solved my heating issues. I'll have to see the difference with a mechanical fan vs. the electric fan that I have been using as far as overheating is concerned.

[sandusk]

If you are having problems with overheating, you should have your headers coated, or wrap them. thatl keep the heat down quite a bit.

[HeyZeus]

Originally Posted by sandusk

If you are having problems with overheating, you should have your headers coated, or wrap them. thatl keep the heat down quite a bit.

I was also thinking of doing that. Did you do this to yours? How much of a difference did it make?


Just picked up a clutch fan from an 88 FS Blazer... Will see if it fits once I get back to the house.

[ohmscj]

Originally Posted by sandusk

If you are having problems with overheating, you should have your headers coated, or wrap them. thatl keep the heat down quite a bit.

Coating them wil drop around 20 % ambient skin temp. Which will in turn drop your raidant temp by almost half.
(used to work at the oldest header coating company) Wrapping them also works but it severly cuts the life of the wrapped headers.

[jchio]

Shave the grill, mount the radiator to the frame not to the body...

[JJSBADYJ]

Originally Posted by HeyZeus

93 YJ w/ 3 core radiator, 95 350 TBI, AA bolt in motor mount crossmember.

I am currently using a Flex-a-lite 475 which is very close to the water pump pulley (about 1/2 inch) I have already moved radiator forward as far as it will possibly go. Knew it was too close but went out anyway. Got Jeep twisted up pretty good yesterday while hitting a hill coming out of a creek and the water pump pulley hit the fan and broke off two blades(lucky thats all that happened and I got home with a vibrating electric fan).

Here's what options that I have came up with thus far...

1. Move motor back. Would rather not have to do this if at all possible due to exhaust, driveshaft, tranny mount, and misc other fitment issues that would probably need to be addressed.

2. Take off electric fan and put on a mechanical fan. In doing this, what type should I use to have the most room between it and my radiator (flex fan? stock clutch type?). Find a shroud that will work with the fan possibly off of a Wrangler with a 4.0 or 4.2.

3. Replace broken fan blade and find a water pump/pulley combo that doesn't stick out as far. This seemed like the best idea to me, but can't find a low profile water pump for my application. I don't really want to use an electric water pump if at all possible just because I have not used one before and worry about the reliability.

4. Get a lower profile electric fan.

Anyways, any recommendations as to what to do would be very much appreciated.

just a question, which way did you install the AA motor saddle? it will fit either direction but if the motor supports are forward of the saddle you might have issues with clearance for the WP much like you are describing here. I have the same saddle and I have not installed it( I am in fact selling it since I made my own mounts) but I believe the motor supports need to be rear facing so you will have clearance for the WP,fan and radiator.

anyone interested in a brand new AA saddle mount, send me a PM.

JJ

[actionpaintball]

I shaved the engine side of my grille and moved the grille an extra 3/4 to 1" forward. I then fabricated some hood hold down brackets. The hood closes and rest agianst the back of the grille now and sits flush with the front of the grille-not hanging over. You barely notice and the extra inch of moving it forward and shaving (about an inch) gives you the precious couple inches you need. In the process-I had to space my turn signal buckets and headlight buckets out a little as ....just used nylon spacers and longer stainless screws.

[HeyZeus]

After looking at it today I realized my clearance with the electric fan was really <1/4 inch... After putting on the Blazer fan on it added at least a 1/2 inch, so now I am upto 3/4 inch clearance which should be enough...?

[HeyZeus]

Problem solved. Used a fan clutch from an 88 FS Blazer and a fan from a 95 chevy truck. Had to grind some on the fan clutch in order to get the fan to fit over the fan clutch's mounting flange and had to open up the mounting flange holes for the clutch itself to be able to bolt to the water pump. I would have just used the 95 fan clutch, but it was quite a bit longer than the 88 and would have hit the radiator.

[mbryson]

I just used a Mepco small block radiator and a Taurus fan. I can't tell you how well it works, but it looks cool in my garage........

[BossBuilt]

Hmmm, I put a 350 sbc in my YJ and have plenty of room for the stock (huge Fan with clutch).....don't know what you guys did wrong but it sounds like you need to move the motor back....not sure what the AA saddle mount looks like I made my own and put the distributer about 1/2 away from the fire wall.

[HeyZeus]

Originally Posted by BossBuilt

Hmmm, I put a 350 sbc in my YJ and have plenty of room for the stock (huge Fan with clutch).....don't know what you guys did wrong but it sounds like you need to move the motor back....not sure what the AA saddle mount looks like I made my own and put the distributer about 1/2 away from the fire wall.

Good for you, but that was already discussed.
If you read back in the thread you will see that saddle mount WAS my main issue. Knowing what I know now I would have welded on my own mounts, but when I started this project I knew nothing about Jeeps (still know relatively little ).

Sure it was a bitch to finally get my fan setup right, but my engine placement gives me a longer driveshaft in the rear than it would have otherwise. Which is never a bad thing in a Jeep.

Live and learn.

[BossBuilt]

Originally Posted by HeyZeus

Good for you, but that was already discussed.
If you read back in the thread you will see that saddle mount WAS my main issue. Knowing what I know now I would have welded on my own mounts, but when I started this project I knew nothing about Jeeps (still know relatively little ).



Live and learn.

Yeah I caught that,just letting you know what I did. I guess it didn't make much sense to me to keep the motor forward for an extra inch of drive shaft when you always have the option of moving the axle back via offset springs or moving the perches.....I have no problems with drive shaft length that a CV with a rotated axle didn't cure....