[Healeys] Yet another mystery

Sat Oct 4 23:07:34 MDT 2025

Except flex fans are extremely noisy. I got a 7-blade SS Hayden flex fan 
and BCS's own home-rolled shroud from them decades ago, and it was good 
for a 5-10deg reduction at idle but, damn was it loud (and it would blow 
clouds of dust out from under the car when stationary). Ditched it for a 
TC (but kept the shroud). Some SS flex fans are known for throwing a blade.

bs

On 10/4/2025 9:15 PM, Don Anglesey wrote:
> Ditch the Texas cooler, British car specialists sell a nice 
> stainless-steel fan that doesn't flex into your radiator.
>
> Don
>
> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Richard 
> Antal via Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net>
> *Sent:* Friday, October 3, 2025 6:04:28 AM
> *To:* Harold Manifold <manifold at telus.net>; Michael Salter 
> <michael.salter at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [Healeys] Yet another mystery
> I inadvertently omitted an important detail: with the advent of cool 
> weather in NH, rather than change the thermostat to 180 from 160, I 
> slipped a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. I had driven 
> 200 miles in back roads with the cardboard in place and the temp gauge 
> never got above 170, and so I didn't watch the temp gauge while 
> dashing down the interstate at 80 mph. I was unaware of any problem 
> until arriving home, I could smell radiator fluid. When I popped the 
> hood all was wet, hot, and steaming. Perhaps at speeds 60mph and below 
> the fan blades didn't flex enough but at 80 mph, they did and thus I 
> inadvertently caused the damage to the radiator. I doesn't leak. 
> Today, having removed the suspect cardboard, I'll venture forth and 
> watch the temp gauge keenly.......rich
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, October 2, 2025 at 09:38:55 PM EDT, Michael Salter 
> <michael.salter at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> I would also suggest that you take a careful look at the baffles that 
> are, or should be, installed forward from the sides of the radiator to 
> the grille. If these baffles aren't correctly fitted hot air from the 
> backside of the radiator will swirl around to the front and pass 
> through the radiator again and thus seriously deminish its cooling 
> ability.
>
> M
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Harold 
> Manifold <manifold at telus.net>
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 2, 2025 6:45:19 PM
> *To:* Richard Antal <rantal243 at yahoo.com>
> *Cc:* Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [Healeys] Yet another mystery
> Rich,
>
> Your comments "high speed. run of twenty miles" and "extra series of 
> cooling tubes" may offer some clues. Fan blades flex away from the 
> side that pushes air, in other words towards the radiator. The extra 
> cooling tubes may have reduced the clearance between the radiator and 
> the fan. There isn't much clearance to begin with. The combination of 
> the two may have been enough for the fan to hit the radiator.
>
> The other issue is what caused the overheating. At high speeds the fan 
> has little to no effect on cooling. Unless the ambient temperature was 
> very high and you were going up a steep hill the colling system should 
> keep up. What was the water temperature gauge saying?
>
> Harold
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 1:39 PM Richard Antal via Healeys 
> <healeys at autox.team.net> wrote:
>
>     Listers,
>         My BJ8 seems beleaguered with misfortune. A couple of weeks
>     ago I noted the oil pressure gauge wildly oscillating at various
>     speeds. It vanished two days later.
>         Yesterday a high speed. run of twenty miles produce an
>     overheating radiator with fluid spewing from the overflow tube. To
>     my horror, I saw that the Texas cooler fan which I'd had for at
>     least 25 years had confronted the engine side of the radiator
>     leaving a distinct circular impression and abrasion to the tip of
>     one of the fan blades. That radiator was rebuilt two years ago
>     with an extra series of cooling tubes and had given no problems
>     for at least 5000 miles. I assumed the harness which prevents the
>     engine from sliding forward was faulty. Inspection of the
>     underside did not support that conclusion--it looked fine to me:
>     all bushings and nuts were in place. I ran the engine after
>     filling the radiator and saw no evidence of recurrence of the fan
>     nudging the radiator. I'm perplexed what to do next. Thanks for
>     your thoughts......
>     Rich Antal
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