The Camaro Club (UK)

Sounds like a plan

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I went to drive the Camaro back into the garage today now that it's all repainted and decluttered. Was having a bit of trouble starting and after a few cranks could smell fuel so i thought ok i'll give it a minute, it's getting fuel, maybe it's a bit flooded now. Whilst waiting, heard a swishing sound, so decided to lift up the bonnet - petrol spraying everywhere Switched off the electric fuel pump and had a look, it turns out the filter was leaking. Not the best design - the unit is screw in and out to be able to replace the filter, but as you tighten the hoses and move them etc. it means it twists the body and slightly unscrews itself, just enough to let fuel spray out.

As i already have a filter between tank and pump, and this was a secondary and a visual aid to seeing fuel delivery to the carb, i decided to just remove it. Didn't have enough hose to bypass, eurocarparts don't sell fuel hose and neither do halfrauds (shows how car ownership has changed!) but luckily my local motor factors had a couple of 3/8 in stock and were closing in 10 minutes, luckily i was 5 minutes away.

Got home, installed, car started and drove it in to the garage Just as i pulled in, it started chucking it down and hailing, literally that second, so that was a lucky escape. It was lovely and sunny then all of a sudden it changed. Let the car idle and warm up for a bit, nice to hear it running Think it's slightly overfuelling as it starts without needing to use the gas pedal to keep it from dying as soon as it starts, but there's no choke so must be overfuelling.

I was also having a bit of trouble with the electric fan - it has a radiator probe to switch on at 185f and off at 170f and according to instructions, probe should be near water inlet, which is where it was. But it kept coming on at 160 ish and therefore not being able to switch off. There's an autometer gauge installed in the car, using factory water temp sensor so i trust the gauge reading. I move the probe a bit more inward and lower down, and it start coming on at about 170 (my aim being 185 on), so i moved it again, lower and more to the middle. Managed to get it to come on at 180, but it then would turn off after about 10 - 15 seconds, then back on after 10-15 seconds and cycle like that. Shouldn't be that frequent, i know from the 3rd gen running factory everything, that at idle, the fan needs about 30 seconds to cool down, then can stay off for at least 2-3 minutes.

So i'm not sure if i'm missing something. Why would it come on and off in such a short range of a few fahrenheit. The temp gauge would barely move (kind of nice, as it means a constant temp) but it should be going a bit higher and going down a bit lower. Thinking of maybe getting an adjustable temp sensor kit instead of fixed? Maybe the probe is bad?

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Autometer gauges should be used with Autometer senders, not something to be mis matched.

Sorry - what i meant to say is that there's 2 systems - autometer gauge with autometer sender, plugged into block in stock location. The 2nd system is the fan and it's sender / probe. The probe is in the radiator and controls the on / off fan at preset off 185 on, 170 off. But it seems like there's a much smaller range of operation, seems to be more like 180 on, 175 off. Had a quick look at summit and the variable fan controllers aren't too expensive but it doesn't mention the off temp, only the on temp (variable). I think the car will need a new thermostat too, as if it's flowing at under 180, it means it won't have a 180 thermostat but a 165 one instead. Ideally the way i'd like it operate it is that thermostat opens at 180, system stays around that temp as the cooler water now enters, then as it gets warmer, fan comes on at 185, drops temp to 170, thermostat will be closed and water in rad will be 170, so when thermostat opens at 180, it's got some cooler water ready to flow through. When driving it should move enough air to keep the rad down to about 170 and the fan will only work when at idle, when temp gets to 185f. That's the aim anyway

This is the thermostatic kit that's on there: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tci-826501/overview/

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My fan switch is in the intake, ideally it should be in the head but Brodix make no provision for this.
Surely if the fan switch is in the radiator it switches on too late ?
By the time the water in the radiator reaches the fan switch on temp the motor is way hotter.

Just a thought.

Is there any way to tap into the sender for the gauge and use that to trigger the fan relay.. they're both just variable voltage switches at a guess...


On another note, any reason you have an electric fan, as the viscous one on the 2nd gens work well, never had an overheating issue with mine...

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

I don't think so they are different.
The gauge sender is always sending to the gauge while a fan switch turns on at a given temperature.

My Camaro is 3rd gen, came with one big electric fan, I now have two but the design
of the nose does'nt give good airflow to the rad.

It took me a long time to sort out the fans in mine when I went electric. I too have a Autometer guage, but went with a screw in switch for the fans, which went in the intake manifold.

Finding the right switch was tricky, as OEM replacements tend not to state the working temps, and the stock temps are quite high. I went through a few switches and different thermostats until I got the combo I wanted. From memory, I ended up with a 180 stat and a 195 on switch.

BTW, I didn't go as far as getting a controller.

I also fitted a manual override switch in case the sensor fails.

I used Hypertech fan swithes but it seems they´ve stopped doing them.....BUMMER !!!