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Summer means hotter temperatures of course, but your Corvette does not benefit from the extreme heat. Expand your engine's longevity with our cooling fan switch modification. You may purchase a switch and/or harness via our online store. We would also be happy to make the modification for you in our shop. We have two recommendations to the owners of 1985-1989 Corvettes with stock or moderately modified engines. Option one is to replace the thermostat with a 180 degree unit and have the chip (PROM) programmed to turn the main cooling fan on at 205 degrees. Then connect both fans, the main and B4P auxiliary fan, to come on together to drop the temp quickly. The other option is to install the 180 degree thermostat with a 205 degree fan switch in the cylinder head where the original 238 switch resides. Then connect both fans the main and B4P auxiliary fan to come on together to drop the temp quickly. Either solution allows enough hysteresis to keep the thermostat open once the engine warms up while the cooling fan stays off most of the time. The electric cooling fan motor was not designed for continuous service. We have both options available in our shop whether you prefer the chip programming, which also receives some timing and fuel changes for optimum performance. When the above modifications are made the cruising temperature on a hot August central Florida afternoon would be 190-196 degrees, idle temp would run 205-210 degrees maximum and then cool down to 196 when the cooling fan would shut off. While in grid-lock, A/C on, the temperature would have the same rhythm, 210 degree maximum then recover to the 196 degree area when the fan shut down. When the cooling fan comes on at 205 degrees +- 3 degrees the temp typically rises a few degrees before heading the opposite direction. In order for everything to work properly, the cooling system has to be in good shape with the radiator flowing well and no debris build-up between the radiator and A/C condenser to achieve these quoted temp readings. If your cooling system has not been flushed in the past few years or possibly ever, the radiator itself may be full of sludge and debris internally. We rarely find any 1984-1989 Corvette that does not have debris between the radiator and condenser. We have pulled out and filled garbage bags with debris such as leaves, plastic bags, etc. You name it, it is in there.
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