danglerb

I'm not sure my clutch fan is bad, its more like it isn't 100% 100% of the time, so that the temperature is bouncing off the upper end of normal running the Bosch pusher fan for the AC. The clutch fan blade is also occasionally ticking on the lower passenger side of the shroud, which makes me suspect MM going or gone on that side.

I want to switch to an electric fan, but I am not "ready" to do it and the parts I want might take a couple weeks or more to arrive.

I want to put off MM for about 6 months until I am settled on my long term motor plans.

I want to drive the 928 from SoCal to Las Vegas and back next Sunday (1/7).

Anybody think it might be OK to drive it like it is this time of year?

I should be able to get a fan quickly locally, its the PWM controller that I want that is delayed, so maybe I will just use a relay setup for now. At night even the Bosch fan is quite a load on the 90 amp alt (which is less than 5k miles old).

Imo000

If the fan is touching the bottom of the shoroud then the motor mounts are for sure collapsed. Now you only need the fan is a stop and go traffic. If you temps are stable during highways speeds (above 50mph) and the SC fan can keep it bellow the red in a stop and go traffic, then you should be OK to go to Vegas. In an emergency yuo can use the heater to keep the temps down. Also try moving the shround a little away from the fan.

In any case put a few 100 local miles on it before heaidng out to LV.

danglerb

Thats my plan, drive as much as I can Sunday and Monday without getting too silly or far away, keep one eye on the temp, and also try to see what its like in various speeds. I took my wife to dinner in it tonight, her first ride, and it just sort of bounced from the top mark down maybe an 1/8" as the AC pusher fan cycled on and off. Cruising had it settle into mid band.

Main concern is that the old Bosch might croak from too much use, but I guess it always ran with the AC anyway. Next concern is that when I pull off the highway the temp might go up quickly.

Wednesday its scheduled for a quick look pre trip, post driving for the weekend.

Mike Frye

Dangler,

I wouldn't chance anything with the cooling system on a long ride (although highway is better than local in this case).

IMO, don't drive it if the temp is high or erratic, or the oil pressure/level is low. Not worth the risk or the headache. I think we all drive with one eye on the guages anyway, no reason to head out with a problem.

There's a term I learned from an RC airplane hobbyist: it's 'always fly above two mistake altitude'. Don't set yourself up where only one mistake will cook your car.

my .02

danglerb

If the lower shroud isn't too hard to remove, maybe thats the thing to do for now. My son and I took a half hour run down a scenic route through the foothills near us, and part of the time temp was down just above the low mark, with the same bouncing off the high mark at other times. Nothing special happened at 70 mph or 100 mph, and my usual speed for most of the way to Las Vegas is bit over 80, very rarely over 90.

I still have vivid memories of a childhood family vacation where we got stuck for hours in traffic going up the "grapevine" I5 through Castaic before it was freeway all the way, and the car overheated and vaporlocked, joining dozens of other cars in the same fix.