3800 Radiator Fan Assembly differences

[TwistedSoundCo]

Alright so my headers are touching the drivers side fan and its smoking, so I'm expecting it to melt rather quickly.

From what I hear, the LS4 fans and 2.5 inches thinner than the impala fans. Anyone know if this is true, or if there are other assemblies I can swap out that would allow for more clearance?

I'm not sure if header wrap would drop the outside temp enough to not melt the fan housing, never used header wrap before..any input?

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[Yaj Yak]

is this common? any wbody i have worked on- never a wbody impala in this aspect tho... has had plenty of room in front of the headers...

 

[1quick]

Do you have shorter dog bones, are they those obx headers or whatever there called, I saw pictures of those and it looked like they stuck out way farther than regular headers

 

[TwistedSoundCo]

I've talked to four impala owners who have had the same problem. From what I understand its very common for the impala. I'm thinking the fan assembly is thicker for some reason.

There is plenty of room between the header and plastic, but it touches the metal backside of the motor, on the driver's side


The impala has very thick fan assembly, maybe 97-03 fan assembly is smaller as well? Damn impala's....


I have the speed daddy headers, the SLP knock off's,...that could be part of it. Morad wants 135 bucks for LS4 fan assembly..yeah right..


EDIT: Forgot to mention, I had shorter dogbones on, swapped them out for stock today, didn't make much of a difference though.

EDIT 2: Another guy said his are about a finger width away, same brand, and one of the previous guys said he replaced his motor mount and it gave him a little bit of clearance.


EDIT 3: SO i'm looking at pics online..it looks like just about ANY fan assembly except the one I have will work. For some reason the motor on the back of mine sticks out about 3-4 inches. The guy (from edit 2) send me a pic, and his is close on the pass side. He has an 04 SS, and the fan assembly looks different. I'm gonna do some measuring, and probably hit the junkyard this week after the trans is done.


Anybody got a 3800 fan assembly laying around they would take a few bucks for? (cough James? lol)

 

[boostedguy05]

Let it hit. Our cut that part of the far support out. Nfg racing

 

[Yaj Yak]

i would be whipping out a dremel and figuring it out.

i think i may have one on my parts shelf at my dads house.

 

[1quick]

I can take a look at the fans in my 01 and report back later but I've never had any gp's or regal's that it was an issue on must be an impala thing

 

[TwistedSoundCo]

Let it hit. Our cut that part of the far support out. Nfg racing

That was my initial though, except its smoking a lot and just melting the fan assembly. 1 guy had to replace his fans because it melted the motor.

If it was the plastic part I'd just cut it out, but its the metal motor itself hitting, can't exactly just cut it apart lol

The car isn't moving right now anyways until the trans is done, so I'm gonna worry about it next week. I'll probably just hit up a yard and grab a set of an 04+. It looks like the motors on that are a lot thinner than 00-03 are.

I'll be researching online to see if swapping it is an easy cure. I might just take a BFH and smash in the metal a bit (if i take it off and deem that feasible without ruining the motor lol) I really just need like 1 inch clearance. I'll either end up modding it somehow or swapping.




Damn impalas

 

[1quick]

my 01 just has manifolds on it but there is 3" from the fan to the manifold

 

[boostedguy05]

ah. thought it was just teh plastic not the fan motor itself.

 

[RICH17]

Police fans? Maybe they used them on all Impalas?

 

[01abboud]

My SLPs are pretty close to my fans... I had to take off the little metal shield on mine, because it was rubbing. That said, look at your lower mounts... that can make a huge difference. Worked on a friend's car, put on speeddaddy headers, constantly rubbed the fan (also an 01, so same setup)... swapped out the lower mounts, no rubbing.

 

[TwistedSoundCo]

Thats the second thing I've heard about the mount, so thatll probably be my first step. It 13 yrs old with 160k on it, so it can stand do be done anyways

 

[SuperDaveGSE]

I think the GP GT's had a different fan set up then the impala's and regal's. You might want to look into those, go to the junk yard and compare the two while your there.

 

[1quick]

Grand Prixs Of North America • View topic - Speed daddy headers on a 2004 impala, so much fun!

same issue your having

 

[TwistedSoundCo]

Yeah, to make it even more of a pain in the ass, those o4-05 fans are different than the 00-03.

If you look at his pics, his are hitting on the passenger side fan. My pass side fan has plenty of clearance, but the drivers side sticks out farther and is touching the headers. Basically right underneath the dogbone. I'll snap some pics in the AM too.

Everyone I have talked to (with impalas) said they have touched, or been incredibly close to touching. the 04+'s touch on pass side, and 00-03 touch drivers side lol

EDIT: Just noticed the forum name, I know who he is from naioa.com lol

 

[slowchevy]

fuck PBSS and fuck NAIOA.

 

[0GBlown]

i had same problem when i put on my zzp headers switched to ls4 fans but i had to cut part of it because the novi sits so close to it. didnt like how it look even though it was very effective at keeping the car cool so i put on slim fans. I should got bigger slim fans temps are about 2-3 degrees higher than the ls4 fans

 

[0GBlown]

if your interested

 

[TwistedSoundCo]

You still have them?

The pics are exactly what I needed to confirm, those look perfect

 

[0GBlown]

You still have them?

The pics are exactly what I needed to confirm, those look perfect

yeah i still have them

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

cut and ziptie
cause 3800

btw tip: you can cut and shave the ac condensor and radiator mounting bushings/arms to push everything forward almost a 1/2inch


3800

 

[smug]

any one noticed a cooling difference with the LS4 fans? Is it worth it to swap over even if my headers are not touching?

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

i doubt any difference aside from narrower to allow for more room

that and just beeing anewer model year they likely have less wear and tear...doubt they cool any better...prob due to its thicker radiator with different hose locations

 

[smug]

ok ill keep my $130 then lol