So, I've read on here about some cooling fan that is in the trunk on pre-88 Fieros. Is it in a hidden compartment? Or do you have to remove the trunk liner to gain access? Anybody have a illustration or photo? I'd like to verify it's there, and working. Is it controlled by a thermostat? All submitted info/advice is welcome and appreciated.

It's controlled with the same logic as the main cooling fan - when the main fan turns on, this will also turn on. You can just peel back the carpet on the right side of the trunk as shown above to access it.

quote Originally posted by sledcaddie: So, I've read on here about some cooling fan that is in the trunk on pre-88 Fieros. .

It is only on V6 cars.

quote Originally posted by Gall757:

Where does that duct go?

The black plastic duct goes to the two silver tubes that extend from the opposite side of the trunk wall. One points to the coil, the other points to the alternator. These are your two main electrical hot spots. The idea was to keep them cool to keep them from failing from heat. I don't think the fan comes on often enough to do much good as it is wired from the factory. I have re-wired mine to be on whenever the key is on. It is simple to do. It will not affect any other part of your electrical system and the radiator fan will continue to work as designed.

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Jonathan

'68-69 GTO Nose - The Project has Begun!
My '85 L67 Build Thread

quote Originally posted by Boostdreamer: I have re-wired mine to be on whenever the key is on. It is simple to do. It will not affect any other part of your electrical system and the radiator fan will continue to work as designed.

How were you able to do this? I find mine is late coming on and would rather have it on all the time

quote Originally posted by NetCam: [size=3][/size] How were you able to do this? I find mine is late coming on and would rather have it on all the time

Here is a write-up I did. Hope it helps!

TRUNK BLOWER:

Have you ever noticed the two bent tubes that are attached to the trunk wall
that faces the engine? Do you know what they are? They are there to direct
air to the coil and the alternator.

Do you know were the forced air comes from? Inside your trunk! On the
passenger-side of the trunk there is a blower mounted between the carpet and
the fender. Pull the carpet away from the rubber trunk weatherstrip to
locate it.

This blower works in conjunction with the radiator fan. They come on at the
same time. Even though these cars are 20 years old, these blowers have seen
very little run time. Our little engines are designed to run at relatively
high temperatures but the electrical componets are not. Heat is deadly to
them. I have re-wired this blower to work at all times when the key is in
the run position. It is easy. Here's how you do it:

There is a relay beside the blower that is held on by two 7mm bolts, remove
them to give yourself better access to the wiring. You will see five wires
going into the relay. Three brown, a green/white, and one black/red wire.
Peel the tape back and you will see two of the brown wires are actually the
same wire used as a jumper.

Cut the brown wire that is not a jumper about 4-5 inches from the relay. Cut
the black/red wire an equal distance from the relay. Strip some insulation
from the four ends of wire. Use a wire nut to connect all four wire ends.

Re-tape the bundle of wire and replace the two 7mm bolts. Now whenever the
key is in the RUN position, that blower will be working.

Jonathan

'68-69 GTO Nose - The Project has Begun!
My '85 L67 Build Thread

[This message has been edited by Boostdreamer (edited 06-21-2013).]

A lot of us just took them out and thru them away. GM also decided it was worthless in 88.

What about using a switch then the driver could control it?

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: A lot of us just took them out and thru them away. GM also decided it was worthless in 88.

It was a poor design to have it come on at the same time as the radiator fan. It SEEMS like logical thinking but was a too little, too late situation. I wonder if anyone has tried to measure any temperature change or meausre any increase in the longevity of the coil and alternator while the blower is working? I don't know if it helps at all while it is on but I DO know for sure that it doesn't help when it's off. That's why I made mine to be on full time. I'd rather let the fan burn out in an attempt to do its job rather than save it and allow the coil and alternator to remain at risk. The coil and alternator are vital to the car working. I can get by without the fan if it fails.

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Jonathan

'68-69 GTO Nose - The Project has Begun!
My '85 L67 Build Thread

quote Originally posted by Boostdreamer: It was a poor design to have it come on at the same time as the radiator fan. It SEEMS like logical thinking but was a too little, too late situation. I wonder if anyone has tried to measure any temperature change or meausre any increase in the longevity of the coil and alternator while the blower is working? I don't know if it helps at all while it is on but I DO know for sure that it doesn't help when it's off. That's why I made mine to be on full time. I'd rather let the fan burn out in an attempt to do its job rather than save it and allow the coil and alternator to remain at risk. The coil and alternator are vital to the car working. I can get by without the fan if it fails.

Thanks but I dont have the 2.8 so I am using it for a different reason.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: A lot of us just took them out and thru them away. GM also decided it was worthless in 88.

Roger, it is totally misleading (and rather irresponsible IMO) to state that without also mentioning the other changes that were made in '88 to the 2.8 that rendered the trunk fan unnecessary.

Prior to the changes made in '88 (better heat shielding and a different alternator with superior self-cooling), GM determined the necessity of the trunk fan to help keep the alternator and coil/ICM area relatively cool in a hot engine bay.

Removing or incapacitating the trunk fan in a pre-'88 2.8 Fiero is just asking for trouble.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-21-2013).]

Hello all. I do not have a 2.8. So I have no concern about cooling the distributor or the alternator. I want to try this on something else.

Thanks Jonathan, I'm going to try that with mine. If the fan is going to be there, then I'd like it to be on all the time!

For the sake of accuracy ......

The air inlet to the fan is not in the trunk, it pulls through an opening in the upper corner of the curved trunk sidewall. The air comes from behind the right rear wheel well liner.

quote Originally posted by NetCam: If the fan is going to be there, then I'd like it to be on all the time!

Radiator and blower fans are not made to be on full time.

Upgrade to CS130... Better cooling and more power. OE is available 105 amps.
See my Cave, CS Alternator and Rabid-Wombat's CS-130 Conversion for 85-87 V6.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top and bottom of every forum page...)

I said I didnt remember all the details of it when I took it out. Wherever it gets the air in from though, it still goes thru the hollow divider which is very hot, so its an assumption that air blowing thru there is going to be heated a lot. Im sure it cant hurt to blow more air, but I see it as very negligable at the most. My cars (one with Turbo v6) were just fine without them for over 100K..no problems whatever. The few ignition module failures I had all occurred during long trips in driving rain (2 enroute to Carlisle), so I attribute them to water. The other was in the middle of winter with a week old AC Delco module, so heat...or moisture was not the issue. I just speak from my own experiences. Others may find different reasons. In the prep of my 86 for the Ferrari body, it went to the dumpster with everything else I deemed useless. The ones that have installed exhaust fans under the rear deck would have much better results. I did know that 88 went to a different alternator, but far as I know they still used the same distributor, coil and module (without cooling).

Just little FYI on this topic:
As with the exhaust system and the starter motors, GM should have given more thought to the placement of the ignition coil with respect to the Y pipe. Even with the little in-trunk fan, they get too hot. If you look at the MSD coil in the photo of my 87GT's 2.8 you notice that it has been raised 2" and turned 180 degrees creating more space between it and the hot Y pipe. It's easy enough to do and cost less than $5. You just need 2 longer bolts and 2 standoff and 2 nuts and need to extend a few wires.



BTW: Lol, yes that's two lower connecting rods bolted to the engine, just temp hosting point.

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trueleo.com
RSpiderII@aol.com

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I said I didnt remember all the details of it when I took it out. Wherever it gets the air in from though, it still goes thru the hollow divider which is very hot.

AGAIN, FOR THE SAKE OF ACCURACY!!!!!!

The air is routed from the fan to the cooling tubes via a plastic duct that lays between the trunk side of the firewall and the trunk carpeting, NOT through a "hollow divider".

Got some pics ? if the plastic duct is on the carpeted side of the truck divider and the aluminum tubes are on the engine side, it HAS to go thru the divider bulkhead somewhere. That divider is 2 layers of metal with a space between them ... hollow...if I remember right. The tubes are bolted to the studs on the engine side with 10 mm nuts. They are not fastened to anything plastic unless you can show it to me. Again, thats all pretty much useless info because unless the air is from the outside going directly onto the dis and alt, its not doing anything. Use a temp sensor and tell me the temp of the air blowing out the ends of the tubes...ill bet its not cool. You all demand proof of anything I say, so I demand proof too.

I moved my coil to the trunk firewall just for the reason of heat. The coil wire still reaches. The alternator is a whole other story. I don't like the stock location.

Wrapping the exhaust pipes with header wrap is a sound investment. They are stainless and the wrap won't hurt and it also reduces the radiant heat on the alternator.

I don't know why the factory didn't produce a bracket that moved the alternator further away from the exhaust.

But, there is a more deadly issue. That trunk fan invites moisture behind it. If you remove it you are sure to find rust in varying stages. I had to do a rust repair when I removed mine, and my trunk was otherwise rust free at the time.

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But, there is a more deadly issue. That trunk fan invites moisture behind it. If you remove it you are sure to find rust in varying stages.

How so? I didnt find that in my car. I do not know who took it out. I am either the 5th 0r 6th owner.

You didn't find the rust because somebody took the fan out before you owned the car.

In my case, I bought the car in 2003, and found the rust in 2004 and dealt with it.

Arn

It might not be accurate or politically correct, but I'm always going to call it the trunk blower. I've never had to explain what I was talking about further. Yes the air is forced from the area above the right rear wheel. Technically not in the trunk but accessed through it none the less.

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Jonathan

'68-69 GTO Nose - The Project has Begun!
My '85 L67 Build Thread

Fan or not the right rear trunk corner goes first.
The foam between the upper clip and the upper frame rail shrinks and allows moisture to follow the tail light wiring harness down the upper frame rail.
Dukes rust just as badly as the 60° V-6 cars.

Really, where do people come up with this stuff???

[This message has been edited by olejoedad (edited 06-22-2013).]

I've noticed that if my coil/alternator fan isn't on my voltage is higher than normal. It was running at about 16 volts and after I manually wired the fan to the ignition it stayed at a normal voltage. Thats just my outlook on them!

I recently replaced my alternator with the CS130 as Ogre mentioned above, and my next logical step is to move the coil and add a heat sink to my distributor. Once this is done I'll be pulling the fan out of the trunk. Getting rid of those cooling tubes will give the engine bay a cleaner look, and reduce the chance of moisture bringing more rust around, which I really don't want to have to deal with.

I removed mine years and years ago and the alt/coil did not fail. BUT, you have to remember, GM makes cars to operate from cold MN all the way to death valley. removing the fan in a car operating year round in arizona might kill alts and coils yearly...

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84 NB, 3800SC, E-85, VS Cam, 3.0 Pulley, 4T65E-HD, HP Tuners, AEM Wideband, Regal GS Gauges, S-10 Brake Booster. 1/4 mile -12.05 at 111.7mph

You guys seem all pissy about this fan.. I took the ruined old foam block out of it where the plastic tubes seperate and just duct tape it shut to try to get better air flow. But you still cant even feel the air coming out of the tubes in the engine compartment. (painted the metal tubes flat black so they aren't noticeable when you look at the engine) Even so mines wired on all the time. and if it burns out? I'll mount rad fans under the decklids activated via temp switch in the engine comapartment. most people say oh if you need vent fans you must have coolant issues?! NO! my damn Fiero runs at exactly 180 degrees F sometimes 5-10 degrees cooler with a 180f superstat. but the engine compartment still gets damn hot. The motor can handle the heat but the electronics and hoses can't.

quote Originally posted by Francis T: Just little FYI on this topic: As with the exhaust system and the starter motors, GM should have given more thought to the placement of the ignition coil with respect to the Y pipe. Even with the little in-trunk fan, they get too hot. If you look at the MSD coil in the photo of my 87GT's 2.8 you notice that it has been raised 2" and turned 180 degrees creating more space between it and the hot Y pipe. It's easy enough to do and cost less than $5. You just need 2 longer bolts and 2 standoff and 2 nuts and need to extend a few wires. BTW: Lol, yes that's two lower connecting rods bolted to the engine, just temp hosting point.

Thats a good idea too. Ive seen other member that moved the coil to inside the trunk area and just extended all the wires. I think I also remember seeing a few that moved the ignition module outside of the distributor and covering them with insulation wrap.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I think I also remember seeing a few that moved the ignition module outside of the distributor and covering them with insulation wrap.

...

Not a chance. Wrapping an ICM with insulation would fry it in seconds.

There are all kinds of insulation. I didnt say wrap it in aluminum foil. I didnt give any specifics, but thought I remembered at least one person who moved it like that. Why couldnt you cover it with header wrap ? Maybe just a mount to lift if off the engine with a insulating mat under it like a carb spacer. No where outside is any hotter than inside a closed distributor cap except if you bolted it onto an exhaust pipe. Make a bracket to mount the coil and module on the roof...it will stay cool there