Oil Change And Fan Shroud

It's been really hot in Finland for the past weeks and luckily I've been on holiday. Unfortunately the Mustang didn't seem to like it as much as me. I took a few short trips around town and noticed that the engine temperature was higher than normal. It seemed that the fan and radiator could not keep up with the engine in stop and go traffic in 30 degrees celsius (85 F) temperatures.

I ordered a fan shroud and bracket set to help with the cooling problem. When they arrived I noticed a small problem though. I had assumed that my radiator had three rows but later realised it had only two! This meant the brackets were too long and I had to order a second set. Luckily it was only about 15 dollar mistake.

While waiting for the brackets I decided to replace the oil and filter. I drained the old oil into a bowl and could not see anything wrong with it. There were no visible metal shavings or any other particles in it. It seemed that the engine rebuild and break in succeeded! I'll also check the plugs and valve train later.

After getting the correct brackets for the shroud, it was simple bolting it in. I also decided to replace my fan with the one I got with the crappy engine. Its blades were much larger so hopefully it would draw more air through the radiator.

I took another test drive with the new setup and the engine still runs a bit warmer but the shroud did help somewhat. At least I shouldn't have to worry about boiling the engine anymore.