Radiator shroud/surround

[parksie]

Do you know how important this cover is to the operation of the cooling system.

My rad surround is intermitantly catching the fan, creating a hideous noise,i was thinking of taking it off all together, rather than get a new one but is this goina cause problems.

Guys any advice is welcome

[Jesus325iTouring]

I would imagine its fairly important as you wasnt to keep as much air blowing into the rad as possible.
Without it your gonna lose quite a lot of air movement as it gets flung away from the fan rather than being kept enclosed.
However,take it off and try it for a few days,in all the scenarios,ie;traffic,high ish speed and such like,and then see how much difference it may or may not make to the engine temp.
HTH

[Simon]

I'm assuming you mean the shroud on the engine side of the rad, this shroud plays a big part in the flow of the air through the rad, it's shaped to the fan to suck air through the rad.

It sounds like it needs clipping in properly, it falls into some clips at the bottom, and 2 clips secure it on top, if it's broken it's only a couple of quid for a new one from the dealers.

[low325icab]

i hate this bit! i ripped mine out a while ago as it was getting on my nerves. hasnt made any difference to the cooling of the engine though as the temp gauge sits on a quarter all day long, sitting still too.

[Simon]

If the shroud is causing problems or catching, and it fits fine, then I'd be looking elsewhere engine mounts for example, I've never had any problems with any of my E30's...

[telski789]

i had the same problem with mine,the 325 engines move so much under acceleration,and you dont wanna put new mounts on every time they get 3 months old,so i took the fan off and cut 35mm off of the end of each blade with my dremel! you couldnt tell to look at it as i used the first one i cut off as a pattern for the rest of the blades!.made absolutely no difference to the cooling but never ever catches,took me 20 mins and done!!

[Jordan]

Pull the shroud out. It doesn't do anything worth keeping it in for.

I pulled mine and the mechanical fan. I have no issues running around with no fan at all.

[Brianmoooore]

You won't have any problems running around with the shroud removed, but you might see a dfiference when stuck in traffic on a hot day.
If you have problems with the fan blades hitting the shroud, then something is broken or bent.

[parksie]

Thanks one and all for the advice, i'll see if i can get some new clips, try it
if that don't work , then i'll look to changing the engine mountings. Is that a longish job ?

I do though like the quick fix idea of shortening the fan.

thanks again steve