Lazy radiator fan

[92_talon_awd]

I turn the car off after driving, return to the car in a few minutes. Key back in the ignition and the temp gauge is waaay up there. Fan comes on as soon as I turn the key to Acc. Shouldn't the fan run when the key is out if it is over a certain temp?

 

[GSTwithPSI]

No, the fan will never run with the key removed from the ignition. The key needs to be in the run position for the fan circuit to receive power.

 

[FlyingEagle]

Unless you have the ignition/engine interlocked with a turbo timer, nothing stays alive, as mentioned above, when the key is removed.

When the engine is left running with a timer, the fan may come on if the engine is in the correct temp range (read - higher ranger), but won't otherwise.

If you wire up the fan circuits to a switch/relay setup, then and only then can you control the operation of the fan other than designed by the factory.

The engine heat soaks when it is shut off, and this is the effect that you see when the temp gauge is so high upon the next key forward cycle/engine start.

 

[92_talon_awd]

Cool, thanks for the answers. This is my first all stock Mitsu so I wasn't sure. I know about the heat soaking and what not, just some of my other car brands would kick on the cooling fan regardless. Guess it's not that way with the Mitsu but it's good to know so I don't worry about it.

 

[GVR4kauai]

You can always jump the fan relay with a simple wire to run the fan always on. This is the first thing I did on my car after installing my fmic. Plus I'm only using 1 fan now since the a/c is removed. My temps stay bellow half and you can feel the cold being pulled thru the fmic! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif its super easy to do and won't hurt a thing. If you wanna try let me know ill show you what to do.

 

[92_talon_awd]

Thanks for the suggestion John. The car doesn't get hot and the fans work fine with the car running, I was just concerned they weren't coming on when the car was off and the motor was hot. I've had imports before that would cycle the fan regardless of the key position or presence when the temp was high so that's why I was asking. Just wanted to make sure everything was working like it should.

 

[GVR4kauai]

K I gotcha /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Ya my wife's Vw is the same way if the motor is hot the fans run till its cooled. You would think in a turbo car that would be a good idea to do lol.

 

[turbowop]

My Audi doesn't do that. It wouldn't make sense to me anyway, since the only thing it cools is the coolant in the radiator when the motor isn't running. As soon as you fire the car back up and coolant starts flowing everything cools back down to normal operating temps. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[92_talon_awd]

Not sure if it helps anything or not, I would think it would or manufacturers wouldn't bother to wire the car like that. Couldn't hurt it though.

Quoting GVR4kauai:
K I gotcha /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Ya my wife's Vw is the same way if the motor is hot the fans run till its cooled. You would think in a turbo car that would be a good idea to do lol.


I know quite a few cars that're like that, they all have that big warning label on the fans about them coming on regardless of if engine is running or not.