In fact, it’s a strange feeling: after turning off the engine and locking the vehicle, you wait for it to stop making noise, to be quiet before you return. However, the hobbyist has a picnic in the parking lot before he can go shopping for the week. Surprisingly, especially since we are in the winter season, it should not work… It should be activated by strong heat. Let’s take a few moments to understand what’s going on before imagining the worst and panicking.
This is the reason why the engine cooling fan continues to spin even after the ignition is turned off.
A fan in my engine, what for?
Raise the hood of the car. source: spm
Do not confuse the mechanical fan of the house and the one of your engine. They look the same and serve the same purpose: cooling. Create a draft to reduce heat exchange.
The fan in your vehicle is part of a larger system. The cooling system. It is essential because the work of the engine generates a lot of heat. By not being evacuated, the latter invades the entire production system and renders the engine inoperative. By lifting the motor cover, you will easily identify the fan. It is located near the radiator, which is connected to the engine by hoses, which carry coolant. Water that contains additives, whose mission is to capture the heat of the engine. The circulation in the radiator, by principle of heat exchange, goes reduce the temperature of this fluid and help keep the engine temperature at a tolerable level.
Your fan is programmed to start as soon as the observed temperature is 90 degrees. It will only stop when the latter has dropped to 80 degrees.
A spinning motor fan is a good sign.
Car engine. source: spm
You can rest easy: all the components of the refrigeration system work. If the fan did not work, on the contrary, you need to worry.. It continues to spin after stopping is completely normal. The system detected overheating moments before shutting down. The process continues its course, until it reaches 80 degrees.
A fan that keeps running is potentially a bad sign.
The observations that should then be considered in this case are the following: is it frequent? systematic? Under what circumstances? On snowy roads, in rainy weather, in traffic jams, the engine is much more stressed. It will get hot. It will need to be cooled. The vehicle is new or almost new, do not worry too much, a visit to the mechanic cannot be ruled out.
If your vehicle has more than ten years or more than 250,000 km on the clock, you have to worry about it. A check of the entire cooling system should be carried out every two oil changes.. Especially if you’re on the go. The outward journey gave rise to such a situation, and the return?
Before going to a mechanic, you can do a few checks yourself. Find the coolant reservoir and check the level, apply support if necessary. Then comes the turn of the radiator. A visual inspection is necessary to detect a leak in the shelves.. If it gets cold, also pass your hand, looking for bumps, breaks. It happens that a violent contact in a rut, with an edge, comes to damage the lower part of the radiator.
Your mechanic also has other means to check the tightness and functionality of the cooling systems. Draining, removing impurities, offering solutions for small leaks.
No one can blame your curiosity or alertness. Observing that your vehicle’s fan continues to run after stopping will in some cases help you avoid mechanical problems.
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