Urgent fan question
 

My car started running a little hot so i shut it off and the fan kicked on after i shut the car off...When i turned the car back on the fan shut off...What would cause this to happen...I am supposed to drive 300 miles tomorrow so i need to try to get it fixed fast.

Update: I went out after I posted this and it had shut off after it reached normal temp however i turned it on and watched to see if the fans would kick on after it reached their normal point but they didn't (Hoping more than believing that there was some sort of dumb protection feature so that when you turned it back on you wouldn't run it and cause a greater heat buildup stupid i know but it would have been easier that way)

how hot did it get was it up to the top were the red mark is. Did u check your coolant level.

no it was about halfway between 1/2 and 3/4 i am too paranoid about ruining a head gasket to look away for long enough for it to get that high...coolant is full

bump

Before someone says temp sensor the temp sensor in it is only about a month old, if it is the temp sensor then what could be causing it to go bad so quickly

between 1/2 and 3/4 is pretty normal from what I remember.....

mine normally runs on the bottom part of half at the most it will barely clear the half mark...Unless i am mistaken it shouldn't be that different based on the outside temp should it


EDIT:If it was normal i also wouldn't expect the fan to come one with the car off and the keys out of the ignition...when i started it they immediately shut off...i am thinking that i may just have to wait til next week and try changing all relays I didn't want to resort to that unless necessary because orielly's wants like $20 a piece for them...i really really didn't want to ride the bus to the track meet tomorrow because it will put me home about 4 hours later than i wanted to be but it seems like my best option and then it is only 40-50 miles home from my college

Pull a relay from something else that works and put it in the spot for that fan. So you lose your power seat for a day, big deal.

i went out and checked and everything not tied to that system was too small...good idea though

yeah... I would never pull a relay from another part of the vehicle to use for that.... That's just asking for trouble.... Relays and fuses are completely different. ;)

LOL! Please. When it gets to the highest tick mark, the temperature is around 250. My car has seen that a couple times when I was dealing with massive air pockets. (Still am til I seal off a leak, but w/e).

At the position you mention, and from my vast experience with coolant temperature monitoring, it's likely 210-215, not a big deal. The 3400's thermostat is a 195, thus the car will actually run 205-210ish.. Like my 180 thermostat on my engine, the car runs 190ish normally.

Seriously, no need to freak out and turn off the car once you trek beyond the half mark. Think about it when it's past the 3/4 mark.


If they look the same, they are the same, as far as I've experienced. And I've done a lot of relay work at the Zone back in the day.

My cars fans dont turn on until it reaches 227*F yay DIC coolant temp guage :P

Also, please note that the fans shouldn't be what regulates your engine temperature (they are too weak to do such a thing). If you car is running hotter than it should, it's not going to be a simple relay or fan issue..

This was once i got back from my travels...i parked in the parking lot and went into the college to see something, came back out and drove to my dorm parking lot and as i was pulling in there was when i noticed that it was starting to go up above the normal point so I checked to see if the fans were on and they weren't so i let it run for a minute to see if they would kick on and they didn't until after the was off...I got out keys in hand and heard the fans running so i tried starting it again to see if they would work right and they immediately quit

I know this...the problem is probably tied to the fact that before i got it the temp sensor was out for who knows how long and coolant was disappearing so the family member i bought it from just thought that there was a coolant leak somewhere that was causing it...I payed attention and learned otherwise

Ion, my car normally runs ~ 185F around town so fans never kick on now if i sit in a parking lot or otherwise idle for awhile it will get up to 227F where the fans kick on then the temp falls all the way down to about 180F in a few mins so i think the fans have a pretty big effect unless Aleros are different in that reguard in which correct me

The car has a heatsoak period when you shut it off, it will run hotter because the coolant is no longer flowing and cooling things down. The temperature will drop down if you drive it more after you restart the car...

I guess this is true I suppose it may be possible that I have never looked down soon enough to notice the temp spike...The only other part I don't like is that the fan came on with the car off...I have not noticed this function before is it supposed to do that ever

the temp swing is with the car still idling in the same spot, not moving btw

as long as it doesnt get to the 3/4> over mark i wouldnt worry too much about it my Alero always ran between the 1/2 and 3/4 mark unless the ac was on, then it ran a lil below the 1/2 mark

Sometimes it will, it at least keeps the air moving through the radiator a little bit when the car isn't moving and is off. Mine hardly ever comes on, I forget the factory temperature settings in the tune, but if the intake air temperature or coolant temp are beyond a certain amount, the fans will remain on when the car is off for a certain amount of time. Don't worry about it.



There's no reason your car should idle and achieve anywhere near 227.. there may be something wrong with your cooling system. If my car idles for over 30 minutes it will maintain a consistent 190..

You should also probably quit relating your Cobalt with an n-body in every thread. Need to keep the Alero specific sections on-topic and accurate to our own vehicles. :thumb: