[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
 | [Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: can you run the low speed cooling fan all the time? Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:09:18
In Reply to: can you run the low speed cooling fan all the time?, Richard9000, Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:22:59 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
As BobS notes, the cooling fan usually only runs at idle, and even not always then. The purpose of the cooling fan is to provide airflow when the car isn't moving. If the car is moving, that is a lot more airflow than the fan can provide.
You'll notice that the sensor (thermoswitch) is on the output of the radiator - that's the cold side. The hot coolant arrives at the top end, and gives up its heat as it moves to the bottom. The switch should only come on if that output coolant is pretty warm, and that only happens if there is no airflow over the radiator. And no airflow over the radiator for a while.
Take the car for a drive and get it nicely warmed up. Come to a stop and let the car idle. Depending on the outside temperature, the cooling fan should kick on after a while. If the temp gauge crawls up to the red and the fan doesn't come on, there's a problem. But if the fan kicks on after a couple/five minutes, and then cycles off, the fan is working just fine. If you are where it is cold, it may take quite a while to come on, if at all - if the radiator can throw off the heat without the fan, it will.
But it's normal for the fan not to be running when the car is moving, and normal that it isn't running all the time the car is at idle.
To answer you question - can you run the fan all the time? Yes - at speed, it won't matter at all. At idle, it's just a bit more electrical drain. The downside would be reduced fan motor life. It was designed to operating intermittently.
posted by 99.159.103...
, Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:09:18 <-- Viewing This Message
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
