Radiator Fan kicked in - makes a funny noise....

[foolycooly]

Got stuck in traffic over the weekend, and patiently sat there waiting for the Police to kindly open the A338 again, and the temperature of the engine hit 86 - a strange noise occured, and with me being new to the car, I immediately thought it was the knackered car in front and started tutting, until the missus pointed out it was us.....

So - the Rad fan is making a strange noise whenever it spins up - sounds like a playing card in the spokes of a bike wheel.

The fan is doing its job as the temps came down quite nicely, but its just worrying me - is it worth replacing the fan, or is this a major front clam off the car sort of deal?

Cheers

Simon

[Esprit]

It could just be something as small as a twig or a leaf touching the fan blades... if it's making that sorta noise, it's possible the fan itself is fine..... it's cooling the car down so it's obviously doing its job ok.

[bogie]

one of my fans does the same...sounds like the bearings have gone...still does the job...its a £40 fan...but its clam off, rad off to replace...lots of labour if you pay someone ...so Ive left mine

with the HOnda in, it barely uses the fan (sits about 85 deg all the time, fan comes in at 94) so I think its just lack of use !

edit: I wouldnt worry about it as long as its still turning ....

Edited by bogie on Tuesday 7th August 12:53

[foolycooly]

Hmm - wonder if I could get that solution past the missus.

'Only way to stop the fans making that noise is to put an F20 in - sorry honey'

Edited by foolycooly on Tuesday 7th August 13:00

[ganglandboss]

First time I heard my fan (S1) kick in, I was near a train station. I thought it was a train making the racket. It doesn't sound rough, just loud.

If it sounds nasty though, I would definately investigate further.

[greysquirrel]

my old one made a really loud high pitched noise, apparently water drops onto the bearings and rusts them- mine stopped working after a while and caused HGF so I would prob have a closer look.

[ganglandboss]

greysquirrel said:

my old one made a really loud high pitched noise, apparently water drops onto the bearings and rusts them- mine stopped working after a while and caused HGF so I would prob have a closer look.

Was it very high pitched? Mine is loud but I wouldn't say high pitched. Are they normally noisy?

[jamesG20]

My s2 111s has just started doing this, its a metallic noise i have....
Is it a clam off job to replace

[foolycooly]

Looking at the Techwiki it looks like a simple enough job to do, with the possible exception of shearing off all the clam bolts.....

Anyone fancy a Clam Off meet?

[jamesG20]

I've got a funny feeling i'm about to find out my 'lotus approved' warranty isn't worth that much.....

[jondude]

I presume you mean the temp hit 96, and not 86?

There is no way your fan should come on that early!

I've just come back from a spin which took in a long traffic jam. Temp went from 84 to 87, then stayed there quite a while ( think this is the thermostat opening, so cooler water joins the fray ) until it started creeping...slowly up to 94 I think, then I presume the fan came on as it kept going 94..93..92..91..90....91...92..93...94...93 etc.

Which is how it should be, methinks.


It may be ( not sure ) the Lotus is fitted with a failsafe, meaning if the temp guage breaks or strange readings are given, the fan comes out on a full, emergency blast to protect against overheating.

Worthwhile checking if that happened here. If the fan did come at 86, something is wrong and confusing the car's brain. Might be a faulty sensor, only a tenner.