Cooling fan runs on after engine shut down ?
Discussion
My 2011 Ford Focus 1.6 petrol engine has just started to show this habit.
Its never done it before, but for the past few days after a regular journey (no heavy stop/start traffic) I'll turn off the engine and the fan will run on for maybe a minute.
The temp indicator is at the "normal" point, but a spanner man once told me these gauges are made to always read in the middle as long as the engine temp is within a certain safe range. This was done to stop owners of cars complaining if the temp needle didn't always point exactly in the "middle". Is that true ?
So as a wild guess I'm wondering if the thermostat is not fully opening, allowing the engine to run just a little hotter than normal, but not enough to push the gauge over ?
If this makes sense I'll just fit a new thermostat in the first instance.
Cheers
Its never done it before, but for the past few days after a regular journey (no heavy stop/start traffic) I'll turn off the engine and the fan will run on for maybe a minute.
The temp indicator is at the "normal" point, but a spanner man once told me these gauges are made to always read in the middle as long as the engine temp is within a certain safe range. This was done to stop owners of cars complaining if the temp needle didn't always point exactly in the "middle". Is that true ?
So as a wild guess I'm wondering if the thermostat is not fully opening, allowing the engine to run just a little hotter than normal, but not enough to push the gauge over ?
If this makes sense I'll just fit a new thermostat in the first instance.
Cheers
Don't start randomly throwing parts at a car that doesn't necessarily have a problem.
First check the coolant level, then try to bleed it in case there is any air locked in the system, check there is actual anti freeze in the system as it is also anti-boil, you can also get a thermometer & check various points in the system to make sure there is flow/heat where it should be.
Lastly, yes, the gauges are normally less sensitive around the "normal" setting such that slight discrepancies aren't shown.
First check the coolant level, then try to bleed it in case there is any air locked in the system, check there is actual anti freeze in the system as it is also anti-boil, you can also get a thermometer & check various points in the system to make sure there is flow/heat where it should be.
Lastly, yes, the gauges are normally less sensitive around the "normal" setting such that slight discrepancies aren't shown.
pcn1 said:
The temp indicator is at the "normal" point, but a spanner man once told me these gauges are made to always read in the middle as long as the engine temp is within a certain safe range. This was done to stop owners of cars complaining if the temp needle didn't always point exactly in the "middle". Is that true ?
Cheers
It's not a gauge, it a digitally controlled indicator. They'll be programmed to sit in the middle for any temperature between "reasonably warm" and "not quite hot enough to alert the driver but very close."Cheers
FunkyNige said:
Would one of those bluetooth OBD port readers show the real temperature?
Yes, water and oil temps are standard OBD params so they should show up on any tool.Or, even better, you could use FORScan: https://forscan.org/home.html
Works with cheap/generic ELM327 tools quite happily, including bluetooth ones.
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