Dear Forumisters,

Has anyone experienced this?

Lately, my car's radiator (coolant) fan continues operating way after the car has been switched off. I use the car mainly for short in town driving trips and never at speeds in excess of 70KM/H, yet the fan would be wheezing way after the ignition has been turned off.

In my 11 years of ownership, this is the first time I'm experiencing this. I am now wondering if it's a sign that the engine is about to pack up?

The weather has been the same in the past 11 years (winter lows of 0 Degree and summer highs of 30 degrees Celsius)

Is the fan's behaviour normal?

Other than this, the car seems normal. Temperature gauges etc.,
normal. I'm just baffled.

 

My guess is that your engine is overheating at a level just below a warning on your instrument cluster. Worst case, something like a bad thermostat, water pump, radiator etc. If I recall the heat gauge is actually not a representation of engine temp but a good/bad warning device.


You might also have a bad temp sensor telling the fan to stay on too long. That's if you are lucky. Perhaps a bad rad cap?

 

You were right Tarheal.

At first, the dealer wrongly replaced the radiator even though I never had coolant leakage problems before.

Radiator replacement + labour + coolant cost me $1000, but radiator wasn't the cause of the problem. Because the car's fan continued running 3 minutes after the car was switched off. Worst still, they must have tinkered with my car's aircon! The interior was the devil's furnace, hot like hell.

I was livid, but the Law and Spirit of Love and Grace befell me. I forgave the dealership and allowed them to make good of their wrong.

They took the car back, loaned me a brand new XF 2l Turbo and after 4 weeks (blame it on the warehouse parts holding and ownership policy affecting us down here on the Southernmost Part of Africa), the dealership returned my car and confirmed further replacing the thermostat, gearbox oil coolant pipe, and regassed my aircon. I parted with just under $170 for the additional repair work.

This time, I was a little sad to return the XF, even though it performed like a donkey compared to my blistering barnacles XJR. The little cat had grown on me, but I missed my benevolant dictator XJR more. It's now just over 4 days since my baby returned. Even though my alikat's interior smells like crap compared to that new XF's fresh new leather interior smell, I'm glad to confirm my baby's clean bill of health. It feels new and fresh, but the gearbox needs to learn my driving style again.

If only my child could remember how we telepathically connected before his lungs were replaced....

Hopefully the F-Pace will be the best and an honourable replacement for my alikat. Only price would tell, but then again, the Swedes have a formidable offering in the form of XC90 T8 on standby in case F-Pace pricing has gone crazily wild.

Adios forumisters, for now the XJR is king of my palace!

Seth

 

What can you do? You like to think the dealer service depts. are on top of their game but sometimes they are not.


Fortunately they usually are. The old rule still applies, "check the simple stuff first".