After a long city drive on a typical extremely hot day here in Florida, I decided to check my engine's coolant temp with my scanner. The car was pulled into my garage, and the coolant temp varied between 205-208 F. My question is, how noticeable are the coolant fans? I didn't hear anything loud or noticeable, but I'm sure they must have been on, as my car was idling in the hot garage. Will they operate if the engine is off? I've never heard them in the "ignition on" position when the car was not running. Are our fans that quiet?

 

it goes to high speed at like 105C

 

As I discovered on very hot days in southern Spain, the cooling fans will continue to run with the engine off. Not an excessive noise but you should hear then whirring.

I'm "old school" and would have opened the bonnet to check. Could have knocked me down with a feather when I discovered you are two months older than me.

Graham

 

Thanks GGG. Yes, I did open the hood to check while running. I was unable to see the fans with the beauty cover on. I even got down on the ground but was unable to hear anything noticeable. As far as hearing anything when the engine was turned off....nothing. Is my car running that cool or is it just characteristic to my car?

 

Here in England the fans never run on. The summer doesn't get hot enough. It was only days in the high 90's on the Mediterranean that I first noticed it. Should be just audible, More from the air movement than anything else.

Graham

 

On a 90+ day here in the Utah, I'll sometimes hear the fan running after shutdown. If I do and I'm done driving for the day, I'll leave the hood open to help it cool down faster. On the rare occasion, I'll stick a box fan in front of the car to help keep airflow going through the rad after the rad fan turns off to aid in convective cooling. The fan isn't loud but everyone's hearing is different, so the two best ways to tell if the fan is on is to either stick your finger in it or feel for any air blowing up from under the intake pipes. I personally prefer the latter, but the former is equally effective in determining the state of the fan.

 

You would hear the fan, especially if you're standing by the front end and the engine is shut off. Sounds pretty much exactly how you'd expect.

I know this because I rarely if ever heard mine, and was stuck in traffic during one of those 100-degree days in the San Fernando Valley... and I got the hated Red Triangle for engine overheating.
Had the whole thing replaced. Now I listen for it whenever it's hot out.