Is It A Problem When Your Car Engine Fan Never Shuts Off?

It is no fun being a student on a budget when it comes to experiencing car troubles. You are faced with the choice of taking your car to the mechanic and possibly living on ramen noodles for the rest of the month or ignoring the problem in the hope it goes away. One such dilemma occurs when you notice that your engine fan is never shutting off. You are probably thinking this is not such a big deal, but it could well be! These are the points you need to know when you are trying to decide if a visit to your local mechanic is in order.

What Does A Car Engine Fan Do?

Because your car engine generates a lot of heat, it has a fan mounted in the engine that keeps the engine running at a constant temperature. If the engine runs too hot, it can cause cracks to appear in the engine block and these allow all the engine lubricating fluids to drain out.

A car engine fan is attached to a temperature sensor and this sensor tells the fan when to turn on and off. Alternatively, your car engine fan may be controlled by a computer chip.

Why Is The Car Fan Not Turning Off?

There are a number of reasons why your car fan is turning on immediately when you start the car rather than kicking in when the engine temperature gets to a heated state and these include:

  • The temperature sensor is faulty and is misreading the engine temperature.
  • The computer chip is faulty and is miscommunicating the engine temperature.
  • The radiator thermostat is failing and this causes the radiator fan to switch on because it thinks it needs to cool the radiator down.

Because there are a number of reasons why the fan is not turning off, you need to determine if the effects of this are going to cause you a problem.

What Happens When The Car Fan Runs Too Long?

While the effects of having a car fan continuously running are not going to be immediately transparent, it will have an affect on your car over time:

  • You may see an increase in the wear and tear on the alternator because this provides the electricity to run the fan.
  • It could decrease your car battery life as there is now increased use of the battery.
  • It will decrease the life of the fan as it is running more than it would under normal circumstances.

At the end of the day, you won't see an immediate problem with your car, but it is something that can cause issues in the long term. When you can afford to, take your car to the mechanic and get it repaired so it is one less worry in your life. 


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