Cooling fan question....

[MadProfessor]

I can' seem to find an explanation of the operating parameters of the cooling fan.
Does the fan run all the time and adjusts the speed according to the needs of the engine?
Or does the fan actually set idle until needed by the engine?

 

[joegr]

Both. It generally runs at least a little all the time, but if you have the AC off and it is cold, it can go off too. Note also that the fan switches off at highway speed (of course, you can't tell because the airflow from moving still spins the fan blades).
It is a variable speed design, so it speeds up and slows down instead of cycling like some of the imports do.

 

[MadProfessor]

Yeah,I figured it would shut down at highway speeds since its not needed due to airflow.
I've only had this car a few weeks and have done some major work to get it back on the road so I'm in the learning curve right now.
So it's not uncommon for the fan to run all the time then....
That was my main concern and I thought maybe I needed to start looking for the cause of it constantly running.

 

[joegr]

Running much of the time at max speed would be a problem. It would indicate that you are having the typical cooling system problem (degraded plastic).

With the AC off (which it is, since you have none), on cold engine start the fan should be off for a little while.