5 Symptoms of a Failed Radiator Fan
When your engine overheats, it can cause a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Overheating has many causes that are often overlooked, and a failed radiator fan is one of them.
Recognizing the symptoms of a bad radiator fan can mean the difference between further damage to your engine or a quick recovery. Let’s take a look at these symptoms and how much it will cost to replace the fan.
Symptoms of a Failed Radiator Fan
When your vehicle’s radiator fan is failing or on the verge of failure, it is often accompanied by a number of other symptoms. Recognizing these symptoms can prove to be extremely beneficial when trying to resolve your vehicle’s issues as quickly as possible.
1) Overheating
The most noticeable symptom of a failed radiator fan is overheating. When the radiator fan does not function properly, the temperature of the engine coolant rises rapidly, and that temperature is displayed on your vehicle’s temperature gauge. Often, this symptom is most noticeable when the engine is running at low speeds.
2) Insufficient Air Conditioning
Because your vehicle’s radiator fan also draws air into the HVAC system’s air conditioning condenser, a defective fan often results in insufficient cooling inside the vehicle. Similar to the symptoms above, this issue most commonly occurs when the vehicle is operating at low speeds, as the condenser airflow is severely restricted.
3) Temperature Warning Light
If your car’s temperature warning light suddenly comes on, it’s another sign that your radiator fan may not be working. This is because your vehicle’s radiator is not receiving enough airflow, causing it to overheat. As a result, the engine’s ECM/PCM detects this condition and attempts to warn the driver that a problem is occurring.
4) You can’t hear it turn on
A relatively observant person can often determine that the engine’s radiator fan is not working as intended just by listening to the sound of the car at a stoplight.
In most cases, the roar of the engine’s radiator fan is easy to detect, especially within the first few seconds after the engine is turned on. If you don’t notice this abnormal noise for an extended period of time, it may be time to check your car’s radiator fan.
5) Steam under the hood of your car
If your car’s radiator fan isn’t working, it only takes a few minutes for your engine to overheat. If it reaches extreme temperatures, your vehicle’s coolant may actually start to boil.
What does a radiator fan do?
The radiator fan ensures proper engine cooling by drawing air across your vehicle’s radiator. This allows the coolant to circulate through the radiator and release additional heat more efficiently. This is especially important when the ambient temperature is relatively high, as overheating can occur very quickly in such extenuating circumstances.
After this additional heat is removed, the coolant is returned to the engine block and cylinder head through rubber radiator hoses. The coolant then circulates through the engine before returning to the radiator where the cooling process begins again.
The engine’s radiator fan is set to a specific temperature specified by the vehicle manufacturer. This prevents the radiator from turning on if the vehicle has not warmed up to an acceptable operating temperature.
Older mechanical radiator fans found on many trucks engage when the silicone gasket expands from direct heat, tripping the fan clutch. The electric fan is activated by a direct signal from the engine’s ECM/PCM.
When the radiator fan fails, the engine’s ability to keep system temperatures under control is greatly reduced. This problem increases each time coolant circulates through the radiator, eventually causing the radiator to overheat.
What causes a fan to fail? The most common cause of radiator fan failure is simple wear leading to damaged bearings. These bearings can actually cause the fan to drag or stop completely once they have experienced a certain amount of wear.
In some cases, defective engine mounts can cause the engine to tilt slightly, causing the fan blades to hit surrounding surfaces. Aside from complete fan failure, your vehicle’s radiator fan can fail for a variety of other reasons. This is why it’s so important to diagnose the cause of your radiator fan problem before blaming the fan itself.
Can You Drive With a Broken Radiator Fan?
While a vehicle will operate without a functional radiator fan, it should never be driven in this manner. This is due to the fact that your engine is far more prone to overheating when operated in this fashion.
Without air being drawn across a vehicle’s radiator, it is not a matter of if, but when, overheating will occur. This, in itself, can lead to far more significant issues than those attributed to a failed radiator fan.
When an engine overheats, it is prone to a host of problems, many of which carry severe and costly consequences. Some of the direst of these secondary issues include blown head gaskets, cracked cylinder heads, or cracked engine blocks. Each of these three issues requires a major engine overhaul to remedy, at times making total engine replacement the most feasible option.
In any event, driving a vehicle with an inoperable radiator fan should be avoided at all costs, and the fan itself should be replaced immediately if it is deemed to be faulty. If you do not feel comfortable tackling such repairs yourself, schedule an appointment with a trusted automotive service center as soon as possible.
Should a Radiator Fan Turn On When the A/C Is On?
In almost every case, a vehicle’s radiator fan should engage when the A/C system function is initiated. This is by design and is intended to achieve proper A/C system pressures for efficient cooling. Simply put, your vehicle’s radiator fan is engineered to complete two individual tasks simultaneously.
A vehicle’s A/C condenser is mounted directly in front of its radiator, and requires sufficient airflow for proper operation, in much the same way as the radiator itself. A vehicle’s radiator fan pulls air across this condenser in the same way that it pulls air through the radiator.
If a vehicle’s radiator fan were to not engage during A/C operation, you would find the system did not cool as expected.