Radiator Fan

I replaced the thermostat in my 92 Accord over the weekend. All seems well
now except that when I turn the car off now, one of the radiator fan starts
and runs for at least 3 minutes. I pull the fuse to shut it off, not sure
exactly how long it will run. It has never done this before. I spilled
some coolant on the radiator, fan shroud and engine block. Upon
completiion, I hosed everything off with water. Maybe I got something wet?
Any ideas?

 

The rad fan is supposed to come on for a while after the ignition is turned
off if the engine oil is above a certain temperature.

It may well be that this is normal behavior that you didn't see before
because the eninge was running too cool.

1) What was the reason the thermostat was replaced?
2) Is the fan off until you turn the ignition off?
3) Does this happen EVERY time the car is shut off, regardless of whether
the engine is cold or full-warm?

 

Temperature wasn't coming up, didn't have much heat unless stopped. Seems
to have fixed that problem.

Yes, First thing this morning, after sitting all night, I turned the
ignition on and the shut it off (didn't even start it) and the fan came on.

It is also just one of the fans that is coming on.

Brian

 

Last question: Is it the fan that's behind the radiator, or the one that's
behind the air conditioning condenser? The A/C condenser is smaller than
the rad and sits behind the rad, closer to the engine.

 

I am guessing that it is the one for the A/C condensor. It is on the
passenger side, if that helps. I can look a little better at lunch time.

 

Sounds normal to me. My 93 would do the same after some prolonged driving.
If the fan shut off by itself later I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I couldn't find it in my manual before, but I finally found it now:

US only:
If it's the rad fan itself, it is normal for the fan to come on after
shutdown for up to 15 minutes if the oil temperature is higher than 226F.


Since you're in the US, you've got a slightly different system than
Canadians.

If the RAD fan stays on for much longer than 15 minutes, or comes on when
the oil is obviously cold, then you have one of three problems:
1) Oil temperature switch is bad
2) Coolant temperature switch is bad
2) Rad fan relay is bad.

If it's the CONDENSER fan that stays on, then the condenser fan relay is
bad.

 

On some Honda's (my 86 accord LXi and my 89 legend) the condenser fan is
the one that kicks on after you turn the car off. I've seen a few cars with
a bad fan timer causing the condenser fan to always kick on. My accord uses
coolant temp to kick the fans on, and my legend uses oil temp.

 

The fan will come on even if I go out first thing in the morning (after
sitting for 10-12 hours) and turn the key on and then right back off. Don't
even have to start it. I live in Ohio and it has been in the 30's at night.
It didn't used to do this either, just since I changed the thermostat this
past weekend.

 

You probably have a bad temp switch or bad fan timer. The temp switch might
be close to the thermostat housing or the radiator hoses, so it might have
gotten damaged by accident.