Connie
Well-Known Member
Last few weeks the cooling fan has been running for a few minutes, I'd say 5ish min after shutting the car off. Up until today I've not been worrying about it because the guage has been rock solid in the 2/3 location like always.
Today it got unseasonably warm, and the guage moved. I've done a bit of reading, and when the fan runs after shutdown, it means the oil temp or coolant temp is above 225F. That's too hot for me, and I want it to stop doing that.
So my coolant is less than 2 years old, but has some miles on it. It's Honda blue stuff. The thermostat is almost 3 years old, and also has some pretty significant miles. The A/C system components in front of the radiator have been removed, so I should be getting excellent airflow. There are no coolant leaks or smells. The radiator, and heater core have both been replaced within the last 2 years. Rad hoses are fine. Coolant level hasn't moved yet.
I noticed that after shutoff, only the rad fan runs; the condenser fan does not. The radiator felt hot on the condenser fan side, and cool on the side where the rad fan was running.
My plan is to replace the t-stat and coolant. I hope that gets it to calm down and get me through one more winter. I need to do the timing belt and water pump service soon, but I don't think that's my issue. They have over 100k km on them, but are less than 2 years old.
I am hoping it's not a head gasket, but at 350k on the engine, it's a possibility I suppose. No other symptoms of that yet. Car still runs perfect.
I hope someone who has experienced this before can chime in as to what my problem most likely is. I really can't afford a catastrophic failure at the moment, so I'm hoping to at least avoid that. I put this thing through 3 hours of stop and go commuting every day, and it's starting to get warm on the guage when I'm stuck in traffic.
Today it got unseasonably warm, and the guage moved. I've done a bit of reading, and when the fan runs after shutdown, it means the oil temp or coolant temp is above 225F. That's too hot for me, and I want it to stop doing that.
So my coolant is less than 2 years old, but has some miles on it. It's Honda blue stuff. The thermostat is almost 3 years old, and also has some pretty significant miles. The A/C system components in front of the radiator have been removed, so I should be getting excellent airflow. There are no coolant leaks or smells. The radiator, and heater core have both been replaced within the last 2 years. Rad hoses are fine. Coolant level hasn't moved yet.
I noticed that after shutoff, only the rad fan runs; the condenser fan does not. The radiator felt hot on the condenser fan side, and cool on the side where the rad fan was running.
My plan is to replace the t-stat and coolant. I hope that gets it to calm down and get me through one more winter. I need to do the timing belt and water pump service soon, but I don't think that's my issue. They have over 100k km on them, but are less than 2 years old.
I am hoping it's not a head gasket, but at 350k on the engine, it's a possibility I suppose. No other symptoms of that yet. Car still runs perfect.
I hope someone who has experienced this before can chime in as to what my problem most likely is. I really can't afford a catastrophic failure at the moment, so I'm hoping to at least avoid that. I put this thing through 3 hours of stop and go commuting every day, and it's starting to get warm on the guage when I'm stuck in traffic.
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