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Engine Cooling Fan And A/c


wardeee
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I have noticed that my wifes ford Fiesta (1.2 L 2010 model) often has the cooling fan for the engine whirring round when she parks up at home. This happens even though she has not been stuck in trafffic and not a particularly hot day...so it seems unusual. I have checked coolant levels and all is ok. What I cant see is whether the engine temperature is high - because there is no temp gauge on the dashboard.

Then, driving it the other day I realised that the cooling fan came on when the air-con was on. If I switched the air con off, the fan switched off a few seconds later and didn't come back on (I listened out for it whenever i stopped at lights or a roundabaout). As soon as I parked up at home I switched the air con back on - and the fan started up a second or so after. I've since tried this several times - and its always the same. Even when i start the car from cold - when i put the air-con on, the engin fan starts up

This doesnt sound normal to me - or is somhow the enhine fan also used to improve the heat exchange in the air con system.

Would be grateful for anyadvice.

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Hi Wardee

I believe it does. I have air-con and the moment its switched on the fan starts running

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As above, I believe the engine fan comes on with the A/C to help cool the air coming into the cabin.

The Mk7 engine fan does seem to come on a lot though, or it's much more noticeable than my Mk6.5's engine fan, because I rarely noticed that.

Smaller engines also heat up quicker, as they're working harder to build and maintain speed, as well as having less capacity to dissipate heat.

So I'd say it's all normal.

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the radiator fan also ventilates the air conditioning condenser matrix which is in front of the radiator.

if it didn't draw enough air through the condenser, the refrigerant wouldn't be able to lose the heat from the cabin. totally normal and the same for all cars (at least, same with volkswagens and mercs)

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Thanks for the feedback. Glad to know its normal for the fiesta mark 7 - and by the sounds of it normal on most cars with a/c. That said, i have owned four other cars with A/C over the years - and also have an S-MAX at moment, but other than when stuck in heavy traffic, I have never heard the radiator fan come on (a/c on or otherwise) - perhaps its just more noticable with the Fiesta.

Anway thanks again - saved me making a fool of myself at the dealers.

Wardee

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Thanks for the feedback. Glad to know its normal for the fiesta mark 7 - and by the sounds of it normal on most cars with a/c. That said, i have owned four other cars with A/C over the years - and also have an S-MAX at moment, but other than when stuck in heavy traffic, I have never heard the radiator fan come on (a/c on or otherwise) - perhaps its just more noticable with the Fiesta.

Anway thanks again - saved me making a fool of myself at the dealers.

Wardee

if you have climate control (DEATC) rather than just air con, the fan will only be active when the compressor is running i.e. refrigerant is actually flowing through the system.

the A/C light being on isn't always an indicator that the compressor is running, on the EATC systems. but I bet your S-max will have the radiator fan on when the compressor is engaged and active.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for the useful information in this thread as I was beginning to wonder why the cooling fan was always running at the end of my 1.7 mile journey to or from work. My Mk7 has climate control which is always on so this has answered the question :)

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If the a/c button is on than the chances are the fan will be on as well, even if a/c is off the fan should still come on only when it needs. I've never seen it come on when the a/c is off but that doesn't mean it doesn't. When it's cool enough i just turn it off and roll the windows down for awhile.

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Doesn't the fan continue running for a few minutes after the ac has been on in order to dry out the condensor?

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Doesn't the fan continue running for a few minutes after the ac has been on in order to dry out the condensor?

the condenser matrix gets hot, i.e. needs cooling. it doesn't get wet (except in bad weather :P)

i suspect you're thinking of the evaporator matrix which is the bit that gets cold in the cabin, and that has a drip-dry outpipe (try on a hot day - you'll see a puddle of water on the concrete when you park up). if the outpipe gets clogged up, you'll get a stagnant water smell and possibly legionnaire's disease (just kidding - not in a car - but in a building you could get legionnaires from that)

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I don't think I've ever seen a puddle under my car, where is this outlet located?

cant remember off hand, id have to have a look. i seem to recall its on the bulkhead

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  • 2 years later...

Just found this old topic. As a new owner of a MK7 Fiesta I noticed that the fan was running all the time when the engine was running. I never heard the fan runing on my 07 Focus even though I kept the aircon on all the time [as recomended]

I took the Fiesta to the dealer that I bought it from and they said that it was normal, aparently it runs when the aircon is running, as someone said in this thread. Just added for confirmation.

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If AC is switched off and its a warm day. In traffic. The fan only comes on at 105'C, think it will bring the temp down to about 95'C. With AC on, the max temp I got was roughly 95'C.

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I suppose that it's not a problem, but the fan on the Focus never ran, yes, it was working. I just hope that Ford have designed it's motor to cope with it, and it doesn't burn out any time soon !

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  • 5 years later...

Got that problem too with my ford fiesta... the mechanic think that when the engine turns on the  fan will turn on in low speed, he replaces the relay but still the fan didn't work when the aircon is off...

i' m worried a lot  because everyday i've traveled 88 kms to my work...reading on this topics will eased me and bring back my trust to my car...i hope it's all normal....thanks a lot.

 

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  • 2 years later...

I am seeing this on my sons 1.2 mk7 fiesta and it makes no sense to me, the temperature this morning is minus 1 , you start the car up and because the heating control is on the windscreen clear setting, the ac comes on automatically for de-humidifying and the radiator cooling fan comes on full blast - totally mad !  I have never had any other car that has behaved like this. 

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