Pretty normal. The first time it happened to me I thought my car was still running or something. But yea its cooling off your engine. Actually i wish it would stay on a good 5 minutes beause that one minute does almost nothing really.
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Originally Posted by Nismom
I don't drive slow...EVER...even in school zones for blind kids.
I've seen and experienced this issue. Its not normal. Most people did not experience this problem when the car was new.
With Consult plugged in, two identical Altimas measured different head temperatures. The Altima with the fan run-on problem had higher coolant head temperatures of almost 20 degrees. The other ran cool. BTW, this took 16 hours to diagnose and the customer vehicle turned into a technician daily driver for a couple of days.
This issue is becoming more common and can be caused by several things.
Dirty rust/scale/deposits usually removed with flushes caused by not changing the coolant regularly.
Failed thermostat easily replaced with new Nissan OEM thermostat. Thermostats may open partially and may appear to work even when failing.
Slipping water pump belt. If over 30k miles on belt, replace or tighten it.
Defective water pump. Tough to diagnose. Check for loose pulley, pump noise......If over 100k miles, just replace it.
Defective coolant temp sender which sometimes gives off SES/CEL.
The coolant recovery bottle is also a settling tank(think passive filter). Clean the recovery bottle. The crud coating the recovery bottle is the same crap coating the insides of the engine and radiator. Checking this 1st will verify a dirty cooling system.
Start with a new OEM thermostat and a flush using zerex/prestone/wynns flush chemicals. Or visit the dealer/quicklube for a machine antifreeze exchange. A common one is the Wynns flush. It is very important that the shop does NOT use a leak sealer which is common with an antifreeze exhange. A typical stop leak radiator product will increase the likelihood of the problem.
If you do the flush yourself, do not use tap water. Wallyworld sells distilled water for $.60 a gallon. Buy 12 gallons. This will allow you to flush the radiator/engine multiple times.
I find that the flush/thermostat/belt will fix most cars. The temp sender and water pump seem to be the least causes of this problem.
One vehicle required 4 Wynns type flushes over 4 weeks before eliminating problem. Each antifreeze change had numerous particles floating in it. These particles were similar to what was in the recovery bottle after shaking it vigorously filled with water.
good job man... most people overlook water pump. did you know a failing/dead water pump can make screeching noises like a bad belt upon start up and even for the first few seconds of giving some gas. I got a bad pump.
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R.I.P. 2000 altima SE
Hello...
2003 Majestic Blue 6 speed maxima
Well minds did do that for awhile, but now, THEY DON'T EVEN WORK ANYMORE!! I'm taking to the shop pronto!!! At least look at your thermostat before assuming that its normal. You could never be too sure.
it is normal. I did my own footwork..
If the waters hot enough to make the fans come on, they stay on till it goes below that threshold.. Even if the car is off.. Hense the warning label "The fans may start at any time, even if the vehicle is not running"
Get a spare temp sensor, unplug yours and plug in your spare..
Heat up the tip with a lighter.. The fans come on.. It cools down, the fans go off...
I thought there was a problem too, I was sitting at the gas station and I opened the hood to check the oil, reached for the stick and woooossshh..
the fans came on out of nowhere.. Thats what prompted my research..
If there are no cooling problems and the car does this, consider it normal..
Now if it runs hot or the fans NEVER turn off.. then you need to get to checking things..
My car has a new radiator, fresh fluid, new t-stat and belts.. I knew there was nothing wrong, but I had to check.. It's a disorder I have.. LOL
i also installed a new water pump, t-stat, radiator and new fluid and sometimes the fans will stay on for 30 sec or so. to me as long as is running normal it wont bother me.
Location: Vancouver, WA on accident -- originally from Athens, GA
Posts: 25
So I've read a bunch of info on these forums, and at first, I thought I needed a new radiator, but now I'm convinced that I need a new water pump.
Here's my issue:
I've been running a little warm for the past 6mo or so, and I figured it was time to replace the OEM radiator with some sort of aluminum one. I didn't think much of the issue until the other day when I was on the hwy. My car was overheating, as usual, and the temp gauge went well past the H, into the danger zone. I got over in the right hand lane, and slowed down, only to find that my car was dying when it hit 2rpms. I puttered to class (I was on my way to school) shifting at really low rpms. On my way home, my car was acting normal (exceeding 2rpms) until about halfway there (20mi). Then, it began dying again at 2rpms.
When I got home, I popped the hood and checked my radiator hoses to see if they were the same temp. One was significantly hotter than the other, so I figured I wasn't getting adequate circulation. Unfortunately, I can't remember which was hotter. I think it was the lower one, but I'd have to check again to be sure. Anyways, the next day, I performed another test, which I read about on here. When my car was cold, I popped the hood, and removed the radiator cap. I then started my car and let it run for about 10min. I didn't see any circulation when I peered down into my radiator.
I haven't checked my thermostat to see if it's functioning properly. I'm gonna have some dough here in about a week, so I need to know which parts to replace first.
Should I replace the water pump first to see if this fixes the problem? What else should I check?
If you are not getting water circulation in the radiator, and the engine is overheating, then it is probably the thermostat that has gone bad. Try that first since it is an easy fix.
Keep in mind that one of the leading cause to cylinder heat gasket failure is running the engine extremely hot. Take care of this soon or we'll be hearing some lamenting story.
Check your oil level! This has happened to me a few times. I thought I had one of the aforementioned problems but when I topped up my oil, test drove the car and turned it off, she was SILENT. First time this happened due to oil leak near wheel well (seal) forgot name, second time leaky seal in distributor. Point being that the loss of oil caused the problem in my case.
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