Cooling Fans & Components

The radiator cooling fan is designed to take in air through the radiator to keep the engine at the correct temperature for optimal performance conditions. When the engine is running, it produces heat. Radiator fans will do the job to disperse that heat and keep it cool. When the vehicle is moving at high enough speeds, the flow of air through the grill and radiator is enough to cool down the engine. However, when the vehicle is moving at a slower speed, the radiator cooling fan will turn on to help keep the engine cool since not enough air is flowing through to the engine.

Primarily found between the engine and the radiator, some radiator fans are found at the front or anterior part of the radiator. There are two different kinds of radiator fans, electric and manual.

All modern vehicles will have an electric cooling fan run by a small motor. The electric fans are also used to help create fewer emissions. They use a computer sensor that detects when they need to turn on to cool the engine down.

Manual fans are connected to the engine drive pulleys. When the engine operates at high temperatures, a thermo fan clutch senses the radiator heat and engages the fan. With older vehicles, the engine-operated fans were very popular, yet extremely behind on technology. When the fans were needed the most, they tended to slow down. Eventually, this paved the way for effective cooling technology to create a better replacement for manual fans, the electric fan.

In most cases, your car will already have cooling fans built along with the radiator, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the radiator cooling fan. The radiator cooling fan is used to cool an engine down, as mentioned above.

A standard cooling system can't always keep up on those higher temperatures, and in traffic, when the motor is running and doesn't get enough airflow to keep it cool. An overheating engine is not a good thing, and repairs can quickly become quite expensive. It is much easier to address a failing cooling fan than to repair an overheated engine.

• Your engine will overheat.
• The air conditioner isn't blowing cold air.
• Loud noises are coming from the cooling fan.
• If you notice that the cooling fan speed is slower than normal.