Radiator Cooling Fan Behavior
It's nice to see so many familiar users here.
I've got a questions about normal radiator cooling fan operation. I only have one 9-5 to look at, so I'm not sure what is typical for the 9-5 and what is unique.
My radiator fans rarely run as far as I can tell. I warmed the car up to normal temperature, turned on the ACC to max, let the car idle and then checked to see if the fans were running. They were not. I got into the fuse box under the hood and swapped the relay with another one. Still no fans. I removed the 20 amp fuse for the fans, checked it, and put it back in... the fans turned on. They ran for about a minute and then shut off again.
Is it normal for the fans to run so little? Shouldn't they be running most of the time?
I ask because I'm tracking down why my car is running a little hotter than normal. It's not scary hot, but it's concerning me because we're still in the 50-60 degree temps here. I can only imagine what August will be like if the car is running warm now.
I'm getting ready to flush the radiator this weekend. The thermostat was the first thing I replaced when this started and it didn't help. The fan behavior is really where I'm focusing right now. It just seems like they should run more than what I'm seeing. Any suggestions where I should be looking for issues. Where is the temp senor for these fans?