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Cooling fan running after engine is off....

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Greygoose

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Good morning everyone,

i had a strange issue last night. When I pulled into the garage and turned the car off I noticed the cooling fans stayed on (they may have even turned on after I turned the car off?). The thing that puzzles me is, it was 17 degrees when I got home last night, so I'm surprised they where on at all. Another odd thing is I've never heard these fans run since I got this car. (I've had it since the beginning of October) should I be concerned? My wife commented that she thought she smelled something burning, but couldn't swear to it. I must confess, I'm battling a cold, so I can't smell anything. I checked under the hood and everything appears fine. Any thoughts? Car currently has 6,000 miles
 
#4 ·
Greygoose said:
While that makes sense to me, why hasn't it done it before? Why now when it's so cold out?
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If it's never happened before, check the coolant level in the tank. If it's low, look for telltale dried white coolant stains near the front of the serpentine belt.


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Discussion starter · #7 ·
Luigi said:
I just had this happen to me a few days ago too. I honestly didn't think much of it.

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Yeah, I normally wouldn't either since I know cars do this from time to time. But since this one has never done it, I was just a little concerned.

I'll just keep an eye in it I suppose. Thanks for the help everyone
 
#9 ·
I would not worry about it, mine does this at what appears to be odd outside temperatures, my guess is that it happens when the particulate filter goes into a self cleaning cycle and so outside weather has little influence as even on a 100F+ day it usually doesn't do it and on a cooler day it sometimes does roar for a while and then switches off.
 
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#10 ·
I would bet that your car was in the middle of a DPF regeneration cycle. Every time I get home and shut off the car during a regen it runs the fan for a few minutes even if it's really cold outside. Probably just runs the fan for a couple minutes if you shut down during a regen to move some air in the engine compartment so the exhaust doesn't fry stuff from being so hot during the regen cycle. The fan doesn't seem to be running while the engine is still running, but it comes on if you shut the engine off. If you haven't driven the car much since last night, check your fuel economy bar graph display with the ten 3 mile increments. I bet you will notice there are a few bars that are much lower than normal due to the regen cycle.

Also, during the summer months when the outside temp is hot, there is a pump that I believe pumps oil to the turbo for a minute after the engine is shut off. I've only ever seen this when it was pretty hot outside and the A/C was running. The 1.4L turbo gas cruze does this same thing.
 
#11 ·
My fan has never run after I turn the car off....HOWEVER....I have had the fan start running as soon as the car has been started and won't stop until I turn the car off and restart it. This has happened 3-4 times in the past year. I have unplugged and reset all the electrical connections I could get to in the engine bay which did nothing.....so I just live with it.
 
#12 ·
I also think it may have been in the middle of a DPF regen. From reading on the TDI forums, that is one telltale way to know if the DPF was regenerating is the fan being on when the engine is shut off. Those things get incredibly hot when regenerating, and they're directly behind the cooling fan, so they're probably just trying to clear some of the excess heat out of the engine compartment from the regen.
 
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Discussion starter · #13 ·
Well, for those of you who said regen, you are correct. I'm off work today and took the diesel in for its first service. He guys at the dealer told me that's what was happening. Thank you for all your help! Now I just have to wait for them to get the oil filter in so they can change the oil.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
DieselMan33 said:
Mine did the same thing the other day. Also you can definitely smell it, I was a little nervous but I figured that is what it was.


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x2 on the smell. Like I mentioned earlier, my wife thought she smelled something when it did it. I have a cold at the moment so I can't smell squat. Haha
 
#16 ·
Just curious, what does it smell like? The other day, I backed into the garage and after I got out smelled a chlorine like smell. I've smelled it before while standing behind a newer DPF equipped Bobcat skidsteer loader. Is that what you're smelling?

I've read these things actually have the cleanest emissions of any engine GM has ever made. I forget where I read that.
 
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#17 ·
Greygoose,

I am glad to see that you are having all of your concerns resolved at the dealership. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care
 
#18 ·
It smells like burning plastic usually. During a regen the DPF heats up to 800C. This is why the fan must go on whether the car is running or not. Don't try to stop it by turning off the car and then back on, this only defeats the purpose. Let the car do what it does as this is how the computer is programmed. All is well in CTD land.
 
#19 ·
Vetterin said:
My fan has never run after I turn the car off....HOWEVER....I have had the fan start running as soon as the car has been started and won't stop until I turn the car off and restart it. This has happened 3-4 times in the past year. I have unplugged and reset all the electrical connections I could get to in the engine bay which did nothing.....so I just live with it.
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that happened to me after I did the intake mod suggested on here fans kicked on like a jet engine and stayed that way restarted the car and " knock on wood" not happened since....
 
#20 ·
PanJet said:
Just curious, what does it smell like? The other day, I backed into the garage and after I got out smelled a chlorine like smell. I've smelled it before while standing behind a newer DPF equipped Bobcat skidsteer loader. Is that what you're smelling?

I've read these things actually have the cleanest emissions of any engine GM has ever made. I forget where I read that.
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Like said before it is like a burning plastic smell/ metal getting hot smell. The chlorine smell is probably just the exhaust. All newer diesels have that sweet odd smell to them because of all the emissions. I need to go start my dmax up just because I miss the smell of a older diesel.


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