Every single time I have started my car today, the cooling fan has kicked on immediately. Even when the gauge reads 3 little tick marks above cold. Any ideas? It's never done that to me before. 2011 Cruze 1LT 50,477mi
Avnwarrior
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Cooling fan is misleading, all fans cool, either the radiator fan or the MVAC blower motor fan.
If we are talking about the radiator fan, a brush type permanent magnet armature, one of three wires feed it, direct, small resistor, large resistor that each is connected to a point contact relay giving three speed, high, medium, and low.
These relays are mounted in the underhood fuse relay box, if you pull the cover and flip it over, shows the location of each one. if you pull all three, the fan will not work at all, possible one of the three has a sticking contact or weak or broken return spring, or even dirty contact. That will produce erratic operation. And are plug in type relays for easy replacement.
Voltage for the solenoids of these relays comes from yet another contact from the ignition relay, also identified. ECM controls the ground side of each relay solenoid. If the relays are good, possible ECM problems, really not that hard to diagnose if you know what you are doing.
Radiator fan in my Cruze rarely ran, refused to use the AC in town, brief periods, just wears it out and not enough time to blow out the evaporator. On the highway with that large radiator and a good 55-70 wind, sufficient enough for radiator cooling with the fans. Also keeping your condenser clean reduces bug restriction, yes we have bugs up here.
Voltage for those three relays contacts is always hot, so the fan will run with the ignition off if a relay contact is welded shut, you will wake up to a dead battery.
Blower motor is all electronic, controlled by the BCM, this gets a bit more complicated.
If we are talking about the radiator fan, a brush type permanent magnet armature, one of three wires feed it, direct, small resistor, large resistor that each is connected to a point contact relay giving three speed, high, medium, and low.
These relays are mounted in the underhood fuse relay box, if you pull the cover and flip it over, shows the location of each one. if you pull all three, the fan will not work at all, possible one of the three has a sticking contact or weak or broken return spring, or even dirty contact. That will produce erratic operation. And are plug in type relays for easy replacement.
Voltage for the solenoids of these relays comes from yet another contact from the ignition relay, also identified. ECM controls the ground side of each relay solenoid. If the relays are good, possible ECM problems, really not that hard to diagnose if you know what you are doing.
Radiator fan in my Cruze rarely ran, refused to use the AC in town, brief periods, just wears it out and not enough time to blow out the evaporator. On the highway with that large radiator and a good 55-70 wind, sufficient enough for radiator cooling with the fans. Also keeping your condenser clean reduces bug restriction, yes we have bugs up here.
Voltage for those three relays contacts is always hot, so the fan will run with the ignition off if a relay contact is welded shut, you will wake up to a dead battery.
Blower motor is all electronic, controlled by the BCM, this gets a bit more complicated.
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Given the way the ECM outputs the fan signal, that makes sense. I'll bet one fan is "low", the other is "medium", both are "high". Because that's the way the ECM outputs the fan signal. Just two relays to run two fans.
On the US Cruze, they have a collection of 5 relays to convert that signal to a drive a larger 3-speed fan.
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My Saab 900 was the same setup.
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Did you ever get this figured out? If so, how much was the repair? The exact same problem started occurring with me yesterday... I am not sure how costly this is going to be...
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That happens on my 2012 Cruze diesel if the engine is doing a regen when I turn it off, but it turns off after a couple of minutes. As there are 2 fans it really roars for that couple of minutes.
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What do you mean by "won't kick down"? The Cruze is supposed to have a 3-speed fan, but when the resistor pack dies, it transforms from low-medium-high to off-off-high. The resistor pack is not sold separately, so the fix is to replace fan assembly.
If it's going to high and staying on high, then it's something else. Possibly an A/C problem.
I went or today and started my car. Utter now says a/c off due to high engine temp. The engine didn't even have time to get warm. The fan is still running after shutting it off. I think it might be one of the temp sensors.....any feedback. How can I tell which sensor if so?
Chevy Cruze Fan Issue
This issue is pretty common with the fan on most models in this year range, I'd first check the relays to make sure they are clicking and working properly, then if they are check the connector going from the fuse box to the fan (It should be a huge plug that's plugged into the fan, you'll know it when you see it). The cooling fan runs on a HIGH, MID, LOW circuit, and when one circuit doesn't work properly, it automatically reverts to the highest voltage circuit (HIGH), thinking that the car is over heating (Even if its not) to refrain from high temp damage. If there are burn marks or corrosion on the massive plug in the fan then that is most likely your issue, if not then I'd take it to a dealer or get a diagnostic tool (There could be issues with the ECM) Other wise, a new plug would be the best bet. Also, here's a video going over all of this in this paragraph, Hope I could help, good luck!
VIDEO ONE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHZVvHIbs9s&list=LLknoh9vzFyaqgWxm0yaUJfg&index=3&t=0s
VIDEO TWO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vezjDh2I2kc&list=LLknoh9vzFyaqgWxm0yaUJfg&index=2&t=0s
This issue is pretty common with the fan on most models in this year range, I'd first check the relays to make sure they are clicking and working properly, then if they are check the connector going from the fuse box to the fan (It should be a huge plug that's plugged into the fan, you'll know it when you see it). The cooling fan runs on a HIGH, MID, LOW circuit, and when one circuit doesn't work properly, it automatically reverts to the highest voltage circuit (HIGH), thinking that the car is over heating (Even if its not) to refrain from high temp damage. If there are burn marks or corrosion on the massive plug in the fan then that is most likely your issue, if not then I'd take it to a dealer or get a diagnostic tool (There could be issues with the ECM) Other wise, a new plug would be the best bet. Also, here's a video going over all of this in this paragraph, Hope I could help, good luck!
VIDEO ONE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHZVvHIbs9s&list=LLknoh9vzFyaqgWxm0yaUJfg&index=3&t=0s
VIDEO TWO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vezjDh2I2kc&list=LLknoh9vzFyaqgWxm0yaUJfg&index=2&t=0s
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Check thermostat it was mine that cause the fan to run
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I am having the same issue with the fan, it turns on and runs high just a few minutes after starting car in the morning - no a/c or defrost on. Just had thermostat changed out two months ago, I changed out the coolant temp sensor that sits just under the coolant overflow. I have no coolant leaks and a pressure test on the coolant system has been done. I have had nearly the entire coolant system changed out in this thing over the past few months. I expect better from GM than to be having these issues, even with a 2011. I keep my vehicle maintained and do not drive my card overly hard by racing and revving it. Poor engineering, making everything from a material that turns brittle over time and use so it ends up nickel and dime-ing a person. I have always been a dedicated GM consumer, it may be time to do some research and give another manufacturer a go. This is too frustrating.
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so have anyone found the answer to the problem
2014 LT program car, Pull Me Over Red, 1.4T Auto, modified: Lowered, Tuned by Trifecta
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Could be air in the system or maybe the second temp sensor is bad.
Burp the tank video
coolant bleeder
Loud Fan Noise
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I just had this issue with my daughter's 2012 CHevy Cruze LT 1.4 Turbo. After completing an oil change and the boost pressure sensor coming completely off the intercoolant hose, we now had a check engine light on the car was blowing P0132, P0134, P0135, P0236, and P0237 codes and the fan was running on high speed as soon as we started the car. We took the advice of many people on this site as well multiple videos, we changed the MAF sensor, Coolant Temp sensor, swapped out the thermostat, and checked all relays as well as the coolant fan. None of these things worked, finally gave up and brought it to Chevy dealer and turns out the O2 sensor was completely fried ( per the mechanic working on it is was burnt) and the PCM was also fried.
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