Radiator fan is always on... Why?

[andruxa]

Managed to swallow a bit of water with my engine couple days ago, hydrolocked it, took out sparkplugs and air intake, dried it and she started back up fine. Have a problem now though, Radiator fan keeps running non-stop whenever engine is on. What could be contributing to that?

Truck was only 2/3 of the wheel in the water, no fuses/relays got wet, although the fan was spinning while being in the water.

Thanks everyone for ideas...

 

[Garth]

I take it that you have an electric fan installed in the truck?

 

[andruxa]

It is belt driven, but I am thinking it has some sort of electronic control to it.

 

[jgilbs]

nope, it has a clutch to allow it to spin at lower speeds when not needed, but it will always be spinning.

 

[Sallad420]

Don't those fans have a bimetal coil spring to control the clutch? Maybe it got wet or got gummed up with water gunk and is stuck in the engaged position?

With the truck shut off, can you spin the fan by hand? It should spin freely.

 

[JTX]

Mines always spinning. It may just be free spinning with no power behind it. I think thats how a clutch works it will still spin freely but with no power.. But im not sure.

 

[Kamaaina]

The clutch fan will always spin at whatever speed but it will spin slower than the crank rpm when engine temperatures are normal. When it gets hotter the thermostatic coil will turn to open the valve to allow more silicone fluid to flow and make the clutch lock up to spin at/near crank rpm. You'll know when it locks up as it'll sound like a C-130 Hercules blasting down a runway. One way to tell if your fan is locked up is on a cold morning start driving right after start-up; it should be almost fully disengaged....but it'll still spin, just not as fast. You'll hear it if it's locked up.

 

[MONMIX]

So tell me Kamaaina,
How many cold mornings do you have there in Hawaii ?

 

[Kamaaina]

Well, this past "winter" it got down to the high 50's......brrrrrrrrrr! I had to turn my heater to full on. LOL!!!! Just kidding. Our winters are just cold rain, nothing like what you people have to endure. My hat's off to you for having to put up with that crap.

 

[MONMIX]

I gotta visit Hawaii one day.
I have wanted to for some years now.
Just havn't gotten around to it yet.