I tried to bleed by letting the engine run with the Radiator cap open and the heat lever set to the max. It ran almost 10 mins but the the fan never came on! It was Not getting hot either. I had the hood opened.
I manually raised the rev to 2.5k rpm and engine got hot a bit -After I reved up to 2.5k, the temp gauge hardly went to under 1/4 of the gauge. Fans still didn’t come on. It is pretty hot here in North California today.
Then I turned the AC on - the both fans came on instantly. When I turn off the AC it went off too!
Is this normal? Or do you think that it did not heat up to about 80 degrees Celsius. Do the engine normally takes between 20 to 30 mins of running to get to operating temperature for the fan switches to work? If I drive on the road for a while and when I park with engine running (no AC on) and if the radiator fan is running, can I dismiss the issue?
The fans won’t come on until it is on the high side of the operating temp, like 220 or so. They also are programmed to come on when the AC is turned on to avoid over-heating. So that’s normal. It could take that long to warm up just at idle but just take it for a drive and if the temp goes up to normal you are fine. If not then you may have a thermostat that is not operating properly. You want it to be at normal operating temp for fuel economy, etc.
I second that. Change the thermostat and see if that fixes it. If the engine stays too cool, the ECU will run the engine rich, wasting gas. A properly working thermostat should allow the engine to warm up to operating temperature in the driveway at idle within 10 mins. Especially on a warm day. I think yours may be slightly cracked open.
@BustedKnuckles:
But should the radiator fan come on within 10mins?
I have no overheating issue.
THe temp gauge does move up after reving up. The car was not driven for 2 days and parked under cover with no walls.
If you note, @Bing says that it will take a long time - he recommends taking it for a ride
This is why i was asking if I drive on the road for a while and when I park with engine running (no AC on - and the temp gauge moves up) and if the radiator fan is running, can I dismiss the issue?