1996 V6 Camry - Hydraulic Fan powering on more often - should I be worried

[GRANDE,GRANDE!!]

Hi, about two months ago i STUPIDLY bought a bottle of Chemiweld (stop leak) and poured it in my car in order to stop a leak i couldnt get to.

Well, it did stop the leak, however, my hydraulic fans are powering on more often then they used to. My fans wouldnt kick in and power on to a fast, noisy level unless it was a real hot day and the air conditioner was being used, nowdays... all i have to be doing is driving the car for about 10 mins on a hot day, and the fan will kick in and spin very fast, the more i push on the pedal, the more the fans come on, making a louder sound.

From my understanding, arent the fans ment to stay low at all times when the AC is off so you cant hear them, unless theres a problem? or the AC is on? Well thats how the fans were before i poured that stuff in there anyway.

The only time they ever came on this bad was when my radiator was blocked. I replaced the radiator about a year ago and they stopped. I have just replaced my water pump and thermostat in the hope to solve the issue and nothing has worked...

The temp guage wont move from where it always was, just under half but the fans spin like crazy after only a bit of driving... should I be worried?

Any ideas on what it could be?

[rusty9]

its possible the chemweld crap damaged or fouled the coolant temp sensor. the failsafe is to always have the fan on when the sensor is faulty.

[73sport]

^+1 or something like that

Bad switch/sensor, or loss of ground to that sensor.
>> The question you need to answer is, "is it actually getting too hot" such that those fans are required??

Try this next time they kick on, roll the windows down, set vent to fresh air air, turn the heat dial to full and the fan speed to medium or high and see if the fans turn off (AC off).

My 95 1MZ has electric so I've never had to delve into the schizzmatic and see what actually enguages the hydralic fans.

Engines that are too hot; detonate upon acceleration, are too hot to touch radiator hoses, dump coolant into the resovoir, smell hot, and may be hard to start when warm, continue list . . . .

Just some random thoughts.
73

[DallasToyo]

My previous Camry, a 95 V6, had the fan running all the time due to some wiring bypass the last owner did to cover a defective relay. It was OK in the summer, but it did run into some problems in winter time.
So at least you know you have all summer to save your money for next fall repairs...

[ShawnD93Toy]

at least your fan works, mine can be stopped by hand all the time lol

[EEngineer]

hydaulic fan is always on regardless it just spins at a different speed depending on your thermostat.

if you poured stopleak into your radiator, it could have happened such that you ended up choking off some passages in the radiator and coolant isn't getting enough surface to cool in the radiator so your thermostat is picking up hotter coolant and causing your fan to go at maximum speed at all times.

[hill8570]

Color me clueless, but how many temperature sensors does the 3VZ have? I'm pretty sure it doesn't have one on the radiator itself. Sensor for the temp gauge and another (ECT?) that is used by the ECU for fuel calculations and controlling the solenoid valve for the fan? Or just one coolant temp sensor for everything?

BTW, oh GRANDE, GRANDE -- you need to make it clear that this is a '96 Vienta Grande w/ 3VZ -- most of us dumb 'mericans associate a '96 V6 Camry with the 1MZ...

[GRANDE,GRANDE!!]

Originally Posted by 73sport

Try this next time they kick on, roll the windows down, set vent to fresh air air, turn the heat dial to full and the fan speed to medium or high and see if the fans turn off (AC off).73

Hi, i'm curious about this method. I will try it, however, if when i turn the heat on when the fans running, if the fans go off, what does this mean? and if it makes no difference, whats this mean??

This method sounds interesting!

[73sport]

Originally Posted by GRANDE,GRANDE!!

Hi, i'm curious about this method. I will try it, however, if when i turn the heat on when the fans running, if the fans go off, what does this mean? and if it makes no difference, whats this mean??

This method sounds interesting!

If the fans turn off it means your car needs the extra cooling to actually drop the temperature because it is too hot! This is just another miny radiator in the dash for your happiness!

If it doesn't cycle the fans off, lets say the air blowing from the dash is like luke warm and the FANS under the hood are still on, then You know you have a wiring issue or a sensor issue making it think its too hot when its not. Like i said, if you can hold your hand on the top radiator hose when the fans are on (lets say 15 seconds) then I doubt its over 160deg. If near boiling 212, your hand will leave fast!

PS - don't expect them to instantly kick off either.

See if the engine cooks eggs! 15min at 200deg should do it. Egg is raw its not to hot! haha

[GRANDE,GRANDE!!]

Originally Posted by 73sport

If the fans turn off it means your car needs the extra cooling to actually drop the temperature because it is too hot! This is just another miny radiator in the dash for your happiness!

If it doesn't cycle the fans off, lets say the air blowing from the dash is like luke warm and the FANS under the hood are still on, then You know you have a wiring issue or a sensor issue making it think its too hot when its not. Like i said, if you can hold your hand on the top radiator hose when the fans are on (lets say 15 seconds) then I doubt its over 160deg. If near boiling 212, your hand will leave fast!

PS - don't expect them to instantly kick off either.

See if the engine cooks eggs! 15min at 200deg should do it. Egg is raw its
not to hot! haha

Looks like it did turn it off...

Fans kicked on again at a loud high speed, and i pulled over and chucked my heater on FULL BLAST and within about a minute, the fans switched off or became (low powered) as they always were.

Hmm... so it in fact does seem that the fans are actualy helping cool my cooling system... Darn.. look like that chemiweld did create some sort of a blockage..

My only querie on that subject is if it did however block something.. shouldnt my car actually have overheated by now.. its been about 2 months since i poured it in there and have had the fans kicking on more often?

Would a proffessional Radiator Flush job help?

[pentiuman]

As I have browsed this forum and tried to help people (including you) and myself, I have noticed that you have several posts over the last few weeks all concerning likely the same cooling issue or related to it. Yes, as your attempts to discover the solution go forward, and you investigate different possibilities, the process naturally develops. You seek help, ask questions, find clues, try things, and (of course) have to ask different questions depending on the varied forum responses, which often come at different times.

HOWEVER, when you create multiple posts, instead of continuing the current one, potentially valuable information is needlessly missing, you have to repeat yourself, you receive duplicate suggestions by other members, others don't have all the info from you, etc.

I want to make sincere suggestions regarding this issue, so that you can more efficiently diagnose your mechanical problem while minimizing irrelevant posts by you and others seeking to help you.

In the future, I suggest you make one post, putting all the info in one place. Do edits to your posts, and perhaps updates as things progress and people respond. And, use the forum features like links, quotes, and pictures. By having just one post, other forum readers can more easily see what you have already done, what suggestions others have already given you, what procedures or parts you have or have not tried, others can better gauge your mechanical experience level, and, others seeking help on the forum don't have to compete with your multiple posts, to their single post, etc. Thank you!

[GRANDE,GRANDE!!]

I'm so dissapointed...

Just as i thought i'd solved my problem $600 later...

It turns out there was a small leak from the water pump so i got that replaced along with the thermostat just to be sure and obviously the timing belt since that hasnt been changed since god knows how long..

Anyway we had a spell of cold weather here in Melbourne, Temperatures below 20C Celcius, and my car had tricked me with the fans. They werent powering on to that annoying high roaring level that they were in the past since i pored the stop leak in there, so i thought that the water pump was to blame for my cars temp rising..

Todays hot weather 30C Celcius, sparked them on again. I was driving along in hot weather along with the A/C on and the fans went nuts again..

What could that stop leak have done to my car? I mean ive flushed my cooling system so many times myself, replaced thermostat AND water pump.. what else could that have possibly clogged for this to be happening to me.

And by the way its not a fan sensor or anything, becuase when they come on to that high level again, if i put the heater on full blast for about a minute, they turn off so my car IS actually runnign hotter.

[ShawnD93Toy]

From personal experience if your car is overheating you can't keep driving it. These things will pop a head gasket like no ones business.

[EEngineer]

new radiator it is then.

[GRANDE,GRANDE!!]

Originally Posted by EEngineer

new radiator it is then.

What else could have possibly been affected by it?

Is it just the radiator? or could it have blocked anything else?

whats a heater core? or a water jacket? Can these get blocked?

I just want to check all possibilities...

Thanks