Should I be concerned if my engine fan seems to be turning on much sooner than it ever has. It seems to turn on as soon as the engine warms up, and moves to the highest setting after enough driving (30 minutes or so of freeway driving or 20 minutes of street driving). I never used to notice this, but I am also thinking I'm being paranoid considering there are no other issues I am having. No ac/heating running when I notice this issue or during the drive.

Engine temp seems to be fine, staying where it always has which is a little below the halfway point on the gauge.

Have 53k miles. 2004 350z touring. All stock throughout. Have not done a radiator/coolant flush yet. Fluid level seems fine, towards the high side on a cold engine.

Drive in LA where temperature has been between 50-80.

 

I could be wrong but your fan turning on sooner how could that possibly hurt your motor it would just start cooling sooner and are you sure its even turning on sooner than it did before

 

My guess is there is a problem in the cooling system. Mine was turning on early and going almost straight to the highest setting while at idle. In the past I had never even heard the highest setting unless the AC was on, and it had been running in 90-100+ temps. After I bled the the system fully my went back to normal.

Have you recently disconnected any lines that could cause air to getting in the system?

 

Nope. I have been leaning towards performing a coolant flush. Maybe I will go ahead and do that and see if it makes a difference. How many miles did yours have between coolant change when it begin to occur?

 

Yes I am sure it is turning on sooner than previously. I have the same daily commute and despite traffic/driving conditions remaining the same and overall outside temperature declining, the fan spins up much faster and stays at the high level as though I had the AC running.

 

Mine went 40,000 on orginal coolant (because I forgot to change it) but that didn't cause it. Mine was caused when I went into the engine and allowed air into the system. Also note that the when something is not right in the engine that can relate to overheating the CPU will set the fan to run.

 

Thanks Zazz93! I will give the coolant exchange a chance first this weekend and I will report back what happens. Recommend getting this done at a dealer because of the headaches that I have seen related to it?

 

Its actually pretty easy but takes a little time to get all the air out of the system, the important part. As a test I would say warm up your car and turn all the noise makers off (radio, AC, heater etc...) and with the engine on and the temp set anywhere from med - hot listen to see if there is a sound of moving water from inside the car. If you hear water in the back of the engine or heater core you know there is air in the system. If that is the case it should be easy to bleed off the air yourself.