A/C fan! why does it turn on if my a/c is off?

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
hi all,
i have a 89+ and i just recently got it running or streetable i should say. i also installed an electric fan that work perfectly but there is just one thing that i really don't get! why is the a/c fan turning on if i'm not using the a/c? did anyone have this issue?
 

supraman7mgte

Shut up,bitch!!
Apr 1, 2005
1,753
0
0
Sunny California
I think the a/c fan/s kick on at a temp higher than the stock clutch fan is supposed to.
now that you have an elc fan,the cooling system might not be working correctly. do you have any type of temp sensor for the a/c fan?
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
Poodles;1493009 said:
Because it's about to overheat...

that can't be because the fan kicks on before the T-stat opens! so how is your statement true? i have raced 2 drag races back to back include a huge burn out to warn the tires, and the factory gauge stayed below half at all times. i have the DC current taurus 2 speed fan control and it work great.

supraman7mgte;1493020 said:
I think the a/c fan/s kick on at a temp higher than the stock clutch fan is supposed to.
now that you have an elc fan,the cooling system might not be working correctly. do you have any type of temp sensor for the a/c fan?

you know thats funny you asked that question! because when i was installing the front mount IC i saw this black plastic senser just hanging on the front driver side of the car just under the over frow water tank is. well in that area anyways. is that it? i wasn't really sure what it was for.
 

hvyman

Dang Dude! No Way Man.
Staff member
Apr 17, 2007
12,568
1
0
Fullerton,CA
watching the stock gauge does not tell you how hot your engine is lol.

the a/c fans do kick on when the engine runs hotter and the extra fans aid in cooling the motor.
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
hvyman;1493060 said:
watching the stock gauge does not tell you how hot your engine is lol.

the a/c fans do kick on when the engine runs hotter and the extra fans aid in cooling the motor.

well do i have the wrong t-stat in the car? since it turns on before the t-stat opens. is there an aftermarket gauge that would work with the factory senser?
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
hvyman;1493080 said:
what temp is your t stat? stock is 190 and is what you should be running.

i'm not sure about the t-stat but i know the default on my probe on the E-fan is at 180! and i left it that way since the probe is in the radiator fins and not on the water neck. i mean if it was that hot and (close to over heating) wouldn't the fan run for a long time or even kick on the high speed to cool faster?

is there a way to get a aftermarket water temp gauge that works with our senser, or do i need a switch for my water neck instead of using a radiator probe.
 

TurboStreetCar

Formerly Nosechunks
Feb 25, 2006
2,776
3
38
Long Island, Ny
The a/c fan turns on when coolant reaches 212F.

The only other thing to turn it on is high pressure switch in the A/C system.

Check this and this page for diagnosis.

No aftermarket gauge with work with the stock sensor, youll need to install the probe that should come with the aftermarket gauge for correct temperature readings.
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
38,728
0
0
61
I come from a land down under
countdown.gif
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
this site is filled with idiots! if you have nothing good to post or anything to help the situation, then don't post shit!
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
nosechunks;1493103 said:
The a/c fan turns on when coolant reaches 212F.

The only other thing to turn it on is high pressure switch in the A/C system.

Check this and this page for diagnosis.

No aftermarket gauge with work with the stock sensor, youll need to install the probe that should come with the aftermarket gauge for correct temperature readings.

thanks a lot bro for the information! i'll just get me a water temp gauge and start from there. i know if the car is some what hot or a little high the gauge would atlease make it to halfway point but it doesn't. so it has to be something else, eather way i won't find out until i instal the water temp gauge. thanks you guys that tried to help me out with my problem.
 

92nsx

Supramania Contributor
Sep 30, 2005
2,957
0
0
Clearwater, MN
3tc power;1493573 said:
this site is filled with idiots! if you have nothing good to post or anything to help the situation, then don't post shit!

:: angry :: STFU bud, there is a wealth of information here. If you can't handle some crap, go some where else and ask your questions, or bring it into Toyota an get it fixed.

Like what was already posted, the A/C fans will turn on when 212 degrees for a temp has been reached, no mater if the A/C is on or off. If you don't like that unhook them so you have nothing, or write Toyota a letter letting them know that something is broken on your 20 year old car. :3d_frown:

3tc power;1493053 said:
i saw this black plastic senser just hanging on the front driver side of the car just under the over frow water tank is. well in that area anyways. is that it? i wasn't really sure what it was for.

And that lil sensor is the ambient air temperature for the A/C system.
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
dude if this was your post you would feel the same way! this is called technical discussion for a reason. i posted the problem here for answers not to fool around, if i wanted to fool around i would go to a chat room or something. anyways thanks for the little info that you gave me about the sensor, now i have to search to see where the factory location is.
 

supraman7mgte

Shut up,bitch!!
Apr 1, 2005
1,753
0
0
Sunny California
p1493625_1.jpg

maybe this will help,got it from 92TealSupra,yeah,ya gotta watch it around here sometimes,there are PLENTY of Supra owners that don't mind helping,then there are others who offer useless info
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
supraman7mgte;1493625 said:
p1493647_1.jpg

maybe this will help,got it from 92TealSupra,yeah,ya gotta watch it around here sometimes,there are PLENTY of Supra owners that don't mind helping,then there are others who offer useless info

thanks bro it actually did help out a lot
 

GrimJack

Administrator
Dec 31, 1969
12,377
3
38
56
Richmond, BC, Canada
idriders.com
Do you know why you're getting unhelpful posts? I'll give you a hint. No offense meant, however, it's because you act like a cocksure punk who thinks he knows it all. Your first post contains assumptions that you expect us to take at face value, and, more importantly, doesn't include all the relevant information we would need to diagnose your problem. Add in the fact that your English is less than flawless - which we might excuse, assuming that it wasn't your primary language, except for the fact that you don't use any capital letters, either, and I'm not aware of any alphabetic based languages that don't capitalize sentences. On the internet, where text is our only method of judging your character, this presents the image of someone who is lazy and doesn't logically think things through.

There is a link in my signature, that explains how to get free help from experts on the internet. It would be well worth your time to go read it.

So, on to your problem.

Your AC aux fan is coming on, and you don't think this is right. Firstly, we need to determine whether it should be coming on or not. It should come on if the coolant temp is above a certain point, or if the AC is on. If either of these is the case, it's operating as designed. Therefore, we ask you to check that the AC is off, and as we know that the stock temperature gauge is notoriously inaccurate, we ask if you have an aftermarket gauge. You do not have one, so we have to abandon this line of investigation.

Your mention of changing to an electric fan raises a red flag, as there have been hundreds of examples of members going this route and causing problems with the cooling system. You say it 'work perfectly', yet don't explain how you come to this conclusion. You also mention you have a fan controller, and claim that it works great as well, however, again, there isn't any explanation of why. You ask if you have the wrong thermostat, then don't know which one you have.

At this point, we have basically stopped caring.

Nobody has even asked you whether this problem occurred before with the stock clutch fan, how much power the engine is making, whether the fan you are using has a shroud, if your engine bay still has the stock undercover, what radiator is installed, what electric fan you are using, how it is wired, or any details of how you mounted the temperature probe for your fan controller.

Bottom line, you have modified the cooling system on a car that lives in Florida, where by all reports it's relatively hot out most of the time, and now it is showing signs of overheating. How exactly is this a surprise?
 

3tc power

New Member
Jan 3, 2009
106
0
0
Tampa FL.
GrimJack;1493677 said:
Do you know why you're getting unhelpful posts? I'll give you a hint. No offense meant, however, it's because you act like a cocksure punk who thinks he knows it all. Your first post contains assumptions that you expect us to take at face value, and, more importantly, doesn't include all the relevant information we would need to diagnose your problem. Add in the fact that your English is less than flawless - which we might excuse, assuming that it wasn't your primary language, except for the fact that you don't use any capital letters, either, and I'm not aware of any alphabetic based languages that don't capitalize sentences. On the internet, where text is our only method of judging your character, this presents the image of someone who is lazy and doesn't logically think things through.

There is a link in my signature, that explains how to get free help from experts on the internet. It would be well worth your time to go read it.

So, on to your problem.

Your AC aux fan is coming on, and you don't think this is right. Firstly, we need to determine whether it should be coming on or not. It should come on if the coolant temp is above a certain point, or if the AC is on. If either of these is the case, it's operating as designed. Therefore, we ask you to check that the AC is off, and as we know that the stock temperature gauge is notoriously inaccurate, we ask if you have an aftermarket gauge. You do not have one, so we have to abandon this line of investigation.

Your mention of changing to an electric fan raises a red flag, as there have been hundreds of examples of members going this route and causing problems with the cooling system. You say it 'work perfectly', yet don't explain how you come to this conclusion. You also mention you have a fan controller, and claim that it works great as well, however, again, there isn't any explanation of why. You ask if you have the wrong thermostat, then don't know which one you have.

At this point, we have basically stopped caring.

Nobody has even asked you whether this problem occurred before with the stock clutch fan, how much power the engine is making, whether the fan you are using has a shroud, if your engine bay still has the stock undercover, what radiator is installed, what electric fan you are using, how it is wired, or any details of how you mounted the temperature probe for your fan controller.

Bottom line, you have modified the cooling system on a car that lives in Florida, where by all reports it's relatively hot out most of the time, and now it is showing signs of overheating. How exactly is this a surprise?

when did i say i knew it all? i asked a question and that was that. if you are driving a car and your temp gauge never touch the halfway point or even come close to it, would you think the car is overheating? now as far as the clutch fan goes i never said i changed it, i said i installed an taurus fan with the controller because i never had a clutch fan for it(when i got the car the blade was broken). and how is it that i'm acting like a punk if i'm thanking everyone that pitched in to help me. its cool that you feel the way you feel bro.
 

GrimJack

Administrator
Dec 31, 1969
12,377
3
38
56
Richmond, BC, Canada
idriders.com
Dude, stop getting all defensive. Nobody wants a behavioral debate in the tech section.

Instead, how about filling in all the missing information I mentioned? Or get an aftermarket temperature gauge, install it, and post what kind of temps you are actually getting?