I'm wondering how useful continuing to run the radiator fans after shutdown as some vehicles do actually is at helping prevent heatsoak related problems. I understand that the coolant and oil temperature can rise significantly after shutdown since they stop circulating but keep absorbing heat from the block and head, which can cause undesirable effects like oil breakdown and coolant boiling. I assume that the goal of continuing to run the fans after shutdown is to help reduce the temperature spike after shutdown, but I question how effective this strategy actually is.
It seems that since the potential coolant boiling, oil coking, etc is going to occur inside the engine, blowing air through a radiator with no fluid circulating through it and over the outside of the engine isn't going to do much to help anything. The one exception I can think of is if the vehicle used an electric water pump that also continued running after shutdown, but if the coolant was kept circulating I doubt that running the fans would even be necessary under most conditions since no more heat will be generated after the engine is shut down.
What do you think about continuing to run the fans after shutdown? I'd be interested to hear any thoughts you have on this.
It seems that since the potential coolant boiling, oil coking, etc is going to occur inside the engine, blowing air through a radiator with no fluid circulating through it and over the outside of the engine isn't going to do much to help anything. The one exception I can think of is if the vehicle used an electric water pump that also continued running after shutdown, but if the coolant was kept circulating I doubt that running the fans would even be necessary under most conditions since no more heat will be generated after the engine is shut down.
What do you think about continuing to run the fans after shutdown? I'd be interested to hear any thoughts you have on this.