Td4 cooling fans

2002 Freelander Td4 128k miles

Not long had this car (have only done 250 miles) and have noticed that the cooling fans are going at full speed and it sounds like a bloody helicopter. They don't come on straight away but it mainly happens after driving at speed, even when I've only been on the motorway for just one junction.

Now I'm not sure if the car is overheating and the fans are doing what they're designed for or if I have a fault with a fan speed sensor (if it exists) or something similar??

• It gets up to temperature fairly quickly and the temp gauge stays at the mid-point although it has creeped just over halfway twice in the last 250 miles before settling again.
• The coolant level doesn't drop.
• The engine oil level is fine.
• There are no tell tale signs of impending headgasket failure.
• I've tried bleeding the coolant system but it was fine.
• The bottom hose on the radiator is significantly cooler than the top hose...is this just the radiator and fans doing their job?
• The air-con is off.

Surely the fans shouldn't be going at full-speed after such a short time? I could understand if it was a hot day and I was stuck in heavy traffic.

Could a faulty thermostat cause this problem if it fails to open and is stuck in the closed position?

It's driving me mad to be honest as they're so noisy and even stay on for a short while once the engine is turned off...any advice greatly appreciated.

would be looking at faulty temperature sender or connection to same (not sure if the fans have a separate temperature sender)

when the ecu loses the signal, it fails safe, just in case and turns the fans on full pelt.

if you search for RAVE CD on here, you'll find a link to a website where you can download (for free) the equivalent of a Haynes manual with all the wiring diagrams in and you could trace it that way.

good luck, mine only did it once, but never heard a sound like it.

Many thanks for the advice...I'll have a look at what you suggest over the next few days and let you know how I get on. The car does seem to get up to temperature very quickly though...it was less than a mile today at speeds of less than 40 mph and the needle was midway.

As long as it got to working temp then stayed there, it's not a problem. However what are you calling 'at speed'? It you are pelting along.. then yes its gonna be set to max to cool the engine down.

dont moan about it getting upto tempature quick mine does it at least it is better fuel comsumtion fans do come on if i stop and turn engin off after a run but they are resonably quiet you just might have a problem with the fans being noisy

When I say "at speed" I just mean a run on a dual carriageway or motorway at around 70mph. I go to work on the motorway for just one short junction and I notice the fan is belting away when I pull off the motorway. This can't be right and I considered the fans being noisy but doubt thats the problem.

Quick update...somebody has suggested that the problem might be a blockage in the radiator. Can anyone help me with a part number for a Td4 (manual gearbox with air-con) radiator? I'm guessing all the different freelander engines use different radiators??

FINAL UPDATE problem sorted: The car eventually overheated on the motorway but once it had cooled down it allowed me to nurse it home if I kept the speed below 55mph. At that speed the fans were good enough to keep the temp gauge in the normal position.

I replaced the radiator after somebody suggested that the radiator might be blocked but it was still the same. So I went with what I thought originally and had the thermostat replaced and it's all sorted. The thermostat was stuck in the closed position which obviously didn't allow the coolant to circulate and meant that the radiator bottom hose was cold.

I could have detected this earlier because the small hose that goes from the expansion tank to the thermostat housing was hot whilst the thicker bottom hose from the thermostat housing was cold.

Thanks for the update, glad it didnt go bang for you either