Is it normal?

[miguelh]

Hey guys I was wondering if someone can help me. I have a 99 Ford Taurus SE. On thursday I went out with my girlfriend and when I went to go pick her up the car was fine, everything seemed normal. It was a hot day so I was running the A/C for a while. We parked at a ice cream shop and I didnt notice any weird sound until we came back out. It almost sounded like if my engine was still running. My engine was off and so was the A/C. I dropped her off and when turning the engine off I was still getting that sound. Water was dripping when I checked under the car but I figured that was normal since I had been running the A/C. I got home late and after like an hour I went outside and the sound was still on. I checked under the hood and I had the two fans behind the radiator running. Everything was off, engine and A/C. Is it like an automatic cooling-of-the-engine type of system? I had to disconnect the battery last nite. This morning the engine is really cool and the fans are still running as soon as I connect the battery again. I have enough coolant on there and water. Is it normal?

[Wodinator]

maybe the temperature sensor is bad? Is your CEL on? Is she running hot?

[drdisque]

the water dripping is normal but the fans staying running is not, you probably have a bad thermostat or fan relay.

[yotermanic]

Actually, the fans running after a vehicle has been shut off is normal on the tauraus and several other models. The pcm never goes off-line when you shut it off and depending on the engine temp it may kick on the fans with the key off and in your pocket. The unusual part is the vehicle running the fans for a hour after the key was shut off. I would agree with the fellow ahead of me that it may be a fan relay, or possibly a temp sensor. There are two on most Fords, a engine coolant temp sensor and a cylinder head temp sensor. I beliece the ECT runs your gauge and the CHT runs the fans, since it's acutally in the cylinder head while the ECT is in the manifold where temps can be a little lower. I wouldn't suspect a thermostat due to the fact that after sitting a hour, even an overheated engine should have cooled enough not to kick on the fans with the car off, plus a overheat condition should be indicated on your dash gauge. Of course, the fans are all run by the PCM so it could be suspect as well. Good luck with it.

[denisb]

If it sounds like a plane landing it's normal when the fan winds down it sounds like a big flywheel or something is winding down. The first few times I heard it, it freaked me out, but I've heard it on many Tauruses since.

Denis