Posted on 1/30/2026
You shut the car off, grab your stuff, and then you hear it, the radiator fan is still running. Sometimes it’s for 20 seconds. Sometimes it’s for a few minutes. If you’ve never noticed it before, it can feel like something is wrong. In most cases, it’s normal. In other cases, it’s a clue that the cooling system is working harder than it should, or that a sensor or control issue is telling the fan to stay on longer than necessary. What The Radiator Fan Is Doing After Shutdown The fan’s job is to pull air through the radiator and condenser to manage temperature. While you’re driving, airflow through the grille helps a lot. When you stop, airflow drops, but heat in the engine bay doesn’t magically disappear. In fact, temperatures can rise briefly after shutdown because the coolant stops circulating and heat soaks into nearby components. Many modern cars are programmed to run the fan after you turn the engine off to contr ... read more