Radiator Fan does not come on with Engine Request?

Tiny
SOMEONE12132
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  • 2003 MERCEDES BENZ CLK550
  • 5.5L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 103,000 MILES
Hello,

I'm currently suffering with a problem with my CLK where the radiator fan will not come on when the engine requests for the radiator fan.

I was able to determine this by disconnecting my temperature sensor, which forces the ECU to request the radiator fan to run at 100% as a safety measure.

I ran an actuation test of my radiator fan, and I was able to turn on the radiator fan this way. This means my radiator fan is probably fine, and perhaps my ECU as well.

I am more concerned about my radiator fan not running when my engine is requesting it to be on. It is causing my car to overheat in traffic. I'm not sure what it could be.

Note: Car was in ignition when performing all these tests.
Monday, December 23rd, 2024 AT 5:26 PM

13 Replies

Tiny
AL514
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Hello, I thought you had this all sorted out already?
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Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 AT 10:16 AM
Tiny
SOMEONE12132
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I thought I had, but there is something else wrong with this car.

Alright, so I did do some checks, and the radiator fan does come on when the engine does request for it. Unplugging the coolant temperature sensor and turning on the engine makes the engine request the fan at 100%, and the fan does indeed come on at full blast, so we can rule out the radiator fan being an issue here.

I'm not sure if this is the proper temperature for stop-and-go traffic, or if it is overheating. This is the max temperature it goes to in stop-and-go traffic, but it does go down once on the highway.

Maybe something else besides the radiator fan is wrong here as this has been tested already? What could I check for?
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Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 AT 11:04 AM
Tiny
AL514
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I assume you've cleared out all the codes after the last repair, what's the ECT getting to in the stop and go traffic (we'll call it city driving). It looks like 100c on the Cluster, so roughly 212f? Is that accurate to scan data? And are codes setting after 2 drive cycles?
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Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 AT 12:18 PM
Tiny
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These are the two coolant system diagrams, pretty complicated thermostat setup, Mode F shows coolant temp greater than 102c, thermostat fully opens to flow through the radiator. So that would be its max temperature unless I can find a different spec.
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Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 AT 12:28 PM
Tiny
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There are some pretty interesting info, along with the ton of other information on the cooling system, but I'm not sure what the water to antifreeze ratio is right now in the vehicle, but they have a very specific ratio spec and some reasoning behind it, if its 55% or more antifreeze, apparently this increases the boiling point of the mixture due to lower heat transfer of the coolant itself. So really it should be a 45% antifreeze ratio that will bring it to -22f freeze protection, But if there is a much higher ratio of antifreeze, which is difficult to tell unless its checked, who knows if the customer has just been dumping straight antifreeze in it over the years and the percentage is much higher now, you could check the concentration with one of those floating ball gauges, but it says to only use MB antifreeze as well. Not something that's well known I'll bet, about the boiling point changing according to the mixture. Regular people usually just dump in whatever is in their garage.
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Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 AT 1:08 PM
Tiny
SOMEONE12132
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Just curious, should the antifreeze be a green color? That is what is currently in my car right now.

After 2 drive-cycles, there were no codes at all.

I need to check the ECT data when the car is up to temperatures, which I will do sometime soon.
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Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 AT 9:33 PM
Tiny
AL514
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I'm not sure what color the MB coolant is, the green coolant is most likely just regular old antifreeze, but is the 100c temperature the highest it's getting on the gauge?
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Thursday, December 26th, 2024 AT 10:08 AM
Tiny
SOMEONE12132
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Yes, 100C is the highest it gets on the gauge.
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Thursday, December 26th, 2024 AT 11:09 AM
Tiny
SOMEONE12132
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So, I managed to recreate the same situation again, and here are the results.

Radiator fan turns on when the coolant temperature is at 97C. The radiator fan is doing its job, and the coolant temperature goes back to 92C when at a stop. At 92C, the radiator fan is off. It never exceeds that 97C, so I'm hoping that means that means everything is good with the radiator fan?

From what I see, it seems that the gauge is off by 5 degrees C, so I'm pretty sure there is nothing to worry about for now.

However, is that range of 92C to 97C normal operating temperature, or is it too hot?
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Thursday, December 26th, 2024 AT 1:54 PM
Tiny
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Well, 92c is only 197.6f, 97c is 206.6f, and on either coolant system diagram 102c is when the thermostat is fully opened and coolant is directed through the radiator, the 206f is okay with me, I know that a Subaru kicks on the cooling fan at exactly 204f because I used to work for them at a dealership. But remember that you did have a communications code from the Cluster to the ECM at one point, I'm not sure how much of the harness you have messed with since then, what's been unplugged and plugged back in, but I'm sure you would get a warning light on if the coolant temperature went too high. I know the temperature in Celsius can look foreign to us techs in the US, I usually just google a Celsius temperature to Fahrenheit, and it will bring up a conversion chart, it's just easier for me to see it that way as well.
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Friday, December 27th, 2024 AT 7:52 AM
Tiny
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I would drive it for a couple days and take a few longer drives to see if any codes are set, some take longer than others, but it looks like you're getting to the bottom of things finally with this vehicle.
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Friday, December 27th, 2024 AT 7:54 AM
Tiny
SOMEONE12132
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There were no codes that were set. I drove it many times on the highway, went through stop-and-go traffic, drove it through the city, and even drove it through the backroads. Also, I believe I said that there's green coolant in it, but I was mistaken. There is actually the proper blue coolant in the cooling system.
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 AT 11:21 AM
Tiny
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So it sounds like things are okay?
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 AT 2:11 PM

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