Radiator Fan Replacement Cost

Car Radiator Fan Repair Cost

If your engine gets too hot or stays in the red area on the temperature level gauge, your cooling fan might not be working correctly. Cooling fans are relatively easy to check as all you need to do is run your engine and turn the Air Conditioning on.

With the A/C on both cooling fans, if your car has 2 fans, they must be performing at high speed. If only one fan is running, it’s extremely possible that your cooling fan for the radiator has actually stopped working.

Although correct troubleshooting would be needed to make sure that the fans have power provided to them, this can be confirmed with a voltmeter or test light.

Cost of Radiator Fan Replacement

Labor expenses can differ depending upon the number of elements needed to be taken out to be able to remove the cooling fan from a car. As usual, the labor rate is also based on the area where you live in.

When it comes to the cost of parts, it depends on the kind of automobile being serviced and the type and quality of the replacement parts to be utilized.

To be able to know just how much to spend for radiator fan replacement per automobile type/model, we presume a labor rate of $100 per hour for an independent shop and $150 per hour for a car dealership. If the radiator is to be changed, the expense of the coolant is not being included in this price quote.

2009 Volkswagen GTI will take approximately 2.3 hours worth of service
At an independent shop, the labor would cost $230 and the cooling fan assembly (radiator fan, condenser fan, and shroud) can vary between $120 and $200 depending upon the brand name and markup.

You might also like our articles about the cost of AC freon recharge, fuel pump replacement, and sunroof installation.

At the car dealership, the labor would cost $345 and the radiator fan replacement expense would be anywhere between $275 and $330. To change the condenser fan motor at the same time, it would cost an extra of $175 and $200 for the motor, respectively, but there would be no extra labor because the parts are somewhat close one to another.

2011 Dodge Battery Charger 3.6 L will require 1.6 hours worth of service
At an independent shop, the labor would cost $160 and the cooling fan assembly (radiator fan, condenser fan, and shroud) can vary between $125 and $175 depending upon the brand name and markup.

At the dealer, the labor would cost $240 and the cooling fan assembly (radiator fan, condenser fan, and shroud) would cost somewhere between $275 and $325. For this car, the cooling fan comes as the whole assembly.

2016 Honda Pilot will usually require 2.2 hours worth of service
At an independent mechanic or shop, the labor would cost $220 and the cooling fan assembly (radiator fan and shroud) can vary anywhere between $100 and $150 depending upon the brand name and markup. To change the Condenser fan assembly (condenser fan and shroud), the expense for the part would be an extra of $100 to $150 without any or really small extra labor.

2017 Honda Civic 1.5 L will require around 1.8 hours worth of service
This car has a variable speed cooling fan without any condenser fan. At an independent shop, the labor would cost $180. The cooling fan does not seem provided as an aftermarket part at this time.

The expense for a Honda cooling fan motor would cost anywhere between $400 and $475 depending upon place and markup. At the car dealership, the labor would cost $270 and the fan motor would be $400 to $475 depending upon area and markup.

At a dealer, the labor would cost $330 and the radiator fan cost would be anywhere between $145 and $175. To change the condenser fan motor at the same time, it would cost an extra of $100 to $125 for the motor, however, there would be no or extremely small extra labor required.

What Is a Cooling Fan?

There are 2 known kinds of cooling fans utilized in the vehicle market. The less typical type is the hydraulic driven cooling fan. This fan is connected to the engine with a pulley that is driven by the drive belt.

Inside the pulley is a hydraulic pump system. Depending upon the quantity of hydraulic pressure used, the fan blade ends up being locked to the pulley and starts spinning.

This type of system is more typical in older trucks. It is most typical on heavy-duty trucks however lots of older light-duty trucks (Dodge Ram, Ford F250, and Chevrolet 1500) have actually utilized them in the past. The failure rate is much lower on this kind of system as it is mechanical, not electrical.

The 2nd kind of cooling fan is the electrical cooling fan. This is the most frequently utilized cooling fan. This type is installed to the radiator and is managed digitally by the onboard computer system.

Lots of cars will have 2 fans installed on the radiator side by side. One is for the radiator and the other is for the condenser. Once the A/C is switched on, both fans need to run.

Lots of producers utilize a high and low-speed system for the cooling fan. The different speeds are normally managed by relays, however, some cars utilize control modules to manage the speed of the fan.

Lots of modern-day automobiles are moving to brushless variable speed fans that can perform at any speed between off and maximum speed, rather than just off, low, and high speed (which means only 2 speeds).

The cooling fan is extremely essential as it’s required to keep the coolant in the engine cool while running. Without the cooling fan, the radiator would not have the ability to cool off the coolant enough to prevent the engine from overheating.

When a radiator fan stops working, a boost in engine temperature level might be observed particularly throughout the summer season when the ambient temperature level is much warmer. If the radiator fan has actually stopped working, you would also discover a reduction in cooling effectiveness. With the Air Conditioning on, the air condition would not be as cold as usual.

The majority of independent shops will change both the radiator cooling fan and the fan shroud as one assembly as the majority of aftermarket cooling fans are made as a full assembly. A lot of dealers will change just the electrical cooling fan motor.

If you have had the radiator fan changed by an independent shop as a whole assembly (aftermarket) and after that, go to a dealer later, you might not be able to have only the motor changed. This is due to the fact that the brand-new fan shroud may not match with the initial fan motor offered by the dealership. In this case, you would have to purchase an OEM fan shroud and fan motor that will cost a lot more.

On more recent cars that work with a variable speed brushless radiator fan motor, you might not have a secondary fan. These automobiles generally utilize only one fan for both the condenser and the radiator.

If this fan stops working, you will see a quick temperature level boost, in addition to extremely small cooling if you’re making use of the air conditioning unit at the time.

The cooling fan and cooling fan shroud can be found on the radiator. This will mean that in order to get rid of the fans, often, the radiator needs to be taken out, the front bumper might need to be eliminated or the front core support might need to be removed.

When Does a Cooling Fan Need To Be Changed?

A radiator fan removed from its placeThere are a few different elements that all interact in the cooling fan system. The control module typically keeps track of the coolant through 2 temperature level sensing units; one situated in the radiator and the other, somewhere on the engine.

When the engine control module sees that the coolant is at the expected temperature level, the control module then commands the fans on typical low-speed first if this is a fan with 2 speeds, or low if it’s a variable speed fan.

If a coolant sensor is not operating correctly and seeing a much lower temperature level than what the real temperature level is, the control module might not turn the fans on and your engine might get too hot.

Professionals can typically identify this issue by seeing what the coolant temperature level sensors read and whether the control module is commanding the fan on. If these things are working correctly, they will then check to ensure that the cooling fan has appropriate power and ground and also look for any possible broken relays.

In many cases, the cooling fan motor itself may not be a problem if you or have a broken fan shroud that can lower the cooling performance. This would be so as the air would be leaving through those fractures instead of going through the radiator fins.

A damaged fan blade can also lead to a decline in cooling effectiveness as it would not be drawing the correct amount of air throughout the radiator fins. If the fan has actually stopped working completely due to electrical motor failure, the motor would have to be changed.

Alec Pow
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