Female needs help w/Engine Fan noise!

[her ss]

I need some help on figuring what is wrong w/my car. First I have a 2002 SS Camaro. When I start my car the engine fan comes on (something normal that happens everytime I start my car) and as of this past Saturday it has started making this horrible high pitched noise (I think it is the fan). I need some of your expertise on what this is. The "fan" stays on aprox 2-3 mins and goes off. Since Saturday only a few times this noise has not happened when I started my car. Tonight I started my car in the garage with the engine Hot and the noise came again. After a little while the noise quit and the fans kept running and there was no noise. I am concerned what would happen if my "fan" just quits running will I ruin my engine?

I look forward in hearing back from someone soon.! thanks for your help!

[dkishton1486]

Is your MAF (Mass air flow) sensor plugged in? If your fans quit yes you could possibly hurt the enging because they will not cool it.

[Wyoming T/A]

sounds like maybe a bearing in fan,should et it ck.out it could overheat if it quits ,dont!!! drive it if it gets hot..

[her ss]

Let me ask this, after the 2-3 mins of high pitched noise, the "fan" sounds like it shuts off, however it looks like they are still running and there is no noise. This is the fan that starts up and shuts off when you start your car and runs about 3 mins. If it was a bearing or if it was my MAF sensor plug would the sound disapate or would it always be there? This is driving me nuts...!

[dkishton1486]

It actually might be your fan motor because your fans have 2 speeds high and low so could possibly be 1 of your motors

[her ss]

which fan would it be when you first crank the car up? There is a big fan and a small fan which of these could it be?

[dkishton1486]

Im not too sure what fan it is but id say disconnect your (-) battery cable and try to spin the fans and see if anyone of the fans make any noises

[her ss]

I can spin the fans freely with my fingers.

[LS1Chris]

Acutally I don't think they're supposed to come on right after starting the car when it's cold like it's been for more than a few hours.

On my '99 Z28 the low speed fan comes on when it gets around 176*. The high speed fans comes on whenever A/C is selected or when engine coolant temp gets above 220*.

[LS1Chris]

which fan would it be when you first crank the car up? There is a big fan and a small fan which of these could it be?

There's no big or small fan in there. The low speed fan hangs lower to the ground (driver's side) and the high speed fan hangs higher (passgener side)
It's an offset setup to make the most efficent use of space (radiator size)

The high pitched noise you're describing most likey sounds like the fan motor bearing.

This is what you should do, start the car up and let all the fan noise stop like you say it does in 3 mins.

Then turn on the A/C to MAX or A/C. The high speed fan will come on if the engine is cold, otherwise both fans will be on if it's hot.

If the noise comes back, it's the high speed fan (passgener side)

If it doesn't, then it's the driver's side (low speed fan)

The low speed fan comes on most of the time, mostly in town/city driving, in traffic and idling for a while.

The high speed fan only comes on when the A/C or defroster is on or in a rare event should the low speed fan motor fail which the high speed fan would have to provide cooling backup, but this won't happen until coolant temp goes past 220*.

Both will be on if the low speed fan is unable to get the coolant temp down as prescribed by the PCM and the temp is still holding or rising (no matter if the A/C is on or not at this point)

[0rion]

When I first read your post I was thinking a squealing belt. Have you ruled that out? There's 2 belts ( serpentine and an accessory belt down low). Are you sure it's not coming from one of those?

[SeVeReDiStOrTiOn]

I need some help on figuring what is wrong w/my car. First I have a 2002 SS Camaro. When I start my car the engine fan comes on (something normal that happens everytime I start my car) and as of this past Saturday it has started making this horrible high pitched noise (I think it is the fan). I need some of your expertise on what this is. The "fan" stays on aprox 2-3 mins and goes off. Since Saturday only a few times this noise has not happened when I started my car. Tonight I started my car in the garage with the engine Hot and the noise came again. After a little while the noise quit and the fans kept running and there was no noise. I am concerned what would happen if my "fan" just quits running will I ruin my engine?

I look forward in hearing back from someone soon.! thanks for your help!

ok....if your motor is cold then the fans shouldn't come on when you start the car. The high pitch noise you're hearing is more then likely the A.I.R. pump...it injects air into the exhaust manifolds during start-up to help emissions.

When the motor has been at running temp and you turn off the car and restart it after a minute...the fans might come on depending on the motor temp. For my z28 both fans come on during low speed...and both fans speed up for high speed, so i'm not sure what some of the people that posted are talking about one fan coming on.

If you're worried about your fans coming on...buy tuning software or buy a handheld tuner and adjust the on/off temps for low/high speed. They are crazy high from the factory IMO....so adjust them to go along with your stat temp better.

And for furture reference...you're being a attention whore by throwing in the "female needs help" crap. Some people don't like that here. Welcome to the board

[Liquifire]

Acutally I don't think they're supposed to come on right after starting the car when it's cold like it's been for more than a few hours.

It would if she had the AC on when she started the car.......try it with the AC off if it isn't already.

[Danger731]

And for furture reference...you're being a attention whore by throwing in the "female needs help" crap. Some people don't like that here. Welcome to the board

I have to disagree on that biased remark.

Either way good luck with your issue .

[keliente]

Hmmm a high pitched whistling noise for the first 2-3 minutes when you start the car?

Sounds like normal operation of the air pump to me! Did you really look to see if the fans were running?

Also what does being a female have to do with needing help?

[Sarge]

My money is on a "pollution control" component....I've seen squealing PCV valves/air pumps ( like Keliente pointed out).....vacum pressure building up and it goes away and the fans keep running is a key here....

[LS1Chris]

When the motor has been at running temp and you turn off the car and restart it after a minute...the fans might come on depending on the motor temp. For my z28 both fans come on during low speed...and both fans speed up for high speed, so i'm not sure what some of the people that posted are talking about one fan coming on.

That's because when you shut the engine off, the water pump stops moving coolant and the coolant is just sitting inside the engine and radiator absorbing residual heat which in return creeps up the temps unless the coolant is moved around the system again. This may explain why both fans came on since the PCM thinks the system needs additional cooling.

Pretty sure the high speed fan won't come on unless the temp is over 220* or the A/C is on, the low speed fan will remain running at the same time.

Now do this, with your engine cold, turn on the A/C right after starting it. The high speed fan will only come on and the low speed fan won't move.

[LS1Chris]

It would if she had the AC on when she started the car.......try it with the AC off if it isn't already.

I always leave the A/C off when starting the engine or going WOT.

Leaving it on during starting puts more load on the starter since it has to turn the high compression over plus the A/C compressor at the same time.

A/C compressor can explode easy. Like if you have a A4 and set the cruise control, bump the transmission in netural.
The RPM will rise rapidly and the compressor will explode throwing a chuck off of it and spraying freon out. Happened to someone here on ls1.com, not me.

The A/C does have a WOT switch to shut it off but would you trust that always?

[SeVeReDiStOrTiOn]

That's because when you shut the engine off, the water pump stops moving coolant and the coolant is just sitting inside the engine and radiator absorbing residual heat which in return creeps up the temps unless the coolant is moved around the system again. This may explain why both fans came on since the PCM thinks the system needs additional cooling.

Pretty sure the high speed fan won't come on unless the temp is over 220* or the A/C is on, the low speed fan will remain running at the same time.

.

That's exactly why I said they will come on after you shut the motor off....but thanks for the common knowledge auto lesson.

And the on/off temp depends on the tune programmed....the stocker is set extremely high IMO. Before I lowered mine...the low speed was set to come on/off at 226/219*....high speed was 234/227*. When I bought the car it was completely stock...so I know that was the factory tune.

[SeVeReDiStOrTiOn]

I have to disagree on that biased remark.

Either way good luck with your issue .

Really? So you put male needs help in all your posts? Hmmm...interesting.