Yesterday when I went to start my car, I heard a
loud CLICK from the engine, and the cooling fans came on. The engine was
completely cold. The key was only in the "on" position. Upon further
inspection, I realized the click was coming from the alternator. It seemed like
it wanted to engage even when the car was off. I then started the car and shut
it back off to see if the alternator was just stuck or something. But
nothing changed. I unplugged one of the connections to the otterstat switch, but
the fans stayed on. The only way I could shut them off was to pull the jumper
wire in the relay area. So, then I decided to drive the car anyway to see if it
would fix itself. And, sure enough, it did. As soon as I pulled it out of the
garage, the fans went off and all was back to normal.
My question is; what happened here? Is this a
common occurance? Is this a symptom that something really bad is about to happen
to my car? Anyone else have this happen to them? Thanks in advance for any
help.
---Dan #5493
|