Didn't want to hijack Carmichael's thread about spoiler up or down which has kind of turned into an engine cooling conversation.
I came in after a good drive - nothing crazy but a few good accelerations. Anyway, I parked in the garage and turned the car off, keys out. I started rigging a couple of fishing poles for the kids and maybe 5 min later I heard a noise. It was the fan running in the engine compartment. It ran for 90 - 120 sec. Shut off for 90 - 120 sec and then ran again for 90 - 120 sec.
Now I know all you long time owners are going to say, "duh, of course". But I had never heard the fan in the car run after I got out of it. And just for the record my garage is climate controlled. IT probably stays around 75* in the dead of summer. It is probably 72* now. Anyone know what the settings are for the fan to come on automatically when the ignition is off?

 

Normal. Engine compartment cooling fans.

 

Obviously the fan operation depends on engine temp and not the temp of your garage. Normal for it to cycle a couple of times until engine cools.

 

Just had the same experience and question - thanks for the Q&A

 

Some more info - the fan doesn't exhaust out but pulls air in over the top of the engine and out towards the floor. Some folks try to help cooling by opening the engine hood letting the hot air out...but doing that disables the fan. Pluses and minuses for either way.

 

Actually, I think it is compartment temp and not engine temp from say coolant temp. There is a monitor in there as I see it on my Durametric.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

 

Interesting, thanks - that makes sense, as I was struck by the amount of hot air coming up from the floor.

 

If the fan runs too often / constantly when the engine is hot, you may find that the ambient air temperature sensor has popped out of its rubber mount on the right side of the intake manifold and/or the electrical connector is no longer secure.

*Edit - this is the 996 location. Unsure if it's in the same place on the 997.

 

Right. Another way of cooling the engine in one's garage is to position a large fan at the rear on the floor pulling hot air from under the car. One can then raise the engine lid to allow downward circulation.

Not: you may want to turn off the engine cavity light by locking the lid lock with a tool. If you do that do not forget to unlock it (electrically with the switch on the drivers door sill) before locking the lid down later on.

 

If you arm/lock the car with the remote the light in the engine compartment will go out after about 20 minutes - without arming it will go off after about 2 hours. I've never had an issue with battery drain due to the engine compartment light. Porsche's load management shuts down -

If the ignition key is removed, loads which are
switched on or are in standby mode (such as the
luggage compartment light, interior light) are
automatically switched off after approx. 2 hours.
The Radio/PCM is automatically switched off after
approx. 10 minutes.

 

The engine lid light does not shut off after 2h - exception to the rule - with the car unlocked; Im told it takes many more hours. I was not aware of the 20min shut off with remote locking good to know.

 

Duh. Of course. (wouldn't want to disappoint you)

 

Interestingly my '06 since new has never once done this. The fan has never come on after driving it and shutting it down.

Matt

 

Mine didn't either, but now that I replaced the fuse under the subwoofer it does so regularly.

 

Not driving it hard enough! This happens to me at the track. I've never had it happen to me while street driving. I must not be driving correctly!