2006 xc70 engine swap radiator fan weirdness

[SamiMarsden]

So in December '23 my engine died and now 6 months later it has a new engine and everything has been running great. Usually if I drive up long steep driveways or have large climbs to trail heads in the national park and then park, the radiator fan would stay on for a few minutes to cool the system. My gauge would never read high heat or anything but it would stay on for a bit then click off and that seemed normal (other cars do this as well from my understanding). Now instead of running the fan I just hear a clicking noise like an actuator going off with no fan running. Once again all my gauges read normal, it's not over heating, it's barely reading midway up the gauge and the fan is running normally while on. Heat and AC work normally. What's up with that? My mechanic will obviously fix whatever the issue is but I'd like to show up with some ideas because after 6 months (finding an engine in my price range/location was challenging) I don't really want to have to drop it off again for more than a few hours if it isnt necessary.

Any ideas?

[jonesg]

if you get a $13 ELM 327 (amazon) and connect to your android phone you can read what the coolant temps are.
The fan will not cycle on unless the A/C is turned on or coolant temp goes over 230F.
Normal driving rarely causes it to run that hot.

The only time my fan cycles is if I am sitting idling, I've never heard it run after stopping the engine.

I leave the elm plugged in the obd port, it doesn't run the battery down when ignition is off.
It reads and erases codes, gives you more information to explain to the mechanic.

[SamiMarsden]

I can hear it clicking like it wants to run but it isn't running. It's only in these very specific instances like going up a very long very steep driveway (I live in the mountains) or driving to a ridgeline to go hiking. I'll look into the monitor though that sounds super useful.

[jonesg]

how do you know the clicking has anything to do with the fan.?

[SamiMarsden]

Because the car is turned off and normally after going up this particular driveway the fan runs for a few minutes but it is not running. The clicking sound has not happened after normal in town driving.

[Blacklab467]

There is a fan that comes on after the key is removed that dries the A/C evaporator so it doesn’t stink, maybe that’s what you are hearing? Also remember that your temperature gauge is a “dummy gauge” . I don’t even know if it goes past midway but it doesn’t reflect actual temperatures.

[jonesg]

Because the car is turned off and normally after going up this particular driveway the fan runs for a few minutes but it is not running. The clicking sound has not happened after normal in town driving.

that was with your old engine, i hear relays clicking every time i key on and the computer takes a while to go to sleep after shutting down.