engine bay fan
 

I don't seem to recall ever hearing my engine bay fan working, but then again, I might not have realized that it was on maybe whilst I was driving. How can I check if it works, point a heat gun at the sensor perhaps? I checked the fuse and it seems to be ok. Does anyone know when I should be expecting it to go on?

Mine has only ever run on days that are over 90F. Its pretty rare.

The fan is controlled by the DME, and it has a few triggers for coming on. The most common one is the engine bay temp exceeding 180° F. It should not be running regularly, for me it most commonly comes on on very hot days or in slow traffic. :cheers:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/11234-engine-compartment-fan.html

But is there a way to know that the fan does work?

You can trigger it with a Durametric, or you could jumper the relay.

http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/60239-engine-compartment-fan-manual-switch.html

If I jumper the relay, how would I know if the relay is working? Wouldn't it be easier heating up the sensor ?

It would be one Hell of a lot easier to just connect your Durametric and switch it on.............

I would if I had a durametric, but I don't have one unfortunately!

A quick way to check the fan itself is just unplug it from the harness and hook up a +&- to it. It's only a simple fan motor

You bought a Porsche, but a Durametric! :) It will pay for itself in short order.:cheers:

When you jumper the fan relay, the relay is taken out of the circuit. With the jumper in place, the fan should turn on - if it doesn't, then the fan or wiring is the problem.

Please take a look at the link that Rick posted for details on how to jumper around the relay: http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/60239-engine-compartment-fan-manual-switch.html

Also try turning the key back to ON after a long drive and turning off the engine. I've heard that fan kick on a couple times I've done that.

Since I live in az and we are scheduled to hit 120 degrees this year, I have though of wiring both radiator fans and my engine fan to either a toggle or to my AEM gauge to trigger it when I hit a certain temp.

Engine Bay cooling fan relocation -Cool enough to work outside at lst !
 

Modification to improve engine bay cooling.
One of the simple solutions suggested to provide more prolonged cooling for the engine compartment(not coolant) is to relocate the sensor(shown in the Pelican link) to a hotter location.
http://cdn4.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/26-FUEL-Engine_Sensors/images_small/Pic1.jpg
In theory this causes to engine compartment fan to come on at a lower temperature than intended and stay on longer ,until a power temperature is reached.
Has anyone actually done this and what is the specific new location suggested? Was it beneficil ?
For those interested in related links ,here are some useful ones I found:
Reliability of 996 Engines - Page 9 - 996 Series (Carrera, Carrera 4, Carrera 4S, Targa) - RennTech.org Community
Note ,this is not the same as the IAT in the MAF