Hi Guys

I've got a 03 VR-X (TL) that I recently sent to Northshore Mitsubishi to have the timing belt replaced. It's done 80k kms but since it's almost 10 years old I thought better get it done.

They changed the timing belt, but there were oil leaks from the rocker cover, spark plug tube seals and disty seals so they fixed all that up as well. They also changed the rear spark plugs.

Problem is ever since I got the car back, the radiator fan runs way more often than before. It's on pretty much at the end of each trip when it never used to do that before. There's also a burning sort of smell coming from the engine bay (but temp gauge shows normal).

When I sent it back to them they said the thermostat was partially sticking and replaced it. They say the burning smell is the degreaser they used to clean up the oil leaks, and should fade off after a while.

I think there's now a slight improvement but the fan still runs (very) often and the smell doesn't seem to be reducing. I've checked the top and bottom radiator hoses when the engine's hot and both are hot (so is the radiator), so don't think it's a thermostat issue. Coolant level's full. Couldn't find any leaks from the water pump. Timing belt seems to be driving the pump ok.

Any ideas what could be going wrong? Could they have stuffed something up when working on the oil leaks or rear spark plugs? :S

It can take a while for the oil to completely burn off the exhaust manifolds if it leaked on there. I used some degreaser on mine which initially made the smell worse as it stirred up some old, dried oil. After a while it went away.

How long has it been since they fixed the oil leaks?

I agree with what Brewer said. My engine was leaking oil non stop and reven though its been a week since getting fixed and 4 or 5 engine washes later as well as a ton of degreaser - the smell is still there.

Give it time.

Yup I can still see a few old oil stains on the rear exhaust manifold so that must be it. The leaks were fixed about a week ago. Thanks guys.

Still wondering what's causing the radiator fan to run so much though. Seems a bit too coincidental that it started happening right after this service.

Ive got KL GTVi - thermo fan runs a lot too. even starts when i start the car cold. never thought anything of it? my coolant was just flushed before i bought it and is still full never runs hot. havent had any problems in the 15k ive had the car

If the main radiator fan is running a lot, its generally because the ECU thinks the engine is running hot. Assuming no shortage of coolant or any sort of coolant blockage, this could be due to failure of or damage to the temperature sensor or its wiring, or the thermostat not functioning correctly.
If you can find someone with a logging setup, that would confirm what the ECU is seeing.

If the main radiator fan is running a lot, its generally because the ECU thinks the engine is running hot. Assuming no shortage of coolant or any sort of coolant blockage, this could be due to failure of or damage to the temperature sensor or its wiring, or the thermostat not functioning correctly.
If you can find someone with a logging setup, that would confirm what the ECU is seeing.

so, given neither Raven or i have any sign of temp problem, should we be concerned by this? my fan still alternates between on and off.

Ive got KL GTVi - thermo fan runs a lot too. even starts when i start the car cold. never thought anything of it? my coolant was just flushed before i bought it and is still full never runs hot. havent had any problems in the 15k ive had the car

If the radiator fan runs even when the engine's cold (and A/C off), sounds like a faulty temperature sensor?