Fan not coming on. 09 International Transtar 8600

Hello Everyone , I am new to this forum and far from being a mechanic. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a 2009 International transtar 8600 with a Maxxforce 11. My fan is not coming on when the engine starts getting hot. When I first turn on the truck the fan comes on, and I can hear it more as I accelerate but will turn off when I get up to speed or after a few minutes. I doubt it is my fan clutch. The engine doesn't overheat when idling or running. It's just when I'm pulling a heavy load or warm weather the trucks water temperature will get up to 200 degrees and the fan won't come on. My guess, is that it might be a fan solenoid. Or something that regulates or tells the fan to come on at a certain temperature. When I do the regen, the engine will get too hot for me to complete it because the fan doesn't come on and I have to stop it. Thanks in advance

 

If I'm not mistaken the fan comes on at 215 degrees.
The engine ECM controls the fan. There should be an air solenoid on the firewall
to the left of the valve cover.

 

I realize this doesn't fix whatever is telling the fan to turn on. Could you just switch the fan on? Or isn't the truck equipped with the fan switch override? Mayby install one. But you then have to keep a eye on you temp. Lots of times i switch my fan on ahead of time when on a long hard pull as to kinda get ahead of high heat which will soon happen.

 

Thanks. The temp gets way past 215 without the fan engaging. I will check it out

 

Thank you. The truck isn't equipped with a fan switch override. And I am actually considering putting one on If all else fails. Like you mentioned, it might be best to get ahead of the heat

 

Look on top of head in water rail for a 2 wire sensor that turns on fan when water temp. gets over 200 or so its a easy screw in sensor after you drain a gal. or so out of rad. then after you buy it and put some thread seal on it, and screw it in it should turn on?

 

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like a promising fix, and just what I was looking for. But like I mentioned, I'm far from a mechanic. Could u please be a little more specific of the location of this sensor, I have no clue what a water rail is. Sorry. I'm just a new owner operators trying to make it thru this Pandemic. Thanks again

 

As far as I know all electronic engines use the engine ECM to control the fan. I am certain the Maxxforce 11 does. The ECM will turn on the fan if the coolant temp or intake air temp is too high or if the A/C pressure is too high. I suspect the air solenoid has failed. The engine gauges get their data from the ECM so the coolant temp sensor is working properly. The fan runs at startup until there is enough air pressure to disengage it. If there was a broken wire to the solenoid the ECM should turn on the check engine light.

 

Thank you. Yeah the fan does run at startup up and works fine. The only time I get a check engine light is when the temperature reaches 215 which I assumes is because the fan doesn't kick in at that point. So should I check the solenoid first then ECM?

 

I highly doubt its the ECM. You could try operating the fan air solenoid with a jumper wire from the battery and a ground with the engine idling and see if that would make the fan engage and disengage. That would tell you if the solenoid was working or not.
This is the wiring diagram for the fan: