Toyota corolla 01 overheating

Sagitt

I got recently 01 toyota corolla, 1.4 vvti with 120k miles engine and just was wondering if this is normal or is my engine overheating.

It warms up quickly, quicker than any other car I had. It never goes above half way on the temperature gauge though, but even moderate effort like four storey car park will cause radiator fan to go off. I have checked coolant level on the expansion tank, it is half between min and max mark. I had a look into radiator and coolant seems to be fine by its colour, haven's seen any deposits in radiator also.

So apart from fan being 'oversensitive' nothing is wrong. What would you investigate / check to convince yourself that it either has a problem / doesn't have a problem?
Could faulty water pump cause some issues?

As there is timing chain engine i don't know if water pump was ever changed.

biko

So it's not overheating? Quite a misleading title then..

On topic, it's possible these is an issue but if gauge doesn't rise then it may be nothing.
How long have you had car?
Has it always been this way?

Sagitt

biko wrote: »

So it's not overheating? Quite a misleading title then..

Now when i'm reading this i think i could do better title. Is there any way to edit title?

shietpilot

It's normal for the fan to come on if you are not driving at speed, e.g car parks. Once the temperature gauge is alright there's nothing to worry about.

Did you own a diesel car before this one by any chance?

Sagitt

shietpilot wrote: »

It's normal for the fan to come on if you are not driving at speed, e.g car parks. Once the temperature gauge is alright there's nothing to worry about.

Did you own a diesel car before this one by any chance?

I owned diesel and petrol cars and I know it's normal for fan to start when driving at low speed, but this is just happening too quick to my eyes. I drove cars for 20 odd years and this is quickest fan I've ever met, hence my question.

biko

It's possible there is some electrical issue but as long as fan turns on and off it seems operation works normally.

shietpilot

biko wrote: »

It's possible there is some electrical issue but as long as fan turns on and off it seems operation works normally.

Yep, I wouldn't worry about it. Not all cooling systems are equally efficient. As long as the fan kicks in and cools the car down it's fine

CJhaughey

Toyota temp gauges aren't that accurate, they have a resistor to stabilise the reading at halfway.
By the time the gauge moves up past halfway its nearly too late.
The 1.4 vvti warm up fast, how is the radiator in terms of corrosion have you tried flushing it out? if the bottom is filled with scale it can affect coolant flow as well.
New rads aren't expensive less than 70 from mister auto for a Bolk brand or slightly more for a Hella or Nissens one.