When I park my car up for the night and am about to turn the engine off, I sometimes notice that the engine fan is on. When I turn the engine off the fan stops. If I turn the key to the final point before starting the engine the fan comes back on. If i turn it off again the fan stops. Obviously the engine is trying to cool itself down.

My question is should the fan run independently of the ignition, i.e. when I turn the car off should the fan continue to run until it the engine no longer needs it...?

Yes, I thought it was odd too. Most other cars continue to run the fan with the ignition off. Simple solution is to wait until it stops before turning the ignition off. You should be waiting for a bit anyway to cool the turbo down -- if the fan kicks in during this cooldown then wait until it stops.

Thanks Carl.

madness,
Have you thought about a turbo-timer, which allows you to remove your keys and lock the car doors but leaves the engine running for a short while to let it cool off?

It's worth getting one just for the looks you get when you walk away from your car leaving the engine running, ligths on, wipers on Etc!!!

have thought about it...

i tend to drive very low revs (below 2500 rpm) before my final destination (4-5 minutes), very difficult to resist the urge to use turbo. If situation is that i can't do this, then i let the car idle for a several minutes before turning off...

I am tempted by a turbo timer as its another flashy gadget to go inside the car - sounds a bit scary though with the car idling and walking away...