Strange starting sound

[fujioko]

Whoopee! I get to answer a question!

The cooling fan clutch will temporally engage the fan on cold starts. The whooshing sound is air being drawn by the fan. I believe this is perfectly normal and you shouldn’t be alarmed.

Basically the fluid in the fan clutch has settled and has somewhat thickened. Once the engine is started the fluid is evenly distributed and the fan will quickly disengage. (the fan continues to rotate but at a significantly slower speed)

That’s my prognosis.

[nirvana19]

thanks! Thats reassuring, people at gas stations always seem to glare at me when they hear that sound coming from my car, like they think its about to explode. It never really bothered me but I figured it was worth looking into.