HELP! radiator fan gone all wierd

[soccerbummer1104]

Starting about a month ago, (actually when i re-assembled the front end of the car after doing my alta light bar) my radiator started turning on after about 10 seconds of the car being on, and does not shut off until you turn the engine off. It even is running when I'm going 80mph on the interstate. It doesnt really hurt anything i guess, but it does make an awful racket because that fan is so loud. I asked a tech at the mini dealer and he said the fan probably went bad, and said something about i could clean out the control unit. Personally, i dont think the fan is bad, btu what do i know. It still spins, and will cut on after a short hard run like it should to cool the engine off even when the car is not on, and if i unplug the smaller cable of the 2 that seem to go to the fan (just to the left of the right hood latch) the fan will turn off.
What i want to know is,
How do i fix this.
and in the mean time would it hurt if i just unplugged that fan and watched my water temps?
and could i have bumped something during the light bar install that could be easily fixed?
Thanks
Brad Daley

[Dr Obnxs]

but I'm guessing that there must be a relay to deal with the high current loads. There's also a resistor module on the radiator support/fan shroud, but I'm guessing your problem is with the relay.

And no, you don't want to unplug it. Having it run too much is a lot worse than getting stuck in traffic without being able to have it turn on.

Matt

[ZippyNH]

I replaced mine with a fan from Rock-Auto, about $100, no problem. The failure mode was different....my low speed resistor had failed, but if you need a fan the aftermarket one seems every bit as goog as OEM, for less tha one third the price.

If you unhook the fan, you may overheat, blow a head gasket, crack your cylinder head, cause your A/C compressor to work so hard it fails, and my destroy your Power-steering pump....it has a fan that on most MINI's run when the radiator fan is on....that is a 600$ part, plus install.

[yellowbritishrocket]

its sounds to me the resistor has gone on the fan....get the fan from rock auto and ull be good...the one i got was from TYC which is a very good company and havent had aproblem since...my problem was the stage 1(low speed) resistor had gone out so it would only turn on in stage 2

[soccerbummer1104]

just wondering. I think i do hear the ac fan cut on jsut before the radiator fan kicks in, and my ac actually has not been working for quite some time. Whenever i turn the ac on, the little green light begins to flash and the air never gets cold. Could this be related?

[ZippyNH]

The ac fan is the same fan....it is just run on high if the ac is on to give the ac coil some extra airflow. It will rarely run on hi if the ac is off in most climates. There is another thread where a guy with a similar problem fried his ac compressor because he ignored the problem.

[gokaht]

This is common - we see it more often than we wished we did :(

Quick/free fix - unplug the fan when parked to avoid running constantly and killing the battery, just plug it back in when you're starting her back up. Yes, the fan will run more than in should, but until you can replace it...

[soccerbummer1104]

no, it never runs when its parked, it cuts on 10 seconds or so after the car is turned on
and never , NEVER
shuts off untill i turn the car off.
but the duty cycle after i turn the car off, only if needed still works (like if you auto x-d it or something, generating a lot of heat, btu not enough cooling, then the fan will run after i turn it off, but then shuts off after it has cooled the water in the radiator. To me this means that at least the temperature sensor is working, and that the fan at least knows how to process signals to turn the fan on or off (i think) and i was wondering if it could have been a wierd problem caused when the dealer re-flashed my ecu after they installed the new BST cable.

[ZippyNH]

Have you pulled apart the connections for and fan and plugged then back in to ensure that they are firm and connected.....they might have been disturbed when you worked on your front end. If I remember right there is a cutoff date in the middle of '03 when the radiators fans were switched to a new part number....I think a relay was moved if I remember right....I think your fan has 3 plugs, the newer ones 2, and if you have had the updated wiring harness, either one MAY have the power steering fan plug left empty/or possible cutoff and taped off in the wiring bundle..thus resulting in only one plug....on the newer fans, but 2 on the older ones...confused yet?! (my dealer had cutoff the power-steering fan plug and tapped it off on my old fan).
The updated is done to put the power steering fan on a separate fuse (in the passenger compartment), so if it becomes jammed, and blows the fuse, it will not prevent the main engine fan from running.... most MINI's came from the factory.
I know there was a thread a while back that someone said they needed to get a new computer because of a similar type of problem....don't think it was the same though....you might do a search to find the specifics.

One important thing....is the fan running on HIGH only?? If it never runs on low, the it means you could have 2 problems.......that fact that it works...kind of.....might indicated a relay problem or something...and maybe a bad fan resistor.....to me it sounds like it might be time to get it looked at.... spending 1 hrs labor to diagnose the problem at a good independent MINI shop might be a good deal and prevent you from wasting too much money and time.

[gokaht]

Mine's now doing the same thing - after a clutch job I finished, so front end was all off. Worked PERFECTLY fine until I reassembled. Something's amiss...I'll check the connectors again (2) and see if that helps I guess?

[ZippyNH]

I know when I took my old fan off, the resistor was all corroded,and it looked like it actully got too hot, and the resistor wire kinda sagged, made a new contact on the ressistor, I assume, rendering it useless. They see
to go pretty randomly.....sucks it did not fail a week earlier...might have saved some $$$ on the labor. If you are DIY'ing it, it is a pain to swap, but doable, especially if you have done a clutch.

[soccerbummer1104]

problem fixed, AC pressure switch was unplugged, the ecu read it as the plug was bad.