HELP! About a month ago my car overheated we took it in to a reputable shop we had been using, they said it was the fan. we did not think it was so we took it home and the fan came on in the driveway. replaced the coolant temp sensor, then the thermostat went out, drained the coolant again and replaced that. the fan started working and worked for like three days, now we seem to have the same issue again. has anyone had this problem? the relays seem to be opening and closing, we are at our wits end, i want my baby to work right again. its 100+ here daily, so it sux to have to kill the AC everytime you stop the car or drive under 30! we must be missing something, but what??? any info would be great, thanks!

 

The ECU controls the on/off of the fan and gets its information from a water temp sensor. Sounds to me like the sensor may be not working correctly, but the only way to tell for sure is to independantly monitor the coolant temperature and see if the fan kicks on at the appointed temp. This temp I believe is 230 degrees F for the R56.

 

We pulled the temp sensor (i think you are referring to the one near the thermostat housing?) and it was corroded a bit so we replaced it. i have an '04 with 86K so that seemed to make sense. i think we are going to try replacing fuses tonight, i just became aware that the high and low speed have different fuses. do you now if air bubles can cause this? i think we got them all out when refilling the coolant, but i think i will check that again too. thanks for the insight!

by the way, anyone know if the PS fan and RC fan are on the same wring harness for the '04 mini? i'm crawling under there tonight to check things out, guess ill be picking up a 5amp fuse just in case? ill laugh if it was that all along. had we allowed the shop to replace the radiator fan (for a cool $650) i would have been mighty hot under the collar when we drove onto the road only to overheat a mile away! after we drained the coolant the first time the thermostat gave up whatever life it had left, a quick test drive showed the problem got worse! drained the coolant (AGAIN) to replace that, now we can at least drive it, just not in traffic.

 

Could an air bubble cause inaccurate readings yes, but it would have to be rather large and trapped around the sensor.....I'm not certain what the sensor mounting point is like, but I think it unlikely that it would occur, particularly if you made a reasonable effort to remove air. That wouldn't leave very much in the system.

 

Yeah, tested it last night, did not see any bubbles. We were able to get a fuse assortment this morning, so hopefully (not that it is a good thing, but at least it would provide some answers) the power steering fan is blocked and blew the 5amp fuse.

 

Anyone have another idea? i am at my wits end here. called the dealership today and they act as if they have no idea about any power steering fan/aux fan issues! i really want to get this taken care of!

 

ok, last night we found out why the fan only works occasionaly! shockingly it took us this long to try whacking the fan motor with a hard object. so with the car running and the AC on there was no fan movement, all fuses have been checked and work. after hitting the fan motor a few times with the butt end of the screwdriver it started working! i am not sure if it is a bushing or bearing in there, but it is not right. so i ordered a new fan today from importec (i dont care to pay 3X as much for OEM thanks). my only guess is that the fan would work sometimes b/c we hit a big bump or pothole and it knocked the fan loose! hopefully once the fan comes in and we get it installed all will be well again!

 

There is a known problem with this fan. There is a resistor that controls the speed, and apparently the resistor goes bad. The resistor is not separately replaceable; you have to buy the entire fan assembly. Let us know if this fixes your problem.

 

i am assuming the resistor comes with the fan assembly? i hope so! got my order confirmation and the fan is on its way, i cant wait to have the ac blowing while driving under 30 again! thanks for the input!