My 2005 MiniCooper S started to overheat and I caught it in time. As soon as it started to go past the normal on the temp gauge I shut the car down and towed it home.
I noticed that the cooling fan was not working at low speed nor high speed.
I disconnected the fan connector (3 pin) and put ground and 12v to the pins. Doing so, the high speed works but not the low speed.
I suspected that the resistor was faulty so I drained the coolant and removed the radiator. Sure enough the resistor was bad.
I purchased a new one from Amazon and installed it.
BLUE TO BLUE
BIG RED TO RED. This red is connected together with the blue at the resistor
SMALL RED TO RED to the other side.
The connections were made exactly as it was on the original resistor'
When I apply 12v to the high side pin the fanworks at high speed.
When I connect 12V to the low side, the low speed does not work. The resistor begins to smoke.
Is it possible I got a faulty resistor? Made in China, $16.00 on Amazon. Since it is going to cost almost as much to ship it back, I will bite the bullet and purchase another one.
Which one have you all been purchasing or rather which one do you all recommend?
Also if I use a multimeter shouldn't I get a resistance reading if the new one is good? My meter does nor read any resistance on the new one. What reading should I see?
AS AN ASIDE
I also replaced the thermostat and CTS just in case. The water pump is good.

 

Hello all, I received a new fan resistor again from Amazon and the fans work as they should. Nice thing about it is that Amazon told me to keep the bad resistor and they will give me a credit for the $ amount.
Thanks all.