I have a 2005 MINI standard. Last week out of the blue it started overheating and the AC stopped working. I changed the relays and no fuses were blown. It worked fine for a little while and then over heated again. The radiator fan appeared to be jammed so I had my mechanic replace it and the thermostat. The new fan has the standard plug in, but also has an additional pink and blue wire that I can't figure out what they go to. My mechanic can jump the fan and get it to work in low, but not high mode, but its still not getting power properly and the AC doesn't work. I read the forums and also ordered a power steering pump fan. Does anyone have any other ideas that I can try? Thanks.

 

On a 2005 fan, the new new fan may have an extra unused plug...it would be used to power the PS fan...
IN 2005 a change was made to the wiring.....
a different power source was used to power the PS fan....I have an extra plug too...My 2005 has the updated wiring....done by the dealer...I think the change happened on 2005, built in 2005...earlier cars may have been modified by the dealer (mine was). The dealer just cut the plug off, and wired it under the wire wrap....I left it zip ties to the side on the new fan.
Look at the extra plug...it will match the PS fan plug..a flat, 2 wire plug.
IF it is a round style plug, what we call a cannon plug in a aviation, like the other fan plug...you got the wrong fan.
It sounds like you have another issue....
Did you trouble shoot the problem, or just throw parts at the car?
The PS fan ONLY needs to be replaced if it is failed...on a car with modified wiring, like yours appears to have, the PS fan will not cause an overheat when jammed.....
You have done the basics right? Full of fluid....Bleed the system (it is hard, even the dealers had a few issues).
When does it overheat....the high should come on before it overheats...but if the COOLANT does not circulate, and get hot, the coolant will not pass the temp sensor....it might be boiling in the block, overheating, but if the pump is not pumping....the biggest fan in the world will not help.
Any odd sounds (chains dragging o rhigh pitched screeching)...the gears on the water pump have been known to fail (they are connected at the base of the SC).
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ater-pump.html
of course, you could also have a pre-ignition problem...how do the plugs look? What mods are on the car? What fuel is in it? Codes? When/how does it overheat?

 

Wow. thanks for the fast reply. According to my mechanic they are just bare wires with no plug on them. So you are saying that the wires can simply be capped and tied off or do they need to be joined and then capped to completed the electrical circuit? The problem I had with my car is about 3 weeks ago I noticed that unless I was pushing the gas then my ac would start to blow warm air out the vents. Didn't think anything of it because a lot of 4 cylinders cars do that as they get older. Then 2 weeks ago I was at a stop light and the car started to overheat. I turned the AC off and put the heat on and the car cooled down, but kept over heating at every stop. I got home and checked the relays. They were quite hot so I assumed they had blown out. The overflow tank had also been sucked dry. I swapped them out and all appeared fine for the next hour or so and then my car started overheating again. I checked again and this time the over flow tank was still full, but when I checked the radiator fan the blades would not turn at all. They were jammed against the shroud. So I got a new fan and picked up a thermostat. My mechanic swapped out the fan and thermostat and said that it was working properly. However, the car still overheated, the AC didn't work and the relays were very hot. (They were checked and shown to be good the next day.) I can't think of anything else to check the car still runs fine. No evidence of leaking from the water pump or sqealing noises. The car is not throwing any codes, its the base so no supercharger, and I haven't checked the plugs due to the engine running fine. Do you think it needs the air bled off if so how do I do that on a base cooper. Everything I could find said only the supercharged version with their pressurized radiators had bleed holes. Please help. Thanks!@!

 

Hm.....
Make me wonder if the plug is
1) missing...which would by definition make the fan defective or
2) the wires got pulled out of the round plug that the rest of the wires plug into........this would certainly cause the fan to work incorrectly...so the fan would be defective.

 

Since it is a NON-S, I can't speak from experience.....but it DOES eliminate some issues!!
It does make changing the water-pump much simpler (if that is what you do...not saying it would fix it).
Since the car overheats at stops....it sounds like the fan is not turning on...fits the problems to a T.
I'm assuming the fans will turn on with the AC when the car is stopped? So this means that air flow over the rad does not help stop the overheating...but more engine speed does...does kind point towards the water-pump (vanes could be mostly gone....so when the motor is revved, it pumps more water, an unusual method of failure...) or maybe even a bad thermostat (even a backwards on..it has been done if you changed it).
Is the mechanic a MINI guy? it sounds like you are doing lots of legwork for an owner....it is usually best to let the mechanic do their own trouble shooting, and not say "do this" and hope it fixes a problem. Giving them more info is good though....

 

My mechanic and I finally solved the overheating problem. Thanks to all who replied or supplied responded to the other forum methods. I'll post the whole situation here so if it ever happens to you, you'll know what to do.

1. My car started overheating at stoplights, but would cool down if I drove or turned the heater on high.
2. Initially I thought I had burnt out one of the relays. (They're in the under hood fuse box and this became important later)
3. The radiator fan motor was fried and had locked up burning out the low and high speed relays.
4. The fan was replaced while due to time contraints did not buy it from them www.partsgeek.com was the cheapest I found. ($74.95 + $7.50 shipping)
5. The radiator fan was swapped out and the thermostat was changed just for good measure (I have a 2005 MC non-supercharged, no mods.) and because they often leak.
5. The replacement fan had an extra 2 wires (Pink and Blue) this originally went to the power steering pump, but if you have a 2005 or later most have been modified by the dealers to set the two on a separate circuit to prevent one from frying the other. If you have nothing near the radiator to plug into then your car has been modified already. (Not to say the PS pump fan could not go bad, see other forum messages)
6. The car was started and the two bleeder valves (One is off the top radiator and one is behind the engine in the center of the car) were alternately opened and closed to bleed the air from the system. (Be EXTREMELY careful turning the vent caps they are plastic and we nearly were screwed when one got stuck and almost got stripped out!)
7. The new radiator fan would not turn on and the AC was blowing hot air. (Remember if you have the AC on it should be on at least low all the time and kick up to high when needed)
8. The relay could be bypassed/jumped and the fan would kick on.
9. Remember those relays I talked about earlier. Well turns out that you have to use the official MINI parts. On a whim I had saved the originals. I pulled the replacements which fit perfectly and put the originals back in and the fan immediately kicked on. There was the problem you MUST use the original parts even if there are others that may fit for whatever reason they are off slightly and the relay will not close and allow the power to flow to the fan. Oh and you may have to change the number 5 fuse as it tends to burn out if the fan stops unexpectedly.

Good luck to everyone who has problems with their radiators. Now the hard part. After what I have been reading on this forum and many others around the web I am really debating if I should keep my car (Its nearly paid off) and hope for the best with the transmission or trade it in. At this point I am leaning towards selling it due to fear of suddenly one day having a transmission lock on me +BMW parts are too expensive. (I mean $65.00 for a new thermostat from the dealer that actually had the chrysler symbol on it. Yeah I could have found a cheaper on on the web, but I was pressed for time at the time and wanted to make sure I got the one with the new gasket.) I'm worried because the problems I see in these forums are not just a few people, but nearly everyone so we'll see what happens from here on out.

 

Glad you fixed it. Thanks for the info for future reference.

The only transmission that is really expensive to replace is the CVT for automatics. If that is what you have, you will have to weigh the cost to repair it. Many hate the fact no one makes an aftermarket reman version. I have seen prices as high as $9K to repair a CVT transmission.

Yes, BMW parts are expensive. Don't forget MINIs are sports cars. Stuff breaks and has to be repaired. Don't ask me how much $$$ I have spent in the past for repairs (though I have been fortunate overall vs. other owners), or all the mods I have done for that matter. But I would not trade my MINI experience for any other.

 

Yeah I have the CVT Transmission. My mechanic says that they often have problems around 75,000-85,000 miles and I'm at 65,000. I'm concerned that a repair bill will cost me more then the cost of a used car. I haven't made up my mind because I still like driving my mini. Although I still wish it had better take off power from a stop.

 

Yeah....even the "S" gen1 is a bit lacking till it gets moving...even modded cars don't have much power till 2000+ rpm ish. The fact that the CVT has not been given a free extended warranty to at least 100,000 miles by MINI is a shame...IMO any tranny should last that long.....
They usually do give warnings of impending failure....in the meantime, enjoy your car....many do last many miles if the fluid is changed religiously!!
Keep the fluid changed....and be on the look out for erratic operation....
The MINI can be kinda $$ to fix/maintain, but that is the price you pay for most any nitch, non-mass-market car....after all, it was a HONDA, it would be, well a Honda, and not a MINI!!

Glad to hear you got it all fixed!! Sorry to hear you got some iffy parts that made the repair harder than it should have been!! These things happen....and do happen with most any make a model.

 

I write this with a somewhat heavy heart. Over the weekend I left the MINI family. I loved driving my MINI, but upon the recommendation of my mechanic and the review of these boards I decided I could not take a chance in finally paying off my car only to have the transmission crap out on me. Best of luck to everyone. MINI is not for everyone. If you own one or are thinking about buying one remember that these cars are unique. They are not a mass market car and thus parts and tires are quite expensive and dealer service is pretty much going to be subpar. Still they are a blast to drive and get great gas mileage. At this point though with BMW telling MINI owners too bad so sad after you get past the 3 yr 36,000 mile warranty its just no longer accepable. Maybe in the future I'll return to MINI when their build quality and reliability improves.