Here lately on my R53 the radiator fan will come on HIGH while sitting and idling (like waiting in line at the bank) and then temp gauge will spike toward Hot.. ever had this problem? Repair site is 2 hrs away.

 

Have you checked the coolant level yet? If not, do that first.

Here's another thread with a guy who had a similar problem:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hermostat.html

If coolant level is good, it could be the thermostat.

 

The coolant level is more toward Min than Max... will add more.
Hope I can make it to the repair site, which is 2 hrs away. As long as I'm moving it seems to be fine... just when idling (sitting still)... Guess I should leave the heat/AC off and carry extra coolant

Thanks gknorr...

 

Not too bad.

Here's the how-to for the S:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...at-change.html

The base cooper is easier to do (fewer things to remove) - you have to remove the airbox and battery box, but after that the thermostat housing is easy to unbolt.

 

Might be the low speed fan sensor.

To check this, find the wiring harness connected at the fan housing and trace it back to where the connection point is on the harness.

On my R50 it is connected on the drivers side right next to the slope for the headlights.

Disconnect the harness. See if you can see the color of the wires on the harness, if not peel back a little of the tape. The wire with brown is ground. The other 2 are positive (one for low speed and one for high).

Ok, to test, get a multimeter and se the leads that come with it. Apply one end of a lead to ground and the other end of the same lead to the ground on the plug for the fan.

Use the other lead to get power from the battery and apply the other end of this lead to one of the positive connections on the harness.

If the fan spins on all connections the fan is fine. If, as I suspect, the fan doesnt spin on one, but does on the other, then your low speed fan sensor resistor is out and not your thermostat.

There is a very detailed thread here on NAM that talks of this. Just search for low speed fan of Chris Lamb, who wrote this up.

You can fix be replacing the fan housing or follow the thread and replace the resistor with a very good workaround for just a few dollars.


The reason I suspect your resistor is that the low and high speed fans are triggered at different temps. I don't recall the exact numbers but it makes sense that the car is calling for low fan, but it cannot power it because the resistor is out. The car continues to heat up, and by the time you get high speed fan it is too late and the car temp is rising very rapidly. Use of the A/C is a way to kick the high speed fan on earlier to keep the temp down.

Hope this helps.

 

http://www.detroittuned.com/shop/?productID=530 if it is the low speed fan relay thats fried this would be my first stop

 

The solution to the problem of running HOT was the thermostat was leaking. I was not aware that the thermostat on a MINI is mounted at the top part of the radiator coolant neck, (rather than at the bottom of the radiator). I found a local shop that works on MINI's... so all worked out well