was wondering about getting a cover plate for the fan on the ps pump. has anyone gotten any damage??? I'm think about getting a skid plate that will also cover the fan.

 

dont bother, neither do much to save the fan. It is dirt and grit that kill the fans, not large objects.

 

I recommend the skid plate as well. Not only has it saved my fan but also my whold engine on three or four occasions when due to heavy traffic on the interstate it has not been possible to avoid contact with road debris.

 

I'd recommend one or the other - the skid plate adds ~30 pounds, but protects the entire engine if you bottom out. I have one and consider it added insurance. I once bottomed out my 944 and the car was never the same afterwards; broke something electronic and the Porsche dealership in Detroit had their head up their *ss - limped back home to Atlanta and my mechanic said they didn't replace what was broken and broke something that they shouldn't have messed with.

I've also read about plastic bags being sucked into the power steering fan and causing them to stop, but once they were taken out everything was cool. Moss has both fan cover and skid plate, and there's also info on constructing your own fan cover cheaply using gutter guard material. Saw it on this site.
-Cor.

 

My fan - like many others - failed not due to being struck with anything or ingesting road debris, instead it was killed by road dirt and water collecting in and around the motor. All MINI power steering fans on the '02-03 models suffer from a design flaw. It's not so much the unprotected inlet area, rather it is the design of the fan blade itself. It is cup-shaped and surrounds the motor itself. This in and of itself is not a problem (the radiator fan is similar), but the mounting orientation of the fan with the open side of the cup facing upwards allows road grit and water to collect inside the 'cup'. There is no way for this crud to drain (outside of the motor running and 'flinging' the stuff out), and over time it builds up and eventually causes the motor to sieze. When this happens, a fuse blows which also controls the larger radiator fan circuit. This in turn will cause the car to overheat when sitting in traffic.

'04 model cars have a redesigned fan that comes with a built in fan guard and a modified fan blade that it not supposed to collect road crapola. This lessens the chance of the same problem happening again. The replacement fan I received on my '03 is the newer style, "guarded" fan. Time will tell if it's a permanent fix or not.

 

I got the fan cover from Moss as I have heard things like baggies being sucked in a destroying the fan. Don't know for sure but why take the chance.

Earl