After performing my first diy oil change this past weekend I came to realize one of the previous owners had completely removed the power steering fan assembly... so all that's there now is a gap and a dangling white power plug.

The new fan has just arrived from MiniMania however they didn't include the mounting nuts. Rather than paying an arm and a leg for shipping two OEM nuts, has anyone had any luck using something comparable that can be found at a local hardware store? If you could let me know the size and type that you used, that would be great.

OEM Nut details and specs (it seems these are used in various locations):
Self-locking collar nut
Stock Code 07119904295
Additional Notes M8-8-ZNS3

Also, as a side question, I'm honestly not sure how long the car has been driven without the fan (I've had it about 6 months, so it's definitely longer than that). Are there any signs that a damaged pump would produce that I should watch out for in particular? I do know it whines quite a bit when turning the wheel at slow speeds, but I'm not sure if that's just the sound the pump should be making or if it's actually starting to wear out. Any advice anyone may have would be much appreciated!

 

Mine whines a little too - I notice it with the windows open in parking lots. I'm going to assume it's normal since my old Mazda did it too (different noise, similar situation).

Unless someone else knows better...?

 

When i installed my new fan the first time, the old one was rivited in to the bracket...
just drilled off the heads, used a couple of screws, and good to go. For an extra 10-20$ the fan can be had with a new bracket. If i remember right, tye screws camw with the fan i got from waymotorworks with an instruction sheet. But in all honesty, any appropratly sized screw will work, stainless steel might be a good move for corrosion resistance.
Just reread the op...
Sounds like you got the fan with the bracket....so any reason you cannot reuse the nuts from the old one?

 

As fo the "whine", the ps pump was modified/redesigned in2005 to be a bit quieter...so the sound on older coopers are to be expected.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm glad to hear the whine is nothing to be concerned about. Btw, for anyone else in the same situation the nut size is M8-1.25. They had the locking collar nut type at my local Napa.

 

So the story continues... I installed the new fan assembly and plugged it in but it doesn't seem to want to spin. In order to test it, I turned on the AC (as other posts indicated that this should start the PS fan as well) and I confirmed 5A fuse F41 is still good. Any suggestions for things to check next?

Thanks

 

The reality is the fan does not run very much...
in normal use, the car just moving provides air....
At one point i thought i read the fan ran only when the rad fan was on HI speed...low is when the ac is on...or "when commaned by the ecu".
I would not stress it...

 

yeah, sounds reasonable. It would have been nice to see it spin, but I'll drive it a bit and hopefully it will be something I can hear in the cab if/when it does comes on. Thanks again!

 

I believe the PS fan should be on when the main cooling fan is on LO - at least that's how mine works ('02 Cooper S). I doubt you'll be able to hear it from inside as it's pretty small and quiet. I recently diagnosed bad bearings in mine, and had to do it with the car up on ramps so I could see the fan from below and have someone toggle the A/C to trigger the fan on/off.