I was waiting in line at the drive-through today when I heard my cooling fan come on for about five seconds, then shut off. After about 30 seconds, it came on again for about five seconds, then shut off again. This continued the whole time I was there. Is this normal?

My temp was stable, coolant level is good, and the exterior temperature was 84 deg F. It's an 03 MCS with 70k miles.

Sorry for such a noob question, but if you don't ask...

Thanks

 

Mine does that.

The dealership told me at one point that my fan's low speed was inoperable. So, the fan would bounce between off and high speed instead.

 

Plus 1 on that....Low speed is probably gone. With your AC on the low speed should pretty much be on at all times.

 

Every car I have had has done that.

 

me too! I just bought my buddy's '03 with 73k on it and it does the exact same thing. Kinda loud and annoying...but as long as there is nothing wrong with it...phew!

 

THere is something wrong....if the low speed never cuts on in the first place. High speed activates at(102 C or right in there) about 10 degrees C higher than low. Thats a pretty big difference and the real intent for high speed coming on in addition to the engine getting extremely hot is for high AC pressures, not for normal engine cooling duties. Just check to see if the Fan ever comes on in Low and you'll know if you have a problem.

 

Has anyone figured out the fix for this? When I turn my AC on, the high speed fan + power steering fan come on for 5 seconds, then off, then on again and it repeats.

I haven't checked to see if the low speed fan pops on. Any ideas on what I can do to diagnose the issue?

 

Replace the Cooling Fan assembly....the internal resistor is bad. Diagnosis depends on the year. The late models were 3 wire, single connector fans. 1 ground, 1 Power for high speed, 1 power for low speed. If the AC is on, and your ground is good, you should have 1 of the power supply wires hot...if your fan is not turning, then you have a faulty resistor.

 

Mine (03 MCS @82Kmiles) has been doing something similar. It is not coming on and off for short bursts, but it just comes on too often and stays on for a while (especially when I am stuck in traffic)... In fact, it's been like this for the last 30K miles. Right before the warranty expired, i took it to the dealer, and they told me that everything was normal and the weather was getting hotter (great answer).

If I wanted to have the cooling fan assembly replaced, how much would that cost?

Thanks!

 

Your fan coming on may very well be normal...A cooling fan having no low speed is very obvious, especially with the AC on. I mean literally it will come on for 5 seconds, shut off and then coming back on 20 seconds later. I would suggest (with your car cold so that coolant temp has nothing to do with it) turning on your AC and looking at your fan, the low speed should almost be on immediately and stay on. If it is, your fan is ok on low speed.

 

If there is such a problem like the bad resistor, would we see a code displayed using the ODB?

 

when the A/C is on, the fan is set to turn on and run. if your sitting still and you want to be cool, there is no forward air to cool the a/c. so the fan turns on.

 

Thanks for the information. I did the "test" and soon after I turned the AC on (when the car was in the parking lot and cold from an overnight stay) the fan came on and stayed on. I kept it like that for about 30 seconds and the fan did not quit. Then, I turned the AC off, and the fan remained running after that... I drove off, so I dont know when it turned off. Judging by your explanation, my low speed seems to be OK.
Thanks again!

 

I just tried this and the low speed fan did not come on. After maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute the high speed fan came on for a few seconds, turned off, and repeated the process again. The low speed fan is the same as the high speed fan, they just spin at different speeds, correct? The fan was pretty loud, so I'm assuming it was the high speed and not low.

 

May be worth it to run out and check the fan connection, read a few years back they were notoriously loose (after searching cause after 3 months in FL I'd noticed I'd never heard mine kick on,even with the AC running) undid and plugged it back up and the fan has been working steadily, never had the bursts though usually runs for least 30seconds or so

 

Wouldn't it be connected since the high speed comes on? Where's the connector, I'm a MINI noob, lol. Need to pick up the service manual ASAP.

 

My hypothetical reasoning, is that the connector may be loose, so sitting it right would provide proper connection and smoother running (purely a semi educated guess)

The connector is right near the bonnet release on the drivers side of LHD R53s it's a pretty bug connector (oval on circle) with a fairly short lead to the fan so you can check to make sure you've got the right one.

 

Thanks man. I took a look and the connection seems fine. Maybe it's an issue with the fan itself, or the resistor. Looks like the entire fan assembly is over $200

 

You're right about the noise and speed correlation. When I repeated the process one more time, the fan started spinning right after the AC was engaged, and the noise was lot lighter than when it spins full speed, which sounds like a very powerful leaf blower. As stated here many times, the low speed doesn't turn off while the AC is on...
Good luck.

 

Thanks! Is there anything I can replace/look at before replacing the entire assembly for nearly $300? :(

 

Does anyone know where the high and low speed fan relays are located? All I see is one relay in this diagram.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...20&hg=17&fg=05

I'd like to test the relays as a last resort before replacing the entire cooling fan assembly.

 

So I parked my car and turned it off today and my fan stayed on for a few minutes. I want to say it was the low speed. It was loud enough to hear, but not too loud. Now I'm really confused as to what's going on!

 

The entire control module for the fan, is located in a recess at the top of the fan shroud, under the radiator hose. It is quite easy to remove: 2 M5 screws! the resistor that goes bad is mounted at the end of it and would be a 75 cents part to replace if designed to be so . Unfortunately BMW think it is better to make a couple hundred $ on parts , keep their mecanics busy (as you have to slide the front end in the service position) and last but not least: fill land fields full of perfectly fonctioning plastic parts.

 

This is starting to drive me crazy. I'm starting to think my cooling fan is fine. My power steering stopped working on my way home today, after sitting in heavy traffic in 90 degree weather. When I got home, I turned the AC on and my fan came on and STAYED on this time. I'm not sure if it was the low or high speed.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, my fan stayed on after turning the car off for a few minutes the other day.

I'm not sure why the power steering is going out because it seems both my cooling fan and power steering fan are functional. I wonder how much Mini would charge to diagnose the issue. Even then, I'd never know if they were lying to me.

 

The resistor is relatively easy to find/replace. (It's a 0.32 ohm wirewound resistor.) It's wired in series with a thermal cutoff (Thermtrol DF184S) that's a pain to solder around. (Be sure to use pliers or something as a heatsink downline when soldering near it.)