Hey Guys,

Don't post here too often but i do a lot of reading!

Anyways, i couldn't help but notice that theres still a lot of people posting about failed power steering pumps.

I had my girlfriends 04 MCS up on my hoist for an oil change and upon noticing a leaky oil pan (are the pan gaskets leaks a common thing for these cars?) I decided i'd check on the fan. Turned it on, and sure enough it was dead. Took it off and started playing around with it, attatched it to a power source and it worked!!

Checked the fuse box, and found that the fuse was blown. Threw in a new fuse, and the fan was up and running, only after running steady for about 10-15 seconds, it sounded like someone threw a cat in the engine! The fan was pretty seized.

Anyways, i took the fan apart and found that it was only a small bearing at the base of the fan that had seized my guess is cause of all the water that builds up in the fan and has nowhere to go and just rusts away the bearing.

Went to a local bearing shop, gave them the bearing number, and $2 later, the fan was working flawlessly, and has been trouble free since i swapped it about 6 months ago.

If your comfortable to take things apart yourself, give it a shot, worst case you'll have to replace the fan.

I'll try to see if i can find the bearing number that i wrote down!

 

Good thinking Soldo. Thanks for your post!

Jeremy

 

where are you located soldo. can I pay you to do/check this for me?

 

Niceway to work around the stealership. Very creative, congrats and thanks for sharing .

 

Soldo,
Any chance you may have the bearing number to share with the members, I don't think I'll need it for a while (hopefully) But your fix would really save quite a few some serious green. Thanks for Posting - Mark

 

Okay, just got the part number. The bearing is:

695RS

Just checked it out on the net quick and you can even pick these bearings up online for a little more. Ebay has some for around $7. Still cheaper than getting an entire unit!

Also, I forgot to mention. When i was putting the fan blade back on, my old man thought it'd be a good idea to drill a couple little holes in the fan since it seemed like it would help let the water leak out instead of staying in there and help the bearing rust away. I was worried that it might make the fan unbalanced but when i checked the fan out a few weeks ago when i had the car on the hoist again everything was running great still!


Maybe I can do some side jobs fixings these fans, but I'll have to figure out some easy fixes for other common Mini problems.



Should this be made a sticky?


EDIT: Just realized that someone with the R56 posted, so i decided to check Realoem.com and noticed that theres a lot of different part numbers for the fan assembly. If you guys do the DIY i would confirm that it is the right bearing number since it wouldn't be the first time BMW has used different parts for the same assembly!

 

Soldo, that's the ticket, thanks for your input
I plan on keeping my R53 for a long time and you just helped that plan out.

 

I'm just glad I could help. Nothing pisses me off more than when dealers refuse to fix their own screw-ups.


I really hope whoever decides to take on this DIY double checks the bearing to make sure its the right one. Theres just way too many part numbers for a really stupid fan.

 

def good to know as mine makes a screeching noise on startup from time to time.

found it for alil less than ebay here.

http://www.vxb.com/Merchant2/merchan...=695RS-Bearing

 

Hey Soldo, how were you able to dismantle the fan? Did you remove the blade or the base cover which is glued to the fan motor housing? I tried to remove the base cover, but it doesn't seem to be a good approach as I pry it open. The cover disfigured alot everytime I push in a bit further.

Thanks!

 

bump for how to get the fan apart, it is a sealed fan. does it need to be cut open on the end? does it need to be glued shut again?

 

Yes, i know the fan is sealed. Sorry for not mentioning that in the first post. You have to be paitient with it and pry at it slowly. To put it back you'll have to glue it. Just pay attention to how it came apart you'll see what i'm talking about.

This DIY is really to try on when the fan you have has already seized that way if anything wrecks the fan was a waste anyways. It does come apart if you work at it though. The one on our MCS looks like it was mutalated but it still functions perfectly!

 

ceramic bearing ftw. bet this will add 10whp

http://www.vxb.com/Merchant2/merchan...=695RS-Bearing

 

Pried mine open tonight and I think I'd recommend just sourcing a new assembly. While you'd think that it would be easy to crack it open and just swap in a bearing, it's a major PITA to get it back together.

And after all this? I found that my bearing is fine. Still don't know why my fan was seized/crunchy

I'll take pics tomorrow/soon and post.

 

You would think the engineers throw in $1 warning light when the fan is faulty. But no...

 

I was in the same boat here... I decided, since I have to get a new fan, lets take this bad boy apart! It wasn't too bad to take apart once you settle to the fact it needs to be done. When I opened it, all kinds of black shavings of "stuff" came out. Maybe the magnets that surrounded the wire coils.. Not sure. I took it completely apart, cleaned it up. Checked the bushings on the motor moved em around, There were two magnets that surrounded the coil, when I popped them out, one hit the concrete and chipped a little. Oh well, I put it all back together and hooked her up. Oddly it worked! and not only did it work, it didn't even make a noise!!! The Motor was working like a champ, even though it was partly broke (magnets).

You may not even need a new bearing, just a clean motor.

You guys think I should still get a new one though? I don't want the car to spontaneously combust but then again, its just a fan..

Any thoughts? Wing it or get a new one?

 

I did a cheaper fix. I removed the defective PS fan and motor all together.
Oh no! My PS pump is going to burn up!
Well probably not because the PS fan only seemed to come on when the A/C was on. So most of the time the fan was off anyways and the fins were stopped and blocking air flow. By removing the defective fan, the natural air flow is increased when the fan was off, which was 95% of the time. I thought about rebuilding the fan unit but most likely would have ended up buying a new one anyway, so I decided to live on the edge and just remove it altogether.

But if you don't want to take the risk, the safe bet would be to just buy a new one and be done with it.

 

how long ago did you delete the fan?

 

Almost a month now and no issues.

I do not expect any either.

 

Let us know if you have any problems in the long run.

 

jd3544 hows that working out for you?

 

no pictures on the fan disassembly?? it's nice and cold outside right now and I have a new part on the way but a nice photo of the disassembly would have been helpful. If I pry mine open I'll post it.

 

well scratch that idea, I opening my fan up and it's like WWIII was going on in there...it was like someone smacked it with a hammer. there was a magnet (or what was left of one) shattered all over in there... I presume that was the problem. replacement fan bought for $111 including shipping @ www.koperformance.com (i'm in no way affiliated they were just cheapest)

 

A fool and his money is soon parted!!
A new fan is about $110-150, a new PS pump is closer to $600, plus the CHS-11 PS fluid, and possibly labor......I just know MINI spent tons of money on un-needed stuff on our cars to improve the reliability of already perfect (or should I say imperfect) parts!!
What you did sounds fine....for a week or two while you order the new part, but long-term, it is kinda laughable!! The PS motor is a DC motor with brushes..so its life span is VERY temperature dependent.
I hate to say, but a few hours some summer day, in traffic, or just idling at the store with the AC on, (with no air-flow due to its position, and close proximity to some very hot items) and your PS pump is getting a workout!! It will not take too long for the brushes to wear out, begin to be out spec and be able to work....and time for some $$$, and if it cuts out on a tight turn, and you don't make it, and end up going into oncoming traffic ....I hope I don't see you in the news killing a bus load of handicapped children!!

I am not trying to Flame you, just trying to make you understand that your actions have impacts and unintended consequences to you and the ones around you!!

 

It's been about 8 months now and I haven't had a single issue.


HOWEVER, I don't recommend that anyone disconnect this fan or anything else for that matter and that if they suspect any issues with their vehicle that they take it it a qualified professional mechanic for service.