... or maybe the bearings in the fan motor are going? It's actually an electrically-driven mechanical component...

"jasonzr1" > I know it's tough searching through the 23 gazillion threads and posts on here, so: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...remove-it.html
or: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...front-end.html

 

Yes Doc Obnxs do it my low speed aint been working for ages i cant even remember how long and i live in a warm climate year round,if you put a kit on the market i'll buy one.

 

+1

 

So every year I have the same problem. (third time since owning a 2002 mcs since 2008)
My fan goes out.
Really getting tired of this poop.
Wish Mini came with a REAL fix to it instead of just replacing it.

:(

 

Good point.....

As for needed a fan EVERY year...I'm hoping that the aftermarket has a slightly different desgin than OEM (maybe a different manufacture for the resistor)...so maybe it lacks the OEM's weakness....or you could install the remot mounted resistor....buy so far, I'm going on 2 years on the TYC fan....

 

so I'll be putting together little DIY kits. They will have a bunch of little parts in it so that everything needed is in just one place. Anyway, we'll see what the final price point works out to be.

matt

 

Matt, I couldn't wait so I got a resister and hopefully will do the install this weekend. Have you done one yet? Where did you mount the resister? What gauge wire did you use or are you supplying?

Thanks,

Rich

 

I am using 12 gauge stranded wire. 10 gauge would also work. I haven't yet decided where to mount the resistor, but one possible location is the back side of the bumper beam.

 

I played with a bunch of mounting points and settled on the driver side engine support. It is aluminum and I tapped 4 8-32 holes and will use stainless bolts with washers, a lock washer and some thread locker. I would finish the install today but I only have two of the correct screws. I have both 10 and 12 gauge wire and it looks like the low speed feed, Red/Blue is 12 gauge and the high speed feed is 10 gauge with the brown being ground.

Chris. You disconnected the low speed wire from the connector completely but since that resistor is open, wouldn’t just bridging both the high and low with the resistor work and that would leave everything in place in case the fan assembly gets replaced in the future?

Here’s what my mounting looks like. What do you all think?

Rich

 

I agree with Rich; bridging should work.

 

Yes, I did this to preserve 1 wire in tact in case I get a new fan assy in the future.
Bridging with the resistor gives the same result........
Nice mounting btw........

 

have you been spying on my mini you listed all atributes brb to check fan... Back and i dont think my fan is running! time to reread the thread but pay attention this time.

 

I just reread posts 108 and 113, among others, and realized that Mr. Lamb's car has the relay, which many of ours like mine do not.

 

When you say my car has the relay...........
My low and high speed relays are in the fusebox next to the engine ECU.
There is NO relay in my fan assembly, only the resistor....

 

PM Sent Dr Obnxs. I like the idea of a kit i could just get whats required but if your going through the trouble i toss my money your way

 

ToBFree - Can you tell me how much effort was required to remove the aux fan? I have an 03 MCS and the aux fan (stage 1) isn't working...stage 2 works for some reason...go figure! I took it to the dealer and they want 650 bucks for parts and labor. I've searched the net and can find a reasonably priced replacement...but before I but it, again I wanted to find out how much effort it was to get the fan out. If you have any old pics or can point me to it, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again.

 

it's not really that hard, but it is some work. You have to put the car into "service mode" by removing the bumper cover, the bumper extrusion and a couple other bits, and then you have to undo the A/C radiator (you don't need to open the lines though. Then the radiator and at that point I think the assy can come out.

But really, if you have high speed fan but not low speed fan, then all you need to do is do the resistor replacement outlined in this thread! The fan is fine, it's the resistor that's cooked!

But if you want to replace the assy, there is a place that sells the radiator support with fan and everything for about $100. Then a decent shop will charge you one to two hours labor to do the swap. Should be half the dealer charges. If you do the swap yourself, and it's the first time to do all this stuff, give yourself about half a day to get through it all. But then you're just out a "c" note!

Matt

 

Matt (Dr Obnxs) - Thanks much for the reply...one quick followup question...you referenced a place that sells the radiator support with fan for $100...can you tell me who that is? Thanks again.

Nelson

 

you'll have to work with the search function to hunt it down....

Matt

 

It looks like I'm jumping into the same boat as the rest of you. My 02 MCS recently started getting hot and I see where the wire that spirals around the green spool (identified as white in post #166) is broken. I know the high speed works so I'm assuming that my low speed is toast - correct?

 

Probably. When the low speed fan resistor fails it fails 'open' in that it no longer conducts current at all. So the computer sends a signal through the low speed circuit but the circuit is open and hence no fan at low speed. The computer will then signal the fan to come on through the circuit with no resistor, i.e. high speed.

 

nelsonjlee: If you follow the photo back to http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...oBFree_026.jpg you'll find an album with photos I took while removing and installing a new assembly. I didn't really do a part-by-part shoot, but you can at least see the level of disassembly required. I've done this twice as well as the supercharger once and I can do this replacement in about two hours excluding getting all the tools out and preparing.

When I lose the current low speed, I think I'll try the fix here in this thread which is what I've been waiting for. Based on this thread, I'd think the MINI folks would be developing a repair kit on their own for the dealers to install, but then, I'm dreaming about a silver 2010 MazdaSpeed3 so I am loosing touch.

 

As soon as I determine the appropriate plugs from the Mouser catalog, a plug-n-play repair kit should be a $25 repair that can be done in 5 minutes. Stay tuned.

 

I am planning on doing mine today. (OTOH my wife seems to have other things for me to do)

The feed wires are different gauges. Hard to tell if they are 10 and 12 or 12 and 14 gauge and which one is the thinner, high or low speed feed. Did you measure them? I am asking as the connectors for 10 and 12 are the same but the 14 is smaller.

But I am really happy with the placement of my resister and the soon to low speed fan returning.

Rich

 

Staying tuned ... with bells on