learning how to do this and get the car into service mode is a must learn for anyone who works on thier cars. While it seems intimidating, I can put my car in service mode now in about 15 min. Replacing the whole assy is more than that, but it's not that bad. Go for it and have a lot more access to car bits in the future.

I actually was worried that it's hard to do, and after I did it the first time, I wondered why in the heck I'd waited so long!

Matt

 

"Service Mode" ? Do you mean removing the bumper cover and shifting the bumper support out on long studs? 15 minutes? Impressive. Do you work NASCAR?

Seriously, this would give me more encouragement to have at it. But in some Cooper models Service Mode involves coolant draining, correct?

What really scares me about disassembly is all the plastic bits that might snap or break. If it were all metal, I would not be scared at all.

 

+1

quickbooks you only need be patient as you work. I also learned that minor plastic bits through the dealer are quite inexpensive such as trim clips, pinch bolts, etc. It's the big parts that are spendy. Best of luck to you.

 

15 minutes is impressive. I'm in the middle of replacing my water pump and a supercharger overhaul so I'm beyond the "service mode" level but I could do it again in about 20-30 min. There really isn't much to worry about in the area of plastic bits to snap or break - the parts are tougher than they may look. I don't know that it's really necessary to drain the coolant to put the car in "service mode". You can just remove the upper radiator hose - though you may lose a little coolant.

 

Undo the bolt on the intake manifold that clamps the upper radiator hose. Then there is enough slop to move the assy forward.

If I remember correctly,

Jack up car,

about 8 bolts or screws for the lower part of the bumper cover and the two that you get at via the wheel wells.
Two phillips to get the lower dust shield off.
Two screws at the top of the bumper cover.
pull forward from the bottom, and then it comes free at the top.
Disconnect the wire to the light things in the bumper cover.
pop out the ambient temp sensor.
Move it aside
2 10 mm bolts for the lower frame rail extension to the bumper extrusion.
4-5 bolts a side for the bumper extrusion.
take bumper extrusion off
Two bolts a side for the frame extensions.
Some plastic screw thinggies to detach the radiator support from the fender liners and then the whole thing moves forward.

Anyway, it's not too hard, and the more you do it the easier it gets.

once in this position, the A/C condensor can be detatched and swung under the car without braking lines. I haven't removed the radiator from mine, but that shouldn't be too hard either....

Matt

 

What does "service mode" really mean? To me when I first saw this term in the thread I thought it meant that you have to somehow to configure the ECU to be in "service mode" that perhaps turns the airbags off so they don't accidently deploy? But what does it really mean / refer to?

Also, I have a 2005 MCS and I think I have the same low fan issue. I'm going to test it tonight by letting the car warm up to normal operating temperature and then turn on the A/C and listen / look for the low fan speed to come on. If it does come on and not super loud, am I good? If not, then I have the low fan issue, right?

Thru all these posts I’ve read there’s an old fan style and new fan style. What would my ’05 MCS have and what are the differences between the two?

 

1) SERVICE MODE-refers to when the front bumper cover, bumper extrusion under it, and a few other bits are moved/removed to made acess eassier to most everything under the hood....you need a pair of long bolts to do it fully if I remember right. It is kinda like stripping the front end off the car to make it faster/easier to work on....Someone shpould have a link on how to do it....it is very useful if you plan on working on a MINI....it is actually required to do many things.

2)To test the low speed fan, just turn your car on cold, turn on the AC....the fan should come on, low speed, and STAY ON. If it cycles on and off...yo might have an issue. Also if you have the gauge package, or a scan gauge, you can see the exact point the fans are triggered, and see if they turn on...the exact numbers are posted here somewhere....that is much more definitive....

3)The "new style fan" refers to a production change that occurred by date....you have the new one...the change was simply that a relay was moved off the fan unit, and onto the cars wiring, necessitating a change in connectors....you just must buy the right one....and this is determined by date. The change occurred sometime in 02' or 03' I think.....

 

There was talk of putting together a one stop repair kit for replacing the fried resistor causing all of the "no low fan speed" havoc. Is that available yet?

 

Ok, I think I'm having the same issue, but wanted to verify with you guys first. ('03 MCS)
I have NO fan at all, until I turn on the A/C. Then, only when the A/C is on, the fan will run intermittently. Its actually been this way for a while, but I use digital temp read-out using the ODO button, so I can keep an eye on things. If I see the temp rising from sitting in traffic (rare) I can flip on the A/C and it will cool down to 88 Celsius. However, I'm not sure if the high-speed fan works without A/C, I didn't want to risk overheating just to see if it works.

Does this sound familiar to what you guys are running into?

Thanks,
Josh

 

Yeah jsf252, sounds like you've got the same problem. I suspect if you let the temp get to around 205 (I think) the high speed fan will kick in with or without the AC. If it doesn't, it's possibly something else. That's what my '05 is doing and from reading this thread several times I'm pretty sure I have a bad resistor' I'm looking to do the external resistor fix to avoid having to go partial service mode.

 

yep, same issue. It's counter-intuitive to turn the A/C ON when it overheats, but A/C on is the only way I can get the stage II cooling to activate.

 

To get access to the resistor...since it is bad, and must be removed, you must remove the radiator fan, and do the mod, then re-install the modded radiator fan with the wires, then mount the new resistor, and run the wires to it.
If you just try to wire the resistor in line, with the failed one, it likely will not work, since it fails to circuit open. I guess you could re-wire the fan to bypass the resistor....but you still need access to it.......

 

Mine is a March '04 build date 2004 MCS. Relay is in the relay box, not the fan housing. My resistor failed open. Having taken the entire assembly apart I am convinced, but have not yet proven through actual testing, that all I need to do is wire the new resistor across the two reddish wires that go to the fan housing. If this works - and I hope to test it this weekend - that will mean that for all those similarly situated, it will not be necessary to put the car in 'service mode' or remove the fan assembly.

 

I'll definitely like to hear how that goes. Keep us posted!

 

I've seen the pictures of the install, and the wiring diagrams, would it be possible for one of you guys who have done the resistor install to explain which wires go where? What wire did you use for the input on the resistor and where did you send the output? Still kind of confused on this.

Thanks,
Josh

 

I 2nd that!

 

One suggestion...if you are not going remove the fan to acess the broken part, make sure all wiring modifications (if this is even possible) are on the fan side of the connector. That way, when the fan motor dies someday, the new fan will function as it should without a bunch of troubleshooting. The next owner will thank you.
I seriouly doubt that the wiring is set-up to send the high power onto the fan, through the resistor, than off the fan to the relay, than back to the fan.....this is the way it would have to wired for the above method to work...the most likely set--up is that the relay mearly enguages the high, or the low, sending full power down one wire, or the other, with a resistor being located in-line on the low-speed fan wire....so to make this new resistor work, a new like would have to be run, bypassing the open resistor, or more likely connect the new resistor to where the old one is, and use wires to remotely locate it.

 

just blow the thing up... collect insurance and call it a day. personally, with all the issues that arise in these cars, i cant stand them any more. a/c is out, low speed fan bad, mushrooming struts (or whatever), navigation will never power off, tons of clicking and interior noise, clutch growling, supercharger clings(gear inside), bad steering angle sensor, DSC light and tire pressure sensor light are both on..... and for some reason i feel as if im forgetting some...
THIS IS REDICULOUS.
I have encountered or still are "enjoying" the above mentioned issues... YAY!! sarcasm..
not to mention the endless possibility of the other (seem to be regular) problems to come.
i hope that for all of you posting on this thread who are having "this" problem, that it is the only problem you are having... if it isnt then i feel your pain.. trust me on that one...

 

I am no EE, but I bet it actually would work. The two wires likely have different paths from the connection plug to the fan motor, yes. The high-speed one likely goes from the connection plug directly to the fan motors "input." The low-speed wire likely goes from the plug, to the resistor, then from the resistor to the fan motor's "input". The fan likely does not have multiple places that power goes to the motor as it is a single motor. The speed is controlled by power to the fan, not logic. Taking the low-speed wire from the plug, re-routing it to a new resistor, and then feeding it back into the high-speed wire would result in the same basic path as the original low-speed path. the only difference is that the low and high speed paths would merge a foot or two before the motor, instead of the millimeters before the motor that the "inbound" plug of the motor provides.

I could be wrong, and from what I have seen in this thread it would NOT work for early Minis as the relay of the high-speed fan is inside the fan housing and would be open until the high-speed is asked for. From what I can tell on mid-2003 (sometime in there) and later Minis the relay has been moved to outside the fan housing, so it is a clean solid wire from the plug for the high-speed with no relay in the way and therefore would work. Theoretically a few minutes with some wire crimping tools right at the fan side of the plug would mean a fix.

I plan to get ahold of a resistor and try it myself after reading through this thread. I'd like to try getting it from FES Auto as I have wanted the auto-up circuit for a long time and could justify the combined order as an award for saving money & time while fixing the car. If the whole unit still has to come out, so be it. It just means a whole afternoon/evening instead of a few minutes.

Any word on that kit Matt?

 

Having completely disassembled mine, I completely agree with CeridianMN.

 

Ok, after reading through this thread numerous times and looking at Chris's pictures of his install, I think I've finally got it. To be sure I would like for Chris or Rich (or any other's who know) to verify the wiring. I have attached a .pdf of an extremely quick n' dirty AutoCAD drawing I made just now.

Chris said that he made the modifications to the "car-side" of the wiring harness, so that means he's not running through the low-speed wire on the fan-side of the wiring harness. This is assuming that his faulty OEM resistor is still installed and no modifications are made to the fan. This leaves sending the low-speed power through the high-speed wire which is still connected to the fan without a resistor in the way.

Could someone (who's done the fix) verify my wiring schematic?

Thanks for the help,
Josh

 

Here is what we know to be true.

On the later fans with one connector and the relay in the fuse block, all that is necessary is to bridge the leads with the resister. I did it with two connectors before I found that it didn't work on the older fans. Putting it back was simple and you can't tell I tried. I think it better without cutting the wire as it will be easier to fix if you do ever are working on your car in service mode and you want to change the fan. You don't have to cut the wire as the resister shorts to open. Again, your diagram is good but I suggest that you don't sever the wire but use taps instead.

Rich

 

Rich, Thanks for getting back with me. I agree with using taps on the wires, I'm not a fan of modifying a wiring harness if I don't have to.

On a side note I do have the old-style fan wiring. My MCS is an 11/2002 build so it has the relay in the fuse block and the two plugs. Thats not a bad idea about soldering two leads on the tabs at the original resistor. You could still remote-mount the resistor without modifying any wiring. I'll keep that in mind. The downside is that its now necessary to remove the fan to access the factory resistor and solder the tabs on. My next move is to find a resistor like the one Chris used. It looked like that company was in the UK only though... I'll check out the Mouser one and see whats comparable.

I now understand the principal behind the wiring and hopefully my cheesy schematic will help some others.

Thanks again,
Josh

 

That means that the resister will NOT work.


Your relay is mounted on the fan and is not in the fuse block. That is what the small plug is for. The relay.

Artoo is a September 2002 build. My plan is to replace the fan assembly with a new one (Dorman 620-902) when I do the lower control arm bushings and the oil pan. That should be a couple of weeks. Then modify the one I take out with the tap in case I ever need it. I am doing that as my relay sticks sometimes and takes a tap to get it to release.

As for the resister, I ordered it through Mouser. There is a link in post #51 of this thread. But again, on yours you will not be able to wire it in without removing the fan.

It will but only if they have the new style fan.

Rich

 

Rich,
I see, even though I read this thread (a couple times) I still got the early and late cars reversed.

Anyhow, I had some electrical engineer's verify the math and sizing of the resistor. Chris did indeed choose the correct one (or one that will work) for his application. Some of the variables were still up in the air unless we could get someone to test a working fan (requires disassembly) or for someone like Chris to test a resistor and report back the numbers. Thanks for being the "guinea pig" for us all Chris. My only reason for questioning Chris's resistor model was longevity. It may work for now, but I still don't want to have to replace it every month because it failed. But based on his reports and the math / advice from some EE's I will say that it will work without a hitch, especially for you late-model guys.

I'm up for the challenge, of getting around the relay as well. I will order the resistor from Mouser (10 week lead time according to the site), and set aside a weekend to disassemble, connect wires, and reassemble.

Thanks again to everyone who put their hard work into figuring out this issue.
Josh