I just got a new fan and refurbished pump installed in my 03 mini cooper. I've been doing a lot of research on the issue in the forums and am finding some mixed messages.

Is the ps fan always on? Or does it kick in and out?

I haven't driven my car yet since its been installed because we haven't seen the fan run and don't want to blow another pump.

We've tried putting the air conditioner on as we read that it will kick in the fan..didn't work

We've tried running the car for 15 minutes....turning the wheels back and forth...that didn't work.

Checked the fuses...

So again, does anyone know for sure when the ps fan should operate?

Thanks I muchly appreciate it

 

We've now tried a test light and there's no power getting to the power steering fan....

Can anyone at all shed some light on this?

 

On my R53 turning on the AC will make the PS fan come on. It does not run all the time.

 

Thanks Alan,

Tried that and nothing happened:(

My steering is no better then it was before the switch also..

 

Check the power sterring fan fuse..not sure which one but I have read they are common for burning out.

 

Checked all the fuses. He said the one he thought was for the fan was inside in the panel and did not have power in it...........

 

One thing to check....let the car idle foe a long time, no ac...the fan should turn on when the rad fan turns on high....
The fan actually does not run a ton....
the fuse (if the dealer did the wiring modification to split it from the rad fan) is in the footwell inside the car...just like on any production date 2005+ gen1 mini.
Short of checking that the fan is plugged in, and letting the car idle till the high speed turns on...try a hard drive, then park, no ac....check it....you need a pretty high tech tool to plug into the odb2, think bav-tech ($$$$shop tool) can turn individual items, like the fan on and off...you can just wait and see if you ever feel it....the new pumps are much quieter than the old ps pumps also due to a desgin change...so you may think you were hearing it, when it was the pump....

 

Thanks for your input. I took it to a garage the other day and they put it on both of their computers to try and pick something, anything up but that was a waste of time and more so money. They didn't try turning the fan on or off though(i doubt they were that high tech..hehe

Its hard to tell if the fan is running or not with out jacking the car up....i may take a mirror out there and see if that helps at all. Though my power steering isn't any better then before the old pump so having the fan running won't help me at this poiint but i still need to know if it works i guess.