I have a 2002 MCS and the radiator fan only seems to come on intermittently on high. It will not come on low with the a/c activated, and I thought that was automatic. The a/c is charged correctly, but doesn't blow cold without the fan.

I seem to recall that this car had the power steering fan on the same circuit as the main fan. Since this car had spotty maintenance by the PO, I'm thinking of installing a new P/S fan and main radiator fan. Plus perhaps the relays, as my daughter is going to take this on a trip in a few weeks.

In this case would I change just the radiator fan, or the fan + housing? I see both, as well as Mishimotoo fans for just fan replacement.

Or is there other electronic weirdness that might be stopping the fan from working?

 

Sometimes the PS fan will seize, blow its fuse, and the AC won't run. Sounds like yours must work if the AC is operating, but your low speed fan isn't. Unlike later models, the resistor that has probably failed is attached way down in the fan housing. Early models like yours and mine have two electrical connections for the cooling system. Later one have only one and and those can be repaired with an external resistor. I think Detroit Tuned has a resistor that can be wired in to the older style, but I chose to replace my whole fan with a TYC which lasted for a number of years. You may want to keep the current fan and just do the resistor fix because the original MINI fans are pretty robust; it's the resistor that's the culprit. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

I went to replace the low speed resistor with URO 17117541092PRM, and it doesn't match up with what is in my housing. The fan assembly is labeled Gates, so I don't know if this was a replacement by the PO, but it has a relay inside the housing.

My question is: do I bypass the relay with the replacement resistor, use the relay, or get a new fan assembly?