Good evening all,

Does anybody know if the powersteering pump cooling fan should be running constantly, or does it run only under a load/driving?

Thanks!

 

I don't know for sure, but here are my thoughts.

I believe it does. The pump is running all the time & would need cooling all the time. Maybe someone who knows for sure will post here.

 

Runs constantly with the engine on

 

You can hear it all the time... when at idle and not turning you can hear it speeding up and slowing down...

Weeeeooohhhhweeeeeooohhhhweeeeooohhh

I love that sound.

 

It should run when the engine fan is on.

 

I believe it runs all the time, I know this because mine just broke last week and I was getting a constant really annoying noise in the cabin. When I brought it in to the dealer they told me they needed to replace it and ordered it for me... I am waiting for their call as the noise is reallly annoing and constant..which makes me beleive it's ON all the time!!! This was not th best way to learn about car mechanics!!!

 

on older cars, it's (the PS fan) function is tied directly to the main cooling fan so if it fails (and considering it's position under the front of the car to pick up every bit of road debris that goes under) it's failure will also kill the main cooling fan. There is a wiring harness available that will split these 2 functions that I highly recomend having installed.

 

The tech training manual states that it runs when the engine fan runs. Yours probably ran all the time because it was broken.

 

Thanks for the thoughts. My issue is that it doesn't seem to be running at all. I still here the pump whining when I turn the wheel, but even when the cooling fan is running, the p/s fan is not. Could it be that a fuse is blown for the p/s fan? Where could I find the fuse to check?

 

The PS fan does not operate at all.

Radiator cooling fan runs as normal, whether AC is on or off.

No over heating at all. Temp gauge stays dead center.

PS pump operates, no loss of power steering at all and pump whines as normal.

PS fan fuse (the 5A in the block under the hood) not blown.

Does anybody have any other suggestions before I go to MINI and throw down what is probably a lot of $$$ for a new PS cooling fan?

Thanks again!

 

When the engine is off, can you spin it freely with your finger? The bearing may have gone bad. If it bound up, you can buy a new one from Classic Auto Campus.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/classicauto

They are not hard to replace.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...65&hg=32&fg=15

 

Thanks th3118!

That was going to be my next step.

Thanks also for the links. These Im sure will be very helpful!

 

002, are you sure it only runs when the engine fan runs? I don't see how there is any correlation between coolant temp and PS temp. Mine whines during any low speed cornering such as going in/out of the driveway.

 

I have not tested the system. The training manual states that there is no communication between the pump and the fan (read, the pump does not tell the fan when it is hot). The power supply for the engine cooling fan trips the relay that supplies the steering fan with power.

Now there are two stages of the engine fan (two power wires). My guess is that the high speed fan power supply trips the steering fan relay, but that is not stated. You will not know for sure if the circuit/fan is bad until you have confirmed the steering fan inoperable at both engine fan speeds.

You can check the fan by connecting it to battery voltage and ground and see if it runs. If yes, use a meter to check for battery voltage at the connctor when the engine fan is on (try both speeds). If you have voltage at the connector, but the fan won't run, try a new steering fan relay. I have seen relays give voltage, but not amperage and there is a big difference.

If no voltage at the connector, check the wiring, fuses and relays. At this point your skill level comes into play and it may best to go to the dealer. They can run the fan from a diagnostic computer and tell 100% if the circuit is ok or not. If it is not under waranty I would expect 1 hour of diagnostic time.

Edit: kapps, the ps fluid and engine coolant will both get hot without airflow, so they are related. The noise you hear when cornering is the ps pump not the fan.

 

Yeah, I just thought of that too.

 

Problem solved.

002....you were right about 2 stage cooling fan. I let the engine idle with A/C on. Within a min, the fan was running, but no PS fan. I reved the engine at 2000 for about 15-20 seconds, when the cooling fan finally became extremely loud. At this point, I looked under the car to finally find the PS fan was spinning in perfect working order!

 

I'm glad you figured that out. I was watching my fans over the weekend. They both were working, but I had no way to tell if high or low was on. I was going to start the car from cold and count the stages to see which one triggered the ps fan. I'm glad I don't have to now. It was smoking hot an I don't the myself or the car would have liked that very much. Thanks for fallowing up with the results.

 

Did any of you go to AMVIV and the Dam run? that was my Mini that overheated because the P/S fan broke and blew the fuse. If your 02 Mini had a bad fan it to would have overheated. glenn

 

bad news/good news

a few months ago i blew my engine. My car is an 02 S. As stated before the ps fan and radiator fan are linked in the early cars. since my ps/radiator fans blew their fuse the car overheated and the number 4 cylinder had a ring go through it. The day before, I had the cooling system overflow bottle replaced because it cracked and was blowing out the coolant. This was a recall replacement tank. Hind site the car was overheating and we didn't bother to check why.

When my engine was replaced they also put the splitter that seperated the ps fan from the radiator fan. Last week my ps started going out in traffic. What a supprise. I've spoken with the mechanic that replaced the engine. They did also replace the ps fan but not the ps pump. I have also since learned that the ps pump has a thermostat in it that controls the ps fan. it is not always on, just when the intergral thermo tells it to be. I got under the car and found the ps fan not running but the pump was almost glowing red hot. couldn't even get close to it. I called my local dealership and explained the situation, not the dealership that replaced the engine. They told me for the good will warranty i'd have to go to the dealership I bought the car. that dealership is 200 miles away and i haven't been there for 3+ years.

My thoughts are this, we know the ps pump got way to hot when the ps and radiator fan stopped working. The engine blew because of this. The ps pump is directly related to this and it has since failed. My warranty was over 3 months ago. Please MINI replace that too. You know it was affected by the broken fan system and now it's failed. Driving in traffic when steering goes out will freak your passengers out.

wish me luck all.

 

Any follow-up on this? Thank you.

 

The follow up was good. I went to the dealership in Winston Salem, NC. They are also the ones that put the new motor in. they understood what i said about when the engine blew this was obviously affected. This dealership has always be easy to work with. That's where i had most of my service done after i bought my car. It's 85 miles away and i bought it in Charleston, SC which is 200 miles.

I have found that being patient and humble instead of demanding works best when asking for warranty work.

 

Words of wisdom indeed. But then having an understanding dealership has a lot to do with it...

I appreciate the follow-up, thank you.