My battery died at Road Atlanta this past weekend and I had no idea until I got home as to why. First things first though, how do I unlock the hatch with a dead battery? I couldn't for the life of me figure how to do it and had to wait for a jump start to unlock the hatch so I could load up the car with the weekend's camping gear and such. It wasn't until I got home (5½ hours later) and pulled in my garage, that I heard the power steering fan whirring away even after the the car was turned off with the key removed from the ignition. With the doors unlocked, I opened the hatch and rested it on my shoulders as I hunched over (one of the gas struts farted out all of its gas a few weeks ago apparently) to unload the few things I needed to get out of the way to access the battery. I disconnected the battery to stop the fan from running (I knew what to do since I have had this problem before, but it magically disappeared, or so I thought) and then shut the hatch because I needed to get some backup to help me unload the rest of the gear and help me hold up the hatch. I came back to the car and pulled the latch to open the hatch. No go. It was still locked? At this point I was forced to take out all my camping gear through the front doors. Yeah, that was fun!

Fast forward to this morning. I had to reconnect my battery to get to work. Since the hatch is somehow locked, I had to crawl through the car to get to the boot (I'm not British) in my work clothes and disconnect the battery. Yeah, that was also fun! I have jokingly called my car a "clown car" before, but the name was fitting this time, as I crawled outta the thing from the boot, through the back seat, and then through the drivers side door. Off to work I went. I might have arrived late, but I couldn't tell what time it was because the clock reset itself to --:-- due to the battery being disconnected. I lied, I looked at my watch. I wasn't late.

Fast forward a little bit more. I had convinced myself on the ride to work that my power steering fan issue was once again a fad, a thing of the past, history like the time it happened randomly last month. I pulled into my parking space, turned off the car, and removed the key from the ignition. Wiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrr! Time to repeat the previous night's procedure. Looks like this is going to become my ritual until I can get this thing fixed. Yeah, a lot more fun is my near future!

On the bright side, my hatch replacement strut should arrive tomorrow. That should make disconnecting the battery slightly less annoying, I mean fun.


My new motto is "Let's motorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" . That's the sound of my power steering fan.

So now on the actual problem. I have searched many a forum on this issue and I am convinced my fellow Mini owners are getting screwed. The usual answer is, "I had to have my PS pump and fan replaced". I ask, "why not just the fan?". Seriously though, it is the PS fan that is continuously staying on after the car is turned off, not the PS pump, so why not just replace the fan?

Thank you in advance for any insight on either question.

 

There should be a manual trunk release cable under the rear seat cushion.


You might also check the PS fan relay, maybe you can change it with another relay as a test. The relay could be slightly shorted allowing current to still flow through the windings and keeping the magnetic field on when it should be off. Pulling the battery stops all current and thus the magnetic field, the relay opens, and the fan goes off.

 

Thanks for your reply nabeshin. I was able to find the manual release under the back seat, which was very helpful and made my new ritual much less "fun".

As for the relay, I pulled every relay I thought was related to the fan and it still continued to run. Would you happen to know specifically which relay it is? Pulling the one with the big fan icon on it didn't do it.

 

Bet it is the ps motor that is running...not the fan...the fan could run for days like an overhead light....
Solutiin is a new ps pump....if it stays on, the electronics in it are bad...rebuilds do not repair/replace the electronics, only the brushes on the motor and the hydrolic parts....
the relay you pulled was most likely for the radiator fan....

 

Thanks Zippy. I am obviously trying to convince myself that I don't need to replace the PS pump, due to the cost. It is clearly the fan that is running when the car is off, as I can cral under the car and see it spinning. Are you saying that if the PS motor is running, the fan will also to continue to run to basically try and cool it? Since I can't find the relay to stop the fan, I am going to just unplug it and try and listen for the pump after I turn off the car. If I do hear the pump motor running, then I can definitely say it is in fact a bad PS pump. Thanks for your help.

 

My greatest fears have reared their ugly heads. I disconnecting the battery and disconnecting the PS fan. After reconnecting the battery, the dreaded whine still existed. I misdiagnosed the fan spinning as the sound of the actual PS motor running. Thanks for your help Zippy. Looks like it's time to spend some big bucks on replacing the PS pump. Oof! Thankfully, it looks pretty straightforward.