I took a stone to the radiator and am having to replacing that. (This forum gave me confidence to dive in and do it myself, vs. paying crazy fees at a dealer or other repair shop.) With all the buzz about radiator cooling fan issues, while I have the front end all disassembled, should I go ahead and replace the cooling fan at this time? It's newly acquired (by me) 2004 R53 Cooper S with 89K miles. The fan is working fine (currently). Thanks for any feedback.

 

While things are apart anyway, I would consider replacing the fan with an aftermarket one,
or consider replacing just the resistor since a resistor kit is now available here and you no longer have
to go fish for one at Mouser or one of the other electronic supply houses:

http://www.detroittuned.com/shop/?productID=530

 

Just do the resistor kit, 9 out of 10 fan replacements were stricktly because of bad resistors.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. The resistor kit is about $50, and I located the whole fan assembly on Amazon for $78 with free shipping. I think I may just do the whole fan assembly for such a little difference in price.

 

I replaced the whole fan asembly last summer because for what it cost to buy new at Rockauto, it was not worth buying and playing with replacement resisters. For a few dollars more, you get a whole new fan assembly that you pop in plug and play with little wasted time and the Rockauto version comes with the type of resister that is endorsed on this board.
Its your choice.

 

When I had mine out to do my S/C, I just bypassed the resistor all together (small piece of wire & some solder $.05), the only difference is that the fan comes on at full speed only, it's really not that much of a nuisence.

Plus don't forget, the new fan comes with the old style resistor, which of course will go bad again.

 

tberardi - which forum approved fan asembly did you order through Rockauto? The ones listed are Dorman, TYC, and a Various MFR.

 

DORMAN 620902 Radiator Fan Assembly $ 72.00$

 

My fan is dead, wondering if i replace it with this resistor kit will make the fan alive again?

 

do you know why its dead? It could be the fan motor or something else. Diagnose the cause first before deciding on the next step. Check the fuses, power, connections and then the fan motor and resister last.

 

If your 1st stage is shot, the most practical would be Blwn's approach as quoted above. I just recently did this, no more resistors to worry about. You'll get way better engine & A/C cooling than having that resistor.

 

Mine is currently not coming on,I checked the fuses and they're all good.i put a meter at the connector for the fan and I'm getting juice out of it,should I change the fan motor or is there anything else I should look at before changing it..thank you

 

?, Power to the connector, you mean the large black connector that mounts on the frame rail, right?
If so it still could be just a bad low speed resistor, the only way to know for sure is to check the in & out at the relay or right at the fan motor itself.
Power at the connector & at the fan = Bad Fan Motor
Power at the connector but not at the fan = Bad Low Speed Fan Resistor

 

Blwnaway thank you for the reply,I really appreciate it since I'm new in the maintenance on the mini...yeah just checked and it looks like its going to be a bad motor.really can't complain since it died right after cross country drive,which btw was excellent on the mini..I'm thinking of going with rock auto for a Dan and do it myself.Any suggestions?

 

Can someone here at NAM tell me when the low speed fan is going to come on ?

I know my high speed fan comes on when the A/C is turned on.

Maybe my low speed fan is not working and I don't know it ???

 

Low speed should come on with AC, not high speed.

Per the Bentley manual, and confirmed by my ScanGauge, the fan operates at low speed at 221F, and turns off at 214F. The fan switches to high speed at 234F and remains on high until the coolant temps drops by 7F. Supposedly it also turns on when the AC is on and the AC system pressure reaches 8 bar (114psi)
Tough to hear the low speed - high speed is very noticeable.

 

Info re fan speeds vs temps noted. Always good to learn. Interesting about resistors though. Out here that fan assembly will cost you first born male child. You guys in the US get stuff cheap, real cheap. What does a a base Cooper cost out there? No options just 4 wheels and a motor.

 

http://www.detroittuned.com/dorman-gen-1-fan-relay-kit/

 

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,11556

RockAuto also sells the complete resistor set up for 21 bucks, less than half than what DT charges and works just fine. Reading DTs instructions their resistor wire colors vary than stock, the Rockauto unit has the same color wires as stock (1 blue ground and two red 12 and 16 gauge if i remember correctly) so it leaves the guess work out of splicing from the old unit. No need to disconnect the lower radiator hose (just top) or the AC condenser if you're careful and tilt the radiator forward to slide the old unit after you've got the bumper and carrier out.