I have an 03 S and my low speed fan stopped working. I also have coolant seeping from my overflow radiator cap, that i mark up to the low speed not working and possibly a bad cap. I replaced my fan assembly and it still doesnt work. I have the correct one for my build date. It is the earlier one. Anyone have any ideas? I have checked all fuses and relays and all are fine. Has anyone recieved a bad fan module? Any help is appreciated.

 

Thought I'd give a bump for this thread, maybe someone else will chime in.


Curious how you know the low speed fan doesn't work. Are you turning on the air conditioning? I've never seen my fan run without the AC on, but ive only had it a couple months. Not long ago, someone posted what Bentley says about the temps and conditions when high/low fans come on.

 

Here's the quote below. I know mine runs around 195f all the time. If I get stuck in traffic for more than 10 minutes, it shoots upjust a little over 200f (in 85 degree weather. I usually click on the air conditioning, and it holds the temp around its 195 normal. One time I forgot to turn on AC for almost an hour, but it never got hot enough to click the fan on itself, so I guess that's good.

 

It doesnt come on at all. Doesnt matter if A/C is on or off. High speed fan is the only one that ever comes on. Does the low speed only come on when the A/C is on, or does it come on at a certain temp regardless? Thanks for the bump.

 

Low speed should come on at
221F regardless as far as I know. So yours gets all the way up to 234F and the high speed comes on?! How's your thermostat and water pump? Definitely fix the cap, if it doesn't hold pressure that can cause overheating too. Make sure your reservoir isn't leaking, they are a typical problem.

 

Turn you AC on and see if the low speed fan kicks on. They you can eliminate that has the problem.

 

Thermostat and water pump working fine never had any overheating problems. Deffinatey the cap I can see where it's running down. I just replaced the reservoir a year ago. Yes my temp reaches 230s before kicking on and it's deff the high speed sounds like a jet.

 

I can tell you that if you don't have a manual yet, don't waste your time with a Haynes. I got one, only because it was at a local store for $12, and I haven't invested in a Bentley Manual yet. I know trouble shooting cooling fan in there is very lacking. It tells you to refer to a wiring diagram in the back of the book which doesn't exist.

One thing it does say is to connect the fan to 12v, and see if it works. You have a new fan, so we assume it works.

Double check me on this, because I don't know which year is what, but some of them have a resistor in the low speed circuit. (Haynes didn't even mention this part, LOL). I read a NAM post about 3 wires. One is ground, the other thick one is for high speed fan, and the thin one is for low speed fan. With a couple jumper wires, connect the ground to a bolt, or non painted metal on the body. Connect another jumper to the thick wire, bump it on the positive of battery. Fan should come on full speed. Then move your jumper to the thinner wire, bump it to the battery, fan should come on about 1/3 speed, because it's going through a resistor. If the fan doesn't come on, your resistor may be open/failed. Not sure if new fans come with resistors or where it's located -just thought it might be worth a mention.

Again, sorry I can't say for sure if this refers to early/late model fans, but that may be something you could try to look up, or a more knowledgable NAM Member could confirm for us.

 

Just make sure you have the right fan for the year.

R50 Cooper R53 Cooper S up to 3/2003 has the two separate plugs.


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/17101475577/





R50 Cooper R53 Cooper S 3/2003+ and R52 Convertible has the one plug


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/17117541092/



It possible you got a bad fan from the factory, but i would make sure the terminals are making contact from the harness. Also that the sockets are clipped all the way in.

Thanks

 

What ECSTuning said. I just replaced my radiator cooling fan last month, along with a cooling system overhaul, and there are two different fans (I have an 03 MCS as well, and I almost bought the wrong fan myself)...check your build date on the inner driver's side door panel to get the proper part. Aside from that, make sure all your connections are tight, and free of gunk.

As an aside, you may want to check RockAuto for the cooling fan. I got a replacement fan and shroud for $80, instead of $200-300+ that is is listed everywhere else. It was an aftermarket fan, but was definitely OEM quality, and had zero fitment issues. Since that resistor WILL fail again, it made no sense to me to pay 3-4x as much for the part...I might as well get the less expensive part that does the exact same job.

 

My car has the two plugs. I'm off tomorrow so I will try the jumper wire. My fan shroud was damaged on the new one when I received it so I swapped it out with my old one I suppose the resistor could ve been damaged as well. Also I have triple checked connections jut to be sure they are clipped in and pins are straight. I really appreciate everyone's help so far. I have a Bentley manual aso and I've checked the fuses and relays in the circuit up to the plugs and they are good.

 

Do your high speed cooling & PS fans still work? That PS fan is known to blow the 5A fuse when it goes & that cripples the cooling fan. Otherwise, in most cases, it's just a bad resistor.

 

Yeah high speed still works and the p/s fuse isnt blown and the fan works and spins freely.

 

Check that big green resistor & that tiny diode/thermistor connected to it. The latter rarely fails, but mine did. Bypassed both & still works as it should. 02-03 Relay in fan assembly is for the highspeed so that shouldn't be it if you've high.

 

Sorry it took so long to get back, Ive been working alot. So I found out what it was. The new doorman part i put on actually had a defect in the small plug. The little landings inside the plug that keep you from pushing it in too far were not allowing it to make contact. So i cut my original plug off my old fan assembly and put it on the new wiring harness for the new fan and it has worked ever since. Thanks to everyone that responded to my questions.

 

Glad it's working now!