Quick question... had my 2006 Cooper S in for service an they told me that my fan is only running in the high temp mode now and the low temp mode is not working at all. All the fan issues I see on the site are based on the fan not turning off. The dealer wanted to replace the entire fan is this correct? Is is unsafe to run the car with the high temp fan only? I have put 40K on the car and have not noticed any changes in temp or running oddly. In addition, I called to get a replacement part from minimania and they have to order one. Taking a road trip next week and want to get some feedback. Thanks

 

This thread... Basically, the fan is fine. The problem is that the the series dropping resistor inside the fan housing burns out. Often. Mine did it twice. This time I went with the DIY external resistor mod shown in that thread.

BTW, I drove mine for quite a while with only the high-speed fan. I thought it was normal that a blender was cycling on-and-off under the hood.

If you want a replacement fan to install yourself you can get one for about $70 from rockauto.com, others.

 

This is a very, very common problem here. I opted to get the wife a new fan (it was less than $100...maybe rockauto.com was where I got it) then with the old one out I will fix it for when my fan goes.

 

for OP - a warning - you should be aware of what typically happens if this gets worse.....

As stated your fan controller has suffered a partial failure and no longer has low speed so you hear your fan running on high and cycling. The system recognizes the partial failure and is compensating.

When mine did this (twice on my 02 at approx 3 year intervals) it eventually got worse when the fan controller failed completely. Now one might think that the fan would not run at all and you'd overheat, but the designers appear to have considered this cuz when the controller fails completely the fan runs .. and runs .. and runs. The car doesn't overheat. But the fan doesn't turn off. It stops when the battery is dead.

First time it happened to me I went to the driveway (car parked outside) about an hour after I got home and heard the fan running. I was used to the fan running for a bit after parking but an hour? 30 minutes later it was STILL running... So I disconnected the battery. At this time I was still under warranty and I lived near the dealer so the fix was easy. Call me a plankowner of the fan controller burn out issue .. I bought an early 02-S off the lot.

Second time the car was now in the hands of son, away at college, and no where near a MINI dealer or, so far as I can YET tell, a MINI savy mechanic. He did not recognize a problem until the battery went dead and as soon as a new battery went in the fan kicked into high blow even tho the car had not been running for 12 hours . . . until we could get it fixed he was pulling battery connections when he parked.

This may not happen to you, but I'd be aware of the potential. It was enuf of a significant emotional event that today, if I park the 07-S and leave it with the fan running, I check back in a couple of minutes to ensure the fan went off. Funny, I don't feel the need to do that on either of the Hondas in the driveway. {or the Mini - no electric fan there }

So you might want to investigate easy ways to cut power to the fan in case you need to live cutting the power manually for a time. I wish I could tell you just pull fuse # .... but no, that doesn't work. You either need to pull the connections under the bonnet to the fan, or learn how to get to the battery easily - even when you have no juice to open the eletrically operated boot latch. (hello secret pull under the rear seat of a 2006 - my 2002 didn't have one)

 

I have a bad resistor, and have since i bought the car. The only problem I have is while sitting in traffic. I just turn either the heater on or the A/C on, either will keep your temps at normal. The A/C forces the High fan on at set intervals even on a cold engine.

and PS, the dash temp gauge is worthless. It doesn't show over-temp until you are well past where your engine temp should be.

 

Gone fishin

 

I'm guessing the coolant level is fine. An air lock/bubble and/or low coolant could do it.
So could a sticking thermostat, especially if intermittent.
An intermittently faulty temp sensor or relay could certainly do this as well, as you conjectured.
If the temp gauge goes up again, would also turn the heat control up and the inside
fan all the way up. Turning on the a/c would be counterproductive to cooling things
down, unless doing that forced the radiator fan on, which would help some of course.

 

Gone fishin

 

Gone fishin

 

I just read all the responses in this thread. Do I undersand correctly that the radiator fan should run at low speed as soon as the engine is turned on?

 

Only if the AC is on. Otherwise it shouldn't come on until the coolant reaches 221F