I was going for a ride yesterday afternoon about 3:00pm...Well as I pulled into the park to hang for a few, white smoke started to come out from under the bonnett like crazy. I turned the car off right away and opened the bonnett to see the cap on the overflow tank releasing fluid all over the engine and it was hitting the exahust manifold cause the fluid to smoke. WTF was happening?? I could only think that the thermostat got stuck closed and caused the problem. But why?? Just before the incident I did adjust the heater temp to 60F on the A/C cause the night before it was set at 74F for my kids as they were cold after we went to the stadium to see stupid monster trucks. <<<<(Don't comment on this right now.) Then I adjusted it to a cooler setting and BOOM...Smoke everywhere!!!! I called MINI roadside to tow the car to the service department. Wish me luck.......Any ideas what happen?? What do I do now?? I am so bummed. Has this happened to anyone else here that you may have heard??

 

This was a pretty common problem - I am sure a search will turn up quite a bit regarding the issue.

As I responded last night, I had the same thing happen - thought the car was on fire at first. Coolant bubbling all over the place. Some have had the wiring harness replaced, others had the power steering fan replaced. In my case it was a power steering fan issue.

 

My power steering fan was replaced under warranty at my last oil change done at Prestige MINI (Mahwah, NJ). Excellent service over there. They noticed checked it and replaced it before something more major (like overheating) occured. I am very grateful to that dealership.

 

Bet you a buck it's your power steering fan....

 

Just happened to a friend of mine's heavily modded MCS. We had just motored about 20 miles of lightly spirited driving. It was rainy and about 50 degrees out. We stopped off to use to use a restroom and he left his car on with the heater going to keep his girlfriend warm. It took only a few minutes for it to overheat. He even uses Water Wetter in his radiator. I'm not sure how much had to do with his mods, but all was well for the 150 miles back to Phoenix.

 

>>Bet you a buck it's your power steering fan....


I hope your right. And I'll be glad to pay the buck.$$$ Let you all know tomorrow,service called and said most likely will be ready tomorrow afternoon. ~~~~Fingers Crossed~~~~~

 

>>>>Bet you a buck it's your power steering fan....
>>
>>
>>I hope your right. And I'll be glad to pay the buck.$$$ Let you all know tomorrow,service called and said most likely will be ready tomorrow afternoon. ~~~~Fingers Crossed~~~~~


Sorry to hear that man...good luck!

 

Well I got my car back tonight and everything is fine. Turns out the powersteering fan schroud warped and caused the blade to stop turning whuch caused the fuse to blow which stopped the fan for the cooling system to stop which made the car overheat. Anyhow the service was all covered under warrenty thank God and the service writer Aamir with Lauderdale MINI in Flordia was EXCELLENT !!! They sure did a great thing by getting him and making him MINI ONLY for service.

Bottomm Line is the car is fixed and I owe mbabischkin a buck....So here you are

 

Bruce, I am glad to hear that your car is finally sorted. the power steering fan is a classic '02 problem. I am not sure what revisions MINI have done to this part to prevent problems such as the overheating you had yesterday, but all I know is that beginning in the '03 production the fuse for the fan is in a separate circuit.

Aamir is a great guy indeed! I have an appt at Lauderdale tomorrow morning to have them update my software to version 36 on my '04 MCS.

 

Sadly that fan has caused a lot of people grief, as I recall there was a wave of people last year that had overheats related the power steering fan, the one thing they all had in common... they had all been up at The Dragon within the past 30 days!!!

My one dealing with Lauderdale MINI sales impressed me a lot. We were down there last year and I swung by to see if I could buy a South East Nav CD. Despite the fact that we didn't buy our MINI from Lauderdale the sales manager gave me the South East CD free of charge. Then on the way out, I dropped my cell phone into the storm drain on the lot (I had a crappy clip at the time) and two of their sales guys came out to help me move the grate and retrieve the phone....

 

This is one of the recalls that took place last summer. When I brought my MINI in for the JCW kit last August, they mentioned that they would take care of a re-call as well. They installed a device to separate the power steering fan circuit form the cooling fan.

I was surprised that I wasn't sent a letter informing me of the re-call. They said that as the cars smae back, they did it then.

Glad your back on the road again!

 

so is it really a recall and if so why does BMW not inform us of this
my service is up so i have no reason to go to the dealership and we should be notified of any recalls. my car over heated last week. i think it may have been a fluke but i am going to see how the fan is operating. even so if it is the fan this will more than likely happen to a lot more people.
I thought that it was law that we are informed of any recalls :evil:

 

Yet another overheat. First one for me, though. I haven't seen anyone posting about it since Jan, so let me be a reminder! Interestingly, I have an '03, and I am fairly certain that I had power steering when it happened. (light city stop/go traffic, A/C off) No radiator fans, though. Luckily, I was ablew to pull over and shut down the car immediately. I had it towed to the local dealer, but I doubt they will be able to tell me anything until Monday.
I am hoping that this is something thare is a permanent fix for. I have read elsewhere about dealers reccomending the owner carry alot of extra fuses as a solution to the fan problem. This, to me, is unacceptable.

wish me luck.

Of course, I wwould have been planning a trip for Monday, donchaknow. :???:

 

Where is the steering pump fan located and where should I look for the
fan's fuse (inside the cabin or under the hood?) 20A?

 

Ok, news about the overheat. First off, my '03 has the power steering fan and the cooling fan on the same fuse, hence the problem.

second, the new power steering fans have a Moss-MINI type fan guard integrated into the design, hopefully to eliminate further problems. So I'm all fixed up.

(New windshield wipers ROCK, and the new ECU flash RIPS!)

 

I should have known I would find the answers to my problems here! Its been a really, really long time since I've posted, but today I had the overheating problem again I figured I would turn to the experts - You guys-
My 02 cooper went in last week for a overheating issue and got a new Auxiliary fan but today it overheated again...so it goes back in tomorrow, only after my husband compained up a storm because my dealer wanted me to wait til next week.

So i guess my question would be is the auxiliary fan the power steering fan?
Thanks in advance for any help
S

 

I just had mine towed to the dealer for the same problem.

 

Well the dealer has had mine since last thursday (the 15th) and they still do not know what to do. They put a 10 amp fuse in the spot where there was a 5 amp. ??????? They say that the fan is now working but I dont know...what do you guys think? One of my concerns is that if something goes wrong in the future, they will "forget" that they put the 10 amp in and it will void the warranty.

Sue

 

Same thing happened to me today.


When the AC is on the Aux fan does not run. At speed the AC is fine, at idle, the AC light blinks on and off. The car overheated when it was at idle for about 4 minutes. It runs fine at speed as there is plenty of airflow while moving.

Called the dealer, they stated that the powersteering fan and the cooling fan is on the same fuse and if the PS fuse went this would cause the problem.

I checked the fuses in the engine compartment (by the ECU) and they were fine. The fuses in the passenger compartment were fine as well. The fan relay tested OK (about 100 ohms across the coil).

Taking the car to the dealer to have them check it out. I am wondering if they will deny the warranty due to a pully mod? I guess I will find out.


Update, I found the fuse, it is a 5 amp fuse not labeled as a fan, but as an engine fuse in the engine compartment fuse box.

Looks like I have the same problem.

 

>>>my '03 has the power steering fan and the cooling fan on the same fuse<<<<

This was changed sometime in '03 as later models have separate circuits.

>>>They put a 10 amp fuse in the spot where there was a 5 amp. ???????<<<

If the circuit is designed for a 5 amp fuse, then they're dead wrong in putting in a 10 amp. If it keeps blowing the 5 amp (if that is the correct one), then there's something creating an excess current draw that needs to be fixed. By increasing to a larger fuse they're only increasing the chances of something serious happening, like an electrical fire or major wire burnout. Do not accept this repair!!

It's been covered before but I'll mention it again, DO NOT rely on the temperature gauge in the MINI to let you know the car's getting hot. Thanks to some bright engineer at BMW the gauge is buffered so that it doesn't operate as it should.

 

2 things, why are there so many fuses for the fans. There is no way the fan is on a 5 amp fuse. 5 amps is too low for the fans and too high for the relay coils.


As to the temp guage on the mini, I saw that. When I stopped the engine to let it cool down, the guage stayed hot and did not move, then it dropped like mad. I assume this is the buffering, or lack of update from the ecu.

 

I had these same symptoms just a few weeks ago. The power steering fan had failed (for whatever reason) and the fuse had blown. They installed a new fan assembly, and assured me that the newer models were better protected. Can anyone vouch for this? I'm a little concerned at how fragile these seem to be.

 

Okay so we know it is easy to fix the problem of the engine overheating, but why did the power steering fan malfunction in the first place? It seems like most of these are happening in South Florida and being a resident I am concerned!

I too agree Lauderdale Mini Sales and Service are spectacular. One other question... anyone know why Debra left?

 

Yup. Knew it. Actually this happened to me the first 90 degree day this year with my 19% pulley. I was afraid for a moment until I remembered this was a common MINI problem.

 

Mini of Towson took my car in the same night I called them, It was ready at 10 am the next morning. No grief about the mods.

Power Steering fan did it.

I live in Maryland. A lot cooler than Florida, but it has been into the 90's lately.