Good Afternoon All:

Being a vehicle technician AND an inquisitive mind that wants to know, I am pondering this issue of high failure rate power steering cooling fan thing.
I am told that the OEM fan that came on my 06 R50 was known to fail because of its poor sealing, vulnerable location and the fact that I live in the nastiest state in America, Michigan! Its road salt city under there!

I am told, furthermore, that the NEW replacement from MINI (BMW) is re-designed to sel the electric motor up better. Problem is, whats the use? I drive it in the snow, its so low to the ground that it gets caked with snow, turns to ice and than ends up blowing the fuse if it kicks on. Would it even kick on in the winter?

So Im looking at the set up, reading a lot of feedback from others, and my question is.....WTF would put, what appears to be a simple computer muffin fan, underneath a car like this? Ok, OK, with that aside, I have some observations and a question:

First, granted, its in a horrible location, but there must be a better way to cool the PS pump than this!

Second, Is it even needed in winter months when the roads are the worst and its freezing cold outside?

Third, I have seen people put wire mesh in front of these things to keep the garbage out, but doesn't that just encourage crap like leaves, ice and other garbage to get stuck in the mesh?

So my question is.......couldn't there be a "scoop" that would point towards the back of the car away from oncoming road grime, ice and water placed over the face of this thing? Its not like this thing pulls a ton of CFM where a well designed scoop would impede air flow. OR........

Should I just take it off and seal up the connector for the winter?

I would love to get some feedback from the group before I set about re-engineering the wheel.

 

First question: It seems like a horrible location for the fan but it's not. The fan cools the power steering pump so it needs to be placed right next to it. The pump is located on top of the steering rack to eliminate unnecessary hoses and pipes. Since the pump is underneath the car, the fan should be there too since it's the best place to draw in cool air and dump it onto the pump.

Second question: Probably not. With all the snow and slush getting kicked up underneath the car the pump probably stays pretty cool.

Third question: Yes, you are correct.

Fourth question: It might help keep junk out of the fan intake, but it also makes it harder for the fan to pull in air. The ram air effect of driving down the road helps the fan work more effectively.

I would strongly encourage you to keep the fan connected at all times. If for some reason it needs to come on and can't, you end up frying a very expensive PS pump, although it's covered under an extended warranty. But the fan is covered under the same warranty, so you might as well just leave it all alone and hope that everything fries before the warranty expires.

 

My suggestion....
The cabrio added a ps fan duct kit...
The under bumper deflector changed.... A duct opening was made, and a duct run from just behind the chin lip on the under bumper part to the ps fan...one negative was you must remove two pop screws to fold it out of the way to do oil changes....
Retrofit kit was about $80....HALF thr cost of a ps fan....I have been on the same fan for about 4+ years now....when The car was delivered...and salt/grime ate fsn #1 in 6 months...#2 lasted a couple years....then with the duct kit....it seems to protect it...no issues.

 

I also suggest to kept it plug (PS pump is nearly $1.000) and it is not recommended to put a rebuilt (dont last long)
and here in Canada, the extended warranty is not applicable for the 06
only from 02 to 05

 

I just installed a Dorman rebuilt PS pump. Very quiet and smooth. I paid a premium for it at NAPA but it included lifetime warranty. Drop the sub-frame and they're a piece of cake to install.

I'm going to run an LED indicator light off the PS fan to be able to see when it's running.