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Cooling Fan Resistor Repair - Event Date: January/31/11 |
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bobbydanger 
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PSMINI Member Joined: January/31/11 Location: Portland Status: Offline Points: 260 |
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 Calendar Event: Cooling Fan Resistor RepairPosted: January/31/11 at 6:32pm |
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[quote] Edited by bobbyd - March/11/11 at 10:54pm |
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valvashon
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Joined: June/15/07 Location: West Seattle Status: Offline Points: 1170 |
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Posted: February/01/11 at 7:36pm |
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I did some searching and everything I found points to the fact that the resistor is part of the fan assembly and not available separately. If you get it, post a picture as I think we'd all love to see it. I think you have to pull off part of the front end to get to the fan assembly, which would probably have to be taken apart to get to this mystery resistor.
Val |
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...Now mom may drive to the grocery store, But that's not what this car is really for...
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johnf36
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PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
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Posted: February/02/11 at 12:53am |
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If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
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bobbydanger
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PSMINI Member Joined: January/31/11 Location: Portland Status: Offline Points: 260 |
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Posted: February/02/11 at 1:05am |
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[quote] Edited by bobbyd - March/11/11 at 10:55pm |
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johnf36
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Posted: February/02/11 at 1:08am |
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It should be an easy job if you do basic soldering and mechanic work.
John |
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If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
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ericfreeman
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PSMINI Nonmember Joined: November/05/10 Location: Bellingham Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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Posted: February/03/11 at 9:27pm |
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Yes, I did this repair shortly after buying my '04 S about 4 months ago. I read about the problem on NAM and checked the fan operation. Worked on High but nothing on Low. Ordered two of the resistors (I always like to have spare parts around) from Mouser ($15 each) and did the mod one evening. I mounted the resistor using some special heat sink grease on the aluminum motor mount for good heat conduction. I spliced in the resistor according to the NAM thread and it is now working properly. Much easier than replacing the fan and there shouldn't be any problem in the future with this properly designed resistor in place.
Eric Edited by ericfreeman - February/03/11 at 9:31pm |
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bobbydanger
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PSMINI Member Joined: January/31/11 Location: Portland Status: Offline Points: 260 |
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Posted: February/03/11 at 10:00pm |
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[quote] Edited by bobbyd - March/11/11 at 10:55pm |
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ericfreeman
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Posted: February/04/11 at 12:26pm |
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I'll take some pics and post them here later today.
Eric
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johnf36
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Posted: February/04/11 at 12:56pm |
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cool good luck
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If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
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ericfreeman
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Posted: February/04/11 at 5:00pm |
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Here are some pics of my resistor installation. I cut and spliced into the side of the fan wiring harness that remains with the car. Should I later change the fan unit for some reason, it would be easy to remove or disable the resistor in this event. I drilled 4 mounting holes and tapped them for 8-32 machine screws. The aluminum is thick enough for this but not by a lot. You could probably use self-tapping screws as well but would need to be careful about hole size to ensure you don't twist off the heads during initial fitment.
Eric
  Edited by ericfreeman - February/04/11 at 5:01pm |
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johnf36
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Posted: February/04/11 at 6:15pm |
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Nice how is it working
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If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
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ericfreeman
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Posted: February/04/11 at 6:32pm |
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Works perfectly, although with all the cold weather over the winter I doubt if the cooling fan gets used much, other than the occasional traffic stop. When I first tested the resistor, it would get slightly warm when the fan ran, but it was cold in the garage and the fan quickly turned off. There's plenty of metal attached to the resistor so heat dissipation should not be an issue and the housing is completely sealed so no corrosion problems either.
Eric
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SuperCoop
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Posted: February/04/11 at 6:35pm |
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I just realized that I don't know if I've ever heard my fans come on. Granted I usually have the radio on when driving, but can you actually HEAR them?
Do they run after the car is turned off?
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Jason - '05 PS/B Cooper S, most packages, 17%, Brisk silver plugs, IE fixed camber plates & Craven STD's, Powerflex trans/dogbone mount poly inserts, 20mm Whiteline rear sway bar, SprintBooster.
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CORNERS
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Posted: February/04/11 at 6:59pm |
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I can't remember ever hearing mine. I think it is forced on if you turn on the air conditioning and the compressor is working.
On the Gen1 MINIs, I believe that the fan does not run when the car is turned off.
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ericfreeman
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Posted: February/04/11 at 7:01pm |
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The low speed fan is pretty quiet and you won't hear it in the car. I've only heard my high speed fan once, when I was testing the circuits to see if the fans were working. It's quite a bit louder but I don't think you'd hear it inside the car unless your window was down.
Easiest way to check the low speed fan is to turn on the A/C and once the refrigerant pressure gets to a certain point the low speed fan kicks on. I think it took a minute or so on my car before the fan came on.
You can also disconnect the fan harness plug and use a couple of test leads to jump the fan wires. One lead goes to ground, the other lead can touch either the low or high contacts and your fan should come on. I did this on mine and I couldn't get the low speed fan to work, hence the resistor mod.
Eric
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bobbydanger
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PSMINI Member Joined: January/31/11 Location: Portland Status: Offline Points: 260 |
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Posted: February/04/11 at 7:10pm |
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[quote] Edited by bobbyd - March/11/11 at 10:55pm |
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SuperCoop
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Posted: February/04/11 at 7:32pm |
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I'm sure it's working fine, but I'll try the ac test this weekend.
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Jason - '05 PS/B Cooper S, most packages, 17%, Brisk silver plugs, IE fixed camber plates & Craven STD's, Powerflex trans/dogbone mount poly inserts, 20mm Whiteline rear sway bar, SprintBooster.
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