HELP - E46 Fan not switching on

[nicwes]

After recent work on my car, the dealership wants to replace my fan, because it does not switch on when it has to. They say it will be fine for long distance, but in the city (where I am 80% of the time) it will over heat.

They are charging R7000 or something, :thumbdo: but I told my dad not to pay until I have some advice and help or info from my fellow fanatics :rollsmile:

PLEASE PLEASE help. They want to order the fan tomorrow. Asked my dad to wait before he says yes

raise: :ty:

 

[Coisman]

imp:
Make contact with Frikkieh, He had the same hassle with his E46 323i, and should hear how the Stealers tried to rape him!!
He should also be able to help you fix/get a new fan. :thumb:

 

[nicwes]

Dankie Coisman :thumbs:

 

[moranor@axis]

if its electric im sure you can get a good one elsewhere... but it seems to me its probably a sensor or something thats supposed to tell the fan when to turn on... might not need the whole fan

 

[nicwes]

That is what I told my dad. But they are saying we have to replace the whole effing thing! :argh:

And the poor old man just pays without looking into the matter

 

[Philip Foglar]

Is the aircon fan? If so, you are in exactly the same boat as my father in law with his E46 pre-facelift. I gather it's the module that controls the aircon fan that has gone poof! And it's a sealed Bosch unit, so not possible to fix. They will only replace the entire fan unit rather than just this module - also quoted around R7k!

 

[hoosain]

sounds like a blower resistor try these guys

http://johannesburg.gumtree.co.za/c...cessories-Blower-Resistors-W0QQAdIdZ238449611

 

[moranor@axis]

if its the blower then you just need to replace the resistor ive seen it fail often... not sure what resistor it is though...

 

[frikkieh]

"They say it will be fine for long distance, but in the city (where I am 80% of the time) it will over heat."

Only the occupants will over heat if it is the AC fan :rollsmile:

PM sent.

 

[moranor@axis]

lol guess my 1st guess was right

frikkieh share with all of us...

 

[frikkieh]

It's an essay :thumbdo:

I do agree it can be a sensor that switches the fan on, but here is my story:


This is for my e46 323i - 2000. The car occasionally overheated. All sorts of components were replaced (water pump, thermostat, etc.).
I told the guy (3rd party Mechanic), Listen it is the fan, but every time he listens to it, the fan comes on. I had the fan replaced by BMW Leo Haese Hatfield :Yuck: and left the car there for the day to pick it up in the morning.
Upon arrival I had to wait. After 30 minutes, I became impatient (how's that for being patient :rollsmile and enquired about this delay. They reckon that the battery needed charging first. Ok fine. I paid the fine and walked out of the dealership to get to the car - that fan was pumping full blast. "that's not normal" I thought, but then again it was a new fan.
I drove of with this windmill of a car to my place of work (about 6km). At every traffic light and stop street I could hear this monster fan pumping air like you cannot believe. I parked the car in the parking lot and left, with that fan still about to take off :argh:

I worked for a while and decided to return to the car to check if everything is OK. At that very moment the alarm made a funny sound and everything was just dead.

Clearly the battery was drained.

Called them and they jump started me. I left for the DS and they confirmed that the incorrect fan was installed into my car and a new one was on order. Later that afternoon a new fan arrived and all was fine since then.

************

The fan works with SCR's (Silicone Controlled Rectifiers), a transistor like device that "fires" coils in succession to control the rotation of the fan exactly. I was pretty amazed when I opened it, to see the technology used.

That electronic circuitry was situated in the middle of the fan (Siemens fan). The reworked fan had the circuitry moved out of the way (it looks like a hard drive) into a sealed unit, with a harness going to the middle that connects the coils. I hope this information helps

Here is the invoice of the Incorrect fan part:

I would really show BMW this invoice and twist their arm for a better price.

Goodluck.

 

[moranor@axis]

so you could not find a fan anywhere else?

 

[frikkieh]

so you could not find a fan anywhere else?

Moranor, this was before I joined BMWFanatics of course. I did not even bother as the cooling system is of prime importance of my financial well being. I believe alternatives improved substantially, I would for instance have Goldwagen on the top of my list.

I had BMW do the job because it is an electrical part. Normally if you blow up something that is electrical, there is no refund, but I am not sure with BMW.

I recall that Sankekur was given the incorrect parts from BMW and he still had to pay in because he did the job. It was the incorrect belt, that pulled the cooling system apart.

Therefore I played it safe and installed it with them.
But chances 90% today that I will seek alternatives due to outrageous pricing.

 

[Sankekur]

Yup they supplied the incorrect part, ended up damaging my cooling system, BMW just said no warrentee on parts not fitted by them in addition I also had to pay for the parts that was damaged due to the incorrect part - I have always been pretty in favour of getting parts from the dealers, but considering that you can't get a warrentee on the parts I will steer clear of the dealers in future, unless it can't be helped.

 

[Philip Foglar]

In the case of my father in law's car it is the fan for the aircon - automatic, so has a normal mechanical viscous fan for the radiator. The problem is that at low speeds as in town driving the aircon system is then over heating and to release the excessive built up pressure vents the system and therefore the gas...

 

[zaleonardz]

Simple test.

Plug in dis, power up the fan, adjust the speed variably.

If the fan responds correctly, its the sensor.....

Simple logic actually, from what you described, it sounds like the temp sensor.

Check for rodent bites on the wires.

Even if it is the fan, I am convinced that it will be nowhere close to 7k

Pop past if you do not come right, and I will help...

 

[Mamba]

BMW wanted to charge me R7k for my aircon fan as well, I went to a used spares place close by and he got a fan with another connector for R2k, I bought the fan, cut the wires, soldered my plug and it was working fine afterwards, I just could not get it over my heart to pay R7k for a fan.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Yep, that's what my father in law is going to have to do I reckon...

 

[Sankekur]

Thing is you go for a decent aftermarket part and at least you get a proper warrentee, but not so with BMW parts, they are so special that only there excuses for part replacers are competent enough to fit them properly :nonono:

 

[moranor@axis]

thanks frikkieh was just wondering if you did look at after market fans or if the bmw one was the only one to get