This 2003 Mini Cooper came in with a complaint of running hot, but not real hot. The customer stated that the gauge would go a little high but it would never got to hot. They also stated that at times some coolant would be forced out of the over flow even though the gauge would not show it as being hot. I ran the car and found it to be doing just what the customer complained of with the exception of it was indeed running hotter than it should have. I did some reading and basic checking and found a blown fuse. Fuse number 5 which also happens to be a 5 amp fuse supplies power to the relay in the second stage fan switch assembly.
In the process of looking for the second stage fan switch I noticed a small fan under the car at the power steering cooling unit. I tried to turn it but it was stuck. Decided to unplug it and see if the short went away and it did! I never did find it in my wiring diagrams but I knew it was the problem from my testing.
I removed the unit.
Ground off the rivet heads.
Mounted the new motor to the shroud assembly. I had to modify the shroud slightly to get the wiring to bolt down squarely (sorry no pics). I painted the shroud to seal up the grinding marks left from removing the old motor.
