I've read that the early power-steering fans such as mine (03) are exposed and prone to failure.
Mine is seized completely.
Has anyone heard about an extended warranty on those?
Could this or a resulting blown fuse have anything to do with the air-conditioning that also stopped working?
The R-134 is full, the compressor kicks in, but no cooling happening.
Thanks for your insights.
John G.
'03 R50 Automatic.

hey - i have an 03 cooper s and i had a similar problem. my secondary fan stopped working as a fuse got tripped. this fan cools the engine, power steering and airconditioner. i think it was F5 - under the bonnet. i noticed the problem because i had my aircon running and it stopped cooling. about 5 minutes later, i noticed the temperature gauge was too high and then i noticed smoke coming out from under my bonnet as the coolant was bubbling. it all worked out - got a new secondary fan and obviously had to have the fuse replaced. hope this isn't your problem as it cost me aud$989. On the plus side, all good now, no problems.

hey - i have an 03 cooper s and i had a similar problem. my secondary fan stopped working as a fuse got tripped. this fan cools the engine, power steering and airconditioner. i think it was F5 - under the bonnet. i noticed the problem because i had my aircon running and it stopped cooling. about 5 minutes later, i noticed the temperature gauge was too high and then i noticed smoke coming out from under my bonnet as the coolant was bubbling. it all worked out - got a new secondary fan and obviously had to have the fuse replaced. hope this isn't your problem as it cost me aud$989. On the plus side, all good now, no problems.

Thanks.
I'll replace the fan and check my fuses.
John G.

Are you talking about the small fan attached directly to the power steering pump or the fan attached to the radiator of the car?

As for the air-con, if the compressor is kicking in there must be sufficient pressure in the system. Possibly just needs a proper service if you haven't already had it ie system flushed, correct amount of refrigerant and lube added then pressurised.

Are you talking about the small fan attached directly to the power steering pump or the fan attached to the radiator of the car?.

believe it or not, this also had to be replaced on my mini! so frustrating - the little fan attached to the steering pump used to stop working when overheated and that affected my power steering (used to go hard - minis are much heavier than they look!), but did not affect my airconditioner. had to replace the steering pump the same week as the secondary fan. Very expensive week!

she's back on the road now and drives a dream...