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J.DeFeo
06-20-2007, 06:37 AM
This is an interesting problem. My fan clutch only operates intermittantly. It seems that most of the time it doesn't engage when the air conditioning is turned on. Turning the air con off then waiting a bit seems to fix the problem. It also doesn't seem to engage at idle speeds. It only engages around 1300 RPM or so. I don't know if that's normal or not. When it does engage, it works perfectly. Is the clutch itself broken or is there something else at fault here?
Ferret
06-20-2007, 06:47 AM
This is an interesting problem. My fan clutch only operates intermittantly. It seems that most of the time it doesn't engage when the air conditioning is turned on. Turning the air con off then waiting a bit seems to fix the problem. It also doesn't seem to engage at idle speeds. It only engages around 1300 RPM or so. I don't know if that's normal or not. When it does engage, it works perfectly. Is the clutch itself broken or is there something else at fault here?

When your aircon is switched on, an aux electric fan should be running in front of the radiator, this would explain why the visco fan doesnt kick in properly.

Interesting that it only snatches over 1300 rpm though...
J.DeFeo
06-20-2007, 07:30 AM
When your aircon is switched on, an aux electric fan should be running in front of the radiator, this would explain why the visco fan doesnt kick in properly.

Interesting that it only snatches over 1300 rpm though...

I forgot to mention that my temp guage goes past the 12:00 mark if I'm just idling with the air con on. If I let it sit too long it will go way past it. So maybe the aux elecetric fan isn't funtioning?
bmwrp8
06-20-2007, 08:16 AM
I forgot to mention that my temp guage goes past the 12:00 mark if I'm just idling with the air con on. If I let it sit too long it will go way past it. So maybe the aux elecetric fan isn't funtioning?

Try checking your aux.electric fan is working...if its not check your fuse and relay but if all is fine but your aux.fan works but its slow or sometimes not functioning maybe you have a defective aux fan already
J.DeFeo
06-20-2007, 04:29 PM
Ok, the aux electric fan is definitely not running. The fuse was completely blown up. I replaced the fuse and still nothing. Going to check the relay next but if that doesn't do it I guess the fan is broken?
bmwrp8
06-20-2007, 04:37 PM
Ok, the aux electric fan is definitely not running. The fuse was completely blown up. I replaced the fuse and still nothing. Going to check the relay next but if that doesn't do it I guess the fan is broken?

probably. I just changed mine months back...fuse keeps on blowing and sometimes fan isn't working...turned out to be my fan was on its way out... bought one from the yard for cheap
J.DeFeo
06-20-2007, 05:11 PM
probably. I just changed mine months back...fuse keeps on blowing and sometimes fan isn't working...turned out to be my fan was on its way out... bought one from the yard for cheap

Both relays work, and the fan runs fine on the "high" setting. I figured this out by removing the fan switch and shorting the pins. The relay clicks but the fan does not run on the "low" setting. This confirms that the ballast resistor is blown, correct?

Just to be double sure I want one of these? (http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=bsei5cz2gmj23u55ma0j0555&makeid=800003@BMW&modelid=1012408@535I&year=1992&cid=16@Cooling%20System&gid=2180@Radiator%20Fan%20Controller/Resistor)
bmwrp8
06-20-2007, 05:14 PM
Both relays work, and the fan runs fine on the "high" setting. I figured this out by removing the fan switch and shorting the pins. The relay clicks but the fan does not run on the "low" setting. This confirms that the ballast resistor is blown, correct?

Just to be double sure I want one of these? (http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=bsei5cz2gmj23u55ma0j0555&makeid=800003@BMW&modelid=1012408@535I&year=1992&cid=16@Cooling%20System&gid=2180@Radiator%20Fan%20Controller/Resistor)
yep i guess