what is fuse #41? also brake light or something?

[aharon250]

fuse 41 keeps popping on the cover of the fuse box is says thats for diesel something? my car is not diesel and everything seems to be working.. also i got a light that is red and theres a circle with dashes around the sides of it.. thats a brake pad light right??

[David Mc]

On 6 cyl E36 models it is the automatic climate control - specifically "Auxiliary fan stage 2 relay" according to my 1998 E36 electrical diagnostic manual. If you want more info, I need to know the year and model of the car.

[aharon250]

hmm thats weird.. climate control seems to be working?.. i found a 30 fuse in it blown but i looked at the back of the cover and a 5 was supposed to be there so i put a 5 in and turned on the car and it blew.. i have a 1998 328i

[aharon250]

oh wait.. i just checked the bentley and it says 41 is for heating and a/c and lists a bunch of crap then it says radiator aux. fan? and it does need a 30a.. lucky for me i have like 10 of each fuse but im out of 30s so im gonna go get one and see what happens... i remember checking the fuses a while back while trying to figure out why traction control doesn't work and nothing was blown so this must be recent.. of course traction control still doesnt work.. oh well

[Tefal]

if it blows it will most likely be the Aux fan siezed, its behind your front grill

[aharon250]

well i replaced the fuse last night and it hasn't blown yet.. but its cold so i dont think the aux. fan should be kicking on... is it a big deal if that fan doesnt work?

[Tefal]

Try turning the air con on, it has 2 purposes, Air con and back up fan for when the car gets very hot

[Matt at Dunlop]

After reading the tread, I agree with everyone else that the motor for your electric auxiliary fan motor is seized.

The bentley manual has a very good section for trouble shooting the motor to rule-out a bad temp sensor or relays and confirm that it's the fan. Although, the way you're blowing the 30A & 5A fuse I'm confident it's the fan.

The good news is that AutoZone sells the exact replacement Siemens brand motor for ~$140. I was able to find and entire aux-fan assembly at a parts yard for $125. Either way, I'd urge you to replace the motor (once you confirm this is the cause) because you'll risk overheating when the weather gets warmer...plus your A/C condensor won't have air moving over it -- so your A/C won't blow cool when you're sitting in traffic on a hot day.

It's not a tough DIY, the bentley does a good job of explaining it.

Good luck!
Matt

[aharon250]

alright well im gonna test it out like it says and see.. for now its not too hot so i dont use the a/c but during the summer i will need it... last night i clicked on the a/c real quick and the 30 didnt pop and i could swear i heard the fan turn on but im gonna go test it out today.. is it normal that the temp gauge is always on the hot side?

[Tefal]

no it should't be on the hot side, it should be bang in the middle, try bleeding the cooling system first

[aharon250]

okay im gonna try bleeding the cooling system.ever since ive gotten the car the temp gauge has always been on the hot side even when its really cold outside.. i didnt get a chance to do the tests on the fan but i did turn on the a/c and let it run for a little while and the temp gauge was on the hot side as always but the aux. fan didnt kick on.. tomorrow im going to do the tests and bleed the cooling system.. also sometimes when the car is completely cold and i turn the switch to ignition but not start the car the obc says that its low on coolant put within 30 seconds of turning on the car the low coolant thing goes away.. ive also checked the level and it seemed to be at the cold mark when the car is cold....

[aharon250]

okay i did the tests in the bentley for the aux. fan and it will not turn on! but something tells me it is not the fan maybe a relay because i jumped the wire at the switch like it says and nothing happened no relays clicked or anything.. and then i checked if there was any power at the switch and there was none.. i also checked all the fuses it says in the bentley and nothing is blown.. what could it be????

[aharon250]

anyone have any ideas????

[Tefal]

Do u have power at the fuse for the aux fan?

[aharon250]

right now theres none.. and the fuse blew again today.. and ideas??? you would think when i jumped the wires at the switch at least a relay would click and the fuse would blow or something right?? but nothing happened..

[Tefal]

i'm not familiar with how they are wired up but it should have a relay i would have thought, no mention of relay in the bentley then? in theory it should be in with the fuses

[aharon250]

yes actually theres two relays a high speed and low speed... i tested them like the bentley says but its kind of unclear whether i should be getting positive or negative power.. im getting positive at 30 on both but the highspeed relay is giving postive at three other ones too and ah its confusing..

[Tefal]

Are they the same relay? if so u could try swapping them

[aharon250]

they look the same.. ill go get a closer look and if they are ill swap them then turn on the a/c because thats supposed to make the fan turn on right?

[aharon250]

well i swapped them.. again nothing happened.......

[Matt at Dunlop]

When you jumper the connection at the radiator temp switch, you should at least get the relay to click and blow the fuse. I'm not sure what is going wrong there. I do know there are more trouble shooting steps in the Bentley for what to do if your fuses are intact, your temp switch is good, but your fan still doesn't work.

Good luck!
Matt

[aharon250]

no i didnt get anything.. maybe im not doing it right? and i did all the trouble shooting steps i think maybe there are more i didnt see or something?

[aharon250]

still haven't figured this out.. good thing its winter