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Thread: Aux fan compatibility - S52 fan on M52TU?

  1. #1
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    Aux fan compatibility - S52 fan on M52TU?

    So I think my 2.8 Coupe's fan has bit the dust...I keep blowing the fan fuse and am suspecting an overload from the fan (bad brushes perhaps?). Before I buy another and to rule out something else, I thought I could perhaps swap my M Roadster fan with 56k miles on it to the 146k Coupe. If all is well I'll put a new fan on the Roadster. Of course this involves removing both bumpers (at least I think so...Coupe almost looks like I could get out the bottom but Roadster has oil cooler and a lot of lines I'd rather not disturb).

    Does anyone know if the fans are compatible? When I go to RealOEM, the fan for my Roadster isn't listed and the number for it is greyed out. Both appear to have a 3 wire connection on the bottom side. Roadster build date 4/99, Coupe 1/99.

    I'd just order up a new one, but have Jon Martin's BBQ this coming weekend and would like to show up in the correct car. Parts probably won't arrive in time.

    Oh, and I put the mechanical fan back on the Coupe for now. Would I be ok running a reverse fan delete for a while?
    Last edited by s8ilver; 06-19-2017 at 01:59 PM.
    Nathan in Denver

    1999 M Roadster, VFE V3 S/C, Randy Forbes Reinforced, Hardtop, H&R/Bilstein, Apex PS-7, Supersprint
    1999 Z3 2.8 Coupe, Headers, 3.46, Manual Swap, H&R/Koni, M Geometry/Brakes, M54B30 Manifold, Style 42

  2. #2
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    Re reverse fan delete. There is a risk of damage to the A/C if you lose airflow. If you are jammed in traffic and the fan clutch goes to soft, the lack of airflow may cause the pressures to skyrocket. With A/C off, no problems.


    As far as exact compatibility, we're working on that. All fans will be three wire at the plug. Early ones had a resistor and then two wires to the motor. Later ones had three wires straight to the motor. So far I've seen three designs. Early resistor, late resistor, and three wire. As far as I know, all fans will interchange on the mounts. David had an issue with differing plugs that hasn't been fully suss'd as yet.


    /.randy

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    Re reverse fan delete. There is a risk of damage to the A/C if you lose airflow. If you are jammed in traffic and the fan clutch goes to soft, the lack of airflow may cause the pressures to skyrocket. With A/C off, no problems.


    As far as exact compatibility, we're working on that. All fans will be three wire at the plug. Early ones had a resistor and then two wires to the motor. Later ones had three wires straight to the motor. So far I've seen three designs. Early resistor, late resistor, and three wire. As far as I know, all fans will interchange on the mounts. David had an issue with differing plugs that hasn't been fully suss'd as yet.
    Should be little to no traffic, and all highway to Jon's. I believe we're doing a canyon drive upon arrival and temps should be high 70s, low 80s, so a nice break from the mid-90s we've been having. I'll use AC sparingly on cruise if at all.

    I guess the best thing to do before ordering is to pull my fan and photograph what I have. ECS shows two fans for the coupe, the cheaper of which is what matches the part# from ECS (64548397474). Shockingly, I found that fan for near the price that RealOEM shows.
    Last edited by s8ilver; 06-19-2017 at 04:20 PM.
    Nathan in Denver

    1999 M Roadster, VFE V3 S/C, Randy Forbes Reinforced, Hardtop, H&R/Bilstein, Apex PS-7, Supersprint
    1999 Z3 2.8 Coupe, Headers, 3.46, Manual Swap, H&R/Koni, M Geometry/Brakes, M54B30 Manifold, Style 42

  4. #4
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    If you have access and a bit of time, I would pop the cover off the fan motor (once it's out) and look at the brushes to inspect for melting, etc.

    This is common on my MK4 jetta... you pop the electric motor cover off and service the brushes, or at least it will be obvious as to why it's not working.
    -Abel

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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by 328 Power 04 View Post
    If you have access and a bit of time, I would pop the cover off the fan motor (once it's out) and look at the brushes to inspect for melting, etc.

    This is common on my MK4 jetta... you pop the electric motor cover off and service the brushes, or at least it will be obvious as to why it's not working.
    I'll make time. I did a $40 brush replacement/bearing job on my old Audi alternator as the replacement cost was eye watering. I do have some spare brushes, maybe they fit.
    Nathan in Denver

    1999 M Roadster, VFE V3 S/C, Randy Forbes Reinforced, Hardtop, H&R/Bilstein, Apex PS-7, Supersprint
    1999 Z3 2.8 Coupe, Headers, 3.46, Manual Swap, H&R/Koni, M Geometry/Brakes, M54B30 Manifold, Style 42

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    As far as exact compatibility, we're working on that. All fans will be three wire at the plug. Early ones had a resistor and then two wires to the motor. Later ones had three wires straight to the motor. So far I've seen three designs. Early resistor, late resistor, and three wire. As far as I know, all fans will interchange on the mounts. David had an issue with differing plugs that hasn't been fully suss'd as yet.
    Still trying to sort out the differing plug issue. I'll update my thread later this week with part numbers and details. So far I've determined that for the three fan types, there are only two (not three) plug types.

    For OP, have you tried spinning your aux fan by hand? Have you flooded it with electrical parts cleaner, moved it around, and repeated? May be different for the different fan types, but in my S52, there is no easy access to the fan motor's internals - the cover is secured by some split-bent tabs (I don't know what gauge steel they are, but about 1.5-2mm thick). It'd probably be easy enough to squeeze them together to get the cover off, but a bit harder to get them bent back as before when re-securing them.
    Last edited by BMWBergy; 06-19-2017 at 04:52 PM.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWBergy View Post

    For OP, have you tried spinning your aux fan by hand? Have you flooded it with electrical parts cleaner, moved it around, and repeated? May be different for the different fan types, but in my S52, there is no easy access to the fan motor's internals - the cover is secured by some split-bent tabs (I don't know what gauge steel they are, but about 1.5-2mm thick). It'd probably be easy enough to squeeze them together to get the cover off, but a bit harder to get them bent back as before when re-securing them.
    I just went out and spun the fan. With a good flick, it'll go about 1 revolution before stopping again. However, I have no idea how a properly operating fan should spin. I'm going to pull the fan and get a good look at the internals.
    Nathan in Denver

    1999 M Roadster, VFE V3 S/C, Randy Forbes Reinforced, Hardtop, H&R/Bilstein, Apex PS-7, Supersprint
    1999 Z3 2.8 Coupe, Headers, 3.46, Manual Swap, H&R/Koni, M Geometry/Brakes, M54B30 Manifold, Style 42

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by s8ilver View Post
    I just went out and spun the fan. With a good flick, it'll go about 1 revolution before stopping again. However, I have no idea how a properly operating fan should spin. I'm going to pull the fan and get a good look at the internals.
    After some Randy Wilson-approved cleaning (as I suggested above), I don't think I could get any more than one revolution on my fan; having said that, the fan seems to be operating just fine now

  9. #9
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    Pulled the fan, cleaned up what I could, and reinstalled. Everything seems to be working, but I'm still skeptical. Also cleaned electrical connections and added some dielectric grease. I wanted to pull the motor cover, but I wasn't sure how I'd reattach it after I removed those tabs. The only thing I could think of was to dremel off the small bits that are split from the 2-3mm thick steel, and then try to rebend what was left after reassembly. I had nothing in my tool box that I thought would work, so just flooded with electric parts cleaner and reinstalled.

    Has my fan been modified in the past, or do they all have those spliced on connectors? I'm thinking I got a retrofit from another Z3 at some point. Pretty gunky in there; thinking the cleaning helped quite a bit.

    20170622_102249.jpg20170622_102259.jpg20170622_102314.jpg20170622_103109.jpg20170622_103255.jpg
    Nathan in Denver

    1999 M Roadster, VFE V3 S/C, Randy Forbes Reinforced, Hardtop, H&R/Bilstein, Apex PS-7, Supersprint
    1999 Z3 2.8 Coupe, Headers, 3.46, Manual Swap, H&R/Koni, M Geometry/Brakes, M54B30 Manifold, Style 42

  10. #10
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    Late three wire fan with what I would guess is the early plug grafted on. I would highly recommend changing those connectors to a solid connection with proper heat shrink.


    /.randy

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by rf900rkw View Post
    Late three wire fan with what I would guess is the early plug grafted on. I would highly recommend changing those connectors to a solid connection with proper heat shrink.
    Funny thing is, that is same the aux fan on my 02/2000 S52, only mine has that style female plug 'natively' - not grafted on later.

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