re: E30 M3 overheating

[Christopher Pawlowicz <chrisp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Sussman sez
>If this isn't an auxiliary fan problem, I'll eat my shorts. Look at the
>ballast resistor for the fan on the side of the fan in front of the
>radiator. Chances are it's blown and you'll have to spend about $15-20 at
>the dealer for a replacement.
>

Not to say that I disagree with the diagnosis *but* a dead aux fan
does not necessarily mean overheat..

my auxiliary fan has not worked in a few years and I have no overheating
problems... sure, temperatures here aren't as hot as down there in the south
(hot summer day = 35C (~95F+) with high humidity.. ) but my aux fan is DEAD
and my temp gauge almost always runs at 1/2 way.. only very hot days
with A/C full blast does it go up to a little over 1/2

in fact, many BMWs here have a seized aux fan because it doesn't often come
on and the salt/grit from winter roads gums it up good

the local bmw indi garage doesn't usually bother to fix the fan because
of it's non-importance and high cost

chris pawlowicz
'89 325i - 290k+ km
'74 2002

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