R56 LCI Cooper S heater problem

[Darren93]

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice on an issue with an R56 Cooper S (2010). The heater fan is working, however, isn't getting to full speed, only achieveing speed 4 of 7. The display is showing the full range but there is no increase in speed after 4 which at this time of year makes demisting quite a chore.

From some quick googling it could be either the fan itself or the motor resistor but it's not quite clear what one would be the culprit. I would think that the fan would be working or not. I'm inclined to say the resistor, there are also 3 different resistor types as far as I can see and I'm not sure which would be the correct item...

Any help would be appreciated, and in the grand scheme of mini ownership this is quite a minor issue (hopefully! )

[steve-5snwi]

I'd go with the resistor, have your chassis number to hand and have a look at real oem

[Elliot2000]

If the battery gets a tad low it then limits certain functions such as only allowing half speed on the fans, and other things such as the radio will stay on for a shorter period when switched on without ignition on. This would be my guess- so it may not even have a fault, just trying to protect its battery

[Darren93]

Elliot2000 said:

If the battery gets a tad low it then limits certain functions such as only allowing half speed on the fans, and other things such as the radio will stay on for a shorter period when switched on without ignition on. This would be my guess- so it may not even have a fault, just trying to protect its battery

Elliot you've hit the nail on the head here.

Started the car again yesterday and it stumbled like mad, I thought HPFP intially so took it a good drive to check for symptoms and sure enough the heater mysteriously returned to full power and the car started sweet again!

There was a low battery warning a few weeks ago but again after a decent drive it was fine for about 4 weeks.

Thanks for the help guys, new Bosch S4 going in next week.

[steve-5snwi]

If yours has stop start then you might find you need an agm battery, they are the best part of £200 and need to be coded.

[Darren93]

steve-5snwi said:

If yours has stop start then you might find you need an agm battery, they are the best part of £200 and need to be coded.

That's right Steve, a normal bosch S4 battery would be £52 through eurocarparts... An AGM battery from Varta is £140 delivered but I need to find someone to code it. Alternatively Halfrauds are £157 +£25 for fitting including coding.

Think a trip to Halfords is in order.