Auxilary fan Pusher Fan ?64546921381 Auxilary fan X5 e53 3.0i

[marti]

Does the AC fan spin freely?

[hawkar]

if you mean freely by when i spinn it by hand then yes

[X5Sport]

The ac pusher fan uses PWM (Pulse width modulation) to drive it and a DC supply does nothing.  The PWM changes the speed and that comes from the ac controller.  Same system that computers use for their fans, but at 600W or more it will kill your PC!

[hawkar]

so there is no way to make sure it is the fan and not the Switch  or PWM?
I think i will get these 2 parts and will see
(i don't really have much knowlegde so please excuse my lack of understanding)

[X5-D-Sport]

NO, the AC fan is a balls-ache of a device.... I been trying to find out if mine works or some sensors knackered etc... it's already got 12 volts to it anyway. It needs a coded signal to fire it up.

Bloody nuisance, as this AC fan needs a digital signal to enable it to power up.... & nothing I can do to generate this signal to tell it to work - sodding thing.
I only have AC if the vehicle is rolling to get air thru the AC rad & inter-cooler.

I have wondered about ripping my AC fan out, & replacing it with a standard auxiliary 12v cooling fan unit from E-bay for £30 & simply having a switch on the dash to operate.

[hawkar]

that's a shame!
please let me know how it goes if you change it until then i will try to unravel  the mystery.
Please guys feel free to help me O:-)

[X5-D-Sport]

Because I am a sad git, I have full machining facilities at home, so had ideas of getting a duplicate X5 AC fan only, machining a boss to mount it to another universal 12 volt fan motor & bolting the whole lot back in place.....
I recon about 3 hrs fooling around at the Lathe & a bit of tinkering should sort it.

I have found a way to remove the AC fan & motor without having to remove half the car, the engine, tail lights, the bloody seats etc, just to get at the fan bolts....

Will keep you posted.

[henrym3]

I know sod all about PWM fans and how they receive their information and process it to drive the fan so I bought one from the scrappy £22, Can't remember which BMW I ripped it out of and ripped the guts out of the box which is to the side of the actual fan motor, joined the inlet and outlet wires together put 12v to it and it runs. Cut the top coolant hose and inserted a temperature sensor to switch the fan on ( I think from memory it's at 93 degrees ) This is how I got rid of my viscous fan but there is no reason it couldn't be used for a/c fan. I always bear in mind that one mans mod is another mans nightmare.

[X5-D-Sport]

hello again Henry,

I will get hold of another AC fan motor unit & see if its possible to bypass the PWM circuitry & create a stand alone power feed of some sort.... gotta be worth a go me thinks.
Summer is coming & I don't want to get boiled alive in any more West-Midlands traffic jams.

By all means PM me Henry, & we can share notes on this one & I will post findings & hopefully answers to our brethren.

I gotta get another fan motor off ebay to fool about with, unless some one has one spare ?

Cheers
Grant B

[hawkar]

Hi

Just want to say that I have replaced the viscous fan and that the temperature doesn't go up like it did before by turning on the aircondition :xmasgrin: (you guys were right the viscous fan was not working and cooling at all)
i hope it will stay like that even on warmer days.

So i will update after replacing the Pusher Fan too

and thanks again

[hawkar]

Hi everybody,

I have been told by BMW that the Pusher Fan is broken so I ordered a new one from  Autopartspro -make FRIGAIR FAN for £210.
I have read a lot but I am still not 100% if its only the fan or more like the Switch/thermostat which i dont know which one and where its located.
so please help me out
what do I have to check if the Fan doesn't turn on

thanks in advance

[henrym3]

your in danger of starting to throw money at this vehicle unnecessarily and why are you still using that BMW dealer who changed thermostat, pipes and header tank which probably had nothing wrong with them when it was a simple viscous fan problem. I say simple because to a dealer that diagnostics should be simple to them.  You say now that the vehicle doesn't overheat when a/c is on so why are you changing the aux fan? because the dealer says it knackered, amazing they didn't notice that the first time. I'm not convinced there is anything wrong with your aux fan, bear in mind even a fully working aux fan rarely runs as when the condenser heats up the heat soak passes to the radiator which makes the viscous fan lock more and that cools everything down again and as you now have a new perfectly working viscous fan your aux fan will do even less, Try this, engine off, make sure the a/c is switched on get someone else to start the engine while you watch the aux fan and see if it moves, give it a couple of minutes and it should self test, all your looking for is fan movement, not spinning, just movement. If it does that it's probably fine.

[Horizon]

The pusher fan is for the aircon, it comes on when the refrigerant Gas pressure rises above a certain pressure, if the gas is too low due to leakage the fan will not operate.
I believe it should do a test run on startup.
If you fit the new fan and it doesn't run I would get the gas checked, then take it from there.
Was the old fan seized or just inoperable?
I guess the garage checked the gas out before condemning the fan, unless it's seized

[henrym3]

If you have already changed the fan I would be interested in buying the old one to experiment with bypassing the PWM system.

[hawkar]

i didn't use and will never use the BMW dealer again,I learnt my lesson i just thought to mention it.

AC was recharged two months ago and no leakage were found.

Now on a HOT day it does overheat with the Aircon  ON at idle,  the temperature reaches 105°c and the aux fan does not kick in thats why I ordered the new one.

The viscous fan is new and works fine,it doesn't let the temperature go higher than 97°c with AC OFF

I have checked the aux fan and it doesnt make any movements at all.

You can definately have the old one Henrym3