i deleted my fan clutch, there is a relay on the fan itself, its also dead so the first speed is gone... but not forgotten :D

so this is the easyest way to get 2nd speed instead of first without A/C :)

but i have 1 question, i checked on diagnostics and the fan starts to run on 99c degrees.
is that temperature in the engine or temp in the radiator switch?

http://s16.postimage.org/g5b7vnfn9/Image0854.jpg
image upload

need assistance
 

Great thread, but I'm stuck

Issue: Fan only comes on when AC is pushed


Tests done
1) Swapped low speed fan relay with AC relay
2) Swapped high speed fan relay with another from my M3
3) Jumped wires at temp switch. High speed fan works when jumped, low speed does not (what does this indicate?)
4) replaced fuses 16 and 41
5) Jumped plug 85 of low speed relay to ground, fan did not activate. (which is supposed to indicate the resistor on the fan is bad. True?)

Ran the car to temp where guage was past half way, but fans never turn on based on temperature. Need some advise on what the current issue is. is it the resistor? Because it isnt the fuses, fan (works at both speeds), nor the relays. Thanks!

The fan mounted resistor is open.
Before I bought a new fan, I ended up connecting the two wires that go to the fan resistor. This made the fan turn ON when ac is off but at a higher speed. I did not have any slow speed on the fan, but I was more confident the car will not overheat.
Then I finally bought a new fan and planned on retrofitting another resistor but never got around it.

No resistor
 

So I bought a resistor to replace the old one. As you can see here

I have no resistor to begin with. Why is that? is it located somewhere else on a 98 318ti? I looked all over and the wires go direct to the motor with no resistor.

Again. there is no resistor on my 98 TI fan like I have seen in some other pictures. Maybe the parts changed over the years. Everything seems to point to a bad resistor, but where is it?

Still driving every day with AC on......

The resister in newer model ti's is inside the fan motor somewhere which makes it problematic to fix. I just bought a new fan from Pelican Parts and installed it. At this point in time any original fans in our ti's are living on borrowed time in my opinon. Cheers, John

update
 

Just replaced fan swithch AND bought a new Fan. No difference. Fan only comes on when pushing A/C button. What else can it be?

Bringing up old topic.
Symptoms for my 95 318ti auto are pretty usual:
- high speed works;
- no low speed;
- checked and switched all fuses and relays (LS and HS);

Seems like resistor is gone. Anyone have part number handy?

http://s19.postimg.org/ofugo12oj/fan_resistor_1.jpg

Seems like this one might work, at least it was used on other BMW models for replacement:

Aluminum Shell 100W Watt 0.5 Ohm Chassis Mounted Wirewound Resistor
Specification:
Product Name Aluminum Housed Resistor
Resistance Value 0.5 Ohm
Power Rating 100W
Resistance Tolerance ± 5% (J)
Body Size 59 x 15mm/ 2.3" x 0.6" (L*D)
Mounted Hole Size 3.3mm/0.129"
Total Size 82 x 21 x 17mm/ 3.2" x 0.8" x 0.7" (L*W*T)
Casing Material Aluminum
Color Green
Weight 30g
Package Content 1 x Aluminum Housed Resistor

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1100_.jpg

Description:
Aluminum housing for heat dissipation, suitable for cooling plate installation, can be used in atrocious environment.
Small size, high power load, standard and non-inductive winding types.
High insulating capacity, good performance in vibration.
Multiple connection modes, easy to install.
Widely used in power supply, transducer, elevator, arena audio and high requirement equipment industry.

Cut the two wires off the resistor then twist them together. It will run both low and high on high speed. YOu will lose the low speed but you will not overheat while waiting on a new resistor.

Thanks for the advice! I can wait for the part, have other car to drive.
And there is a good tech article how to replace the resistor. I should have read the tech section better before asking questions.

Well, just to test things, I've removed resistor and connected two blue wires and black wire, as bazar01 suggested, and installed fan back.

As expected, when shortened low speed and ground and high speed and ground connections, fan runs at high speed.

But when connected to temp switch (new) fan is not kicking off and engine temp goes to 1 o'clock and probably might reach red zone if engine is not turned off.

Which leads me to next question: seems like fan electrics are working, so it's either faulty thermoswitch or there is no contact of thermoswitch with coolant for whatever reason.

Will check thermoswitch in boiling water, if it works, will see the thermostat condition.

It could be thermostat either water pump or altogether though.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking as well. Will order both now.

In addition, I'd like to give you some precaution on water pump removal. I also had a bad experience when doing this like martine02 as well. http://www.318ti.org/forum/showpost....2&postcount=18