528i wiring problem

[ezeli]

I have a problem where my fan motor will not turn off. The only thing that works is if I disconnect the battery. Otherwise it never turns off until my battery is dead. Does anyone have any ideas or know where I can get a wiring diagram (short of the robbery Bentley Press commits when they demand $125 for a service manual).

[ezeli]

I should mention that it is a 1998 BMW 528i

[sbooogie]

my battery was dying out too. i took it to the dealer and it was also the fan not shutting down when the car shut off- they are replacing it now and the part is 400.00 +98.00 p/hr for labor at 4 hours- so im payin over 800.00 for the stinking fan. so be aware!

[kryan]

Originally Posted by ezeli

I have a problem where my fan motor will not turn off. The only thing that works is if I disconnect the battery. Otherwise it never turns off until my battery is dead. Does anyone have any ideas or know where I can get a wiring diagram (short of the robbery Bentley Press commits when they demand $125 for a service manual).

I also have a 528i (2000), my battery keeps going dead but it is intermit. there is something that comes on when the key is off, sounds lie a fan motor but it starts fine for a wee and then it starts acting up. the dealer cannot seem to find the problem any ideas?

[jfox322285]

Have you ever figured out what the problem was with your fan not shutting off? If so, what did you do to resolve it? I have a 1996 bmw z3 and I'm experiencing the same problem...what a pain in the a$$! Did you take your car to the dealer to have it fixed, and if so, was it a costly repair? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -jen

Originally Posted by ezeli

I have a problem where my fan motor will not turn off. The only thing that works is if I disconnect the battery. Otherwise it never turns off until my battery is dead. Does anyone have any ideas or know where I can get a wiring diagram (short of the robbery Bentley Press commits when they demand $125 for a service manual).

[justgeo]

i have a 1997 528 with the same problem, battery will die if i dont turn car on daily and blower wont stop unless i unplug battery. hey sboogie what did they change on your car

[4-Door Flunky]

There's a little switch that screws into your radiator which decides when to turn the fan on, and when to turn it off.
You can buy it on eBay for about $20 and screw it in place with a big crescent wrench in about 5 minutes.
Flunky
PS-There's one on eBay right now for $16.95.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WD1V

PPS-The cheapest price I've seen for the Bentley's E39 manual was $116..on eBay and Amazon.com

[justgeo]

hey 4_door flunky im sorry i forgot to mention its not my radiator fan that wont shut off its one of the small fans behind my climate control panel i pu my car on the computer and it said code 03 ecu power supply
im pretty handy so the mechanic let me use despite the fact that his brother is the electrician and was not in can u help

[Beerguy]

Guys

I just bought a used 1997 528i and it seems to have this problem. But I only noticed it because the fan seems to be noisy (quiet when I stop but then progressively louder). I can hear a fan whirring in the climate control even if the car is not operating and the key is out. I have just had the car a couple of days so I haven't figured out if it's going to drain the battery or not. I understand there is a fan linked to the internal temp. sensor mechasism just past the grills on the climate control panel, and another forum suggested that the panel could be removed and the fan could be cleaned and lubed but I can't figure out why the friggin' thing would be operating when the car isn't. I dont know if I have one problem (noisy) or two (noisy and operating when it shouldn't be).

Any wisdom would be appreciated.

Jeff

[justgeo]

hey whats up its geo
still till this day the fans behind my unit whine a bit nothing loud thoough, i dont think u have a problem to worry about, i was told that it goes on once u disactivate the alarm so it might seem that its been on for ever although it just goes on when u hit the alarm button
and as far as my code my computer did have to be reset nothing major, just go into a shop that has the computer that reads fault codes and ask them to reset it
i did mine my self, the one i used was a snap on which my mechanic had

[Beerguy]

Hi Geo...thanks for the input. I actually just aquired this vehicle yesterday. There didn't seem to be any power drain on the battery when I started it this AM...but I only sleep for a few hours. It's more annoying than anything else, and seems to go away when I drive and after I part and shut down, but then the noise starts. Last night I tested the alarm by locking and alarming myself in the vehicle and it kept up so I'm not sure there is a link, if I understood you correctly. I haven't had the codes checked, but might do so. So it sounds like you have had this issue for some time...has it ever drained your battery? I know from reading the manual that it seems some other functions of the HVAC system can be engaged when the car is not operational (such as parking ventilation, etc.) but will shut off when battery voltage gets low so as not to drain it. I imagine this may be linked to the same mechasim (either by design or otherwise) which may be the trigger for eventually shutting it off.

Thanks again..any other ideas please advise. I will post again if I get a solution.

Jeff

[justgeo]

hey whats up
the problems r somewhat similar
in the past my battery has drained out,
but when i went to the dealer one of the guys told me that when i go on vacation i should either disconnect the battery and if i doi should reset the codes just to make sure that everything is o.k. (not really necessary unless u notice something like your sunroof doesnt want to close all the way or open (just an example, that was actually the reason i found out i had to reset my comp.) because when i would get out of the car & close it with the key it would close properly, so in my case this was the problem
another thing they said i should do is buy a trickle charger which they sell at bmw for that problem, it will charge the battery through the cig. lighter, but u have to plug it in so if u have no garage its no good
other than that all i do is make sure that i dont go more than 2 days without starting the car
hope i was some help with my experience, something else i noticed is that at times with these cars we tend to worry about certain things more than we should, just keep a good maintenance on it and u should be o.k. if your not sure ill tell u at what mileage and how often u should replace things just so they dont break on u
my car 1997 has 115,000 on it and rides new, and my last 1993 325is i sold with 199,000

[Beerguy]

Thanks buddy

I bought the car from an off-lease dealer who has a great reputation in the area. It's a 1997 528i w/75K miles. It's a 1-owner vehicle driven by an older woman based on the records. Looks like it was very well maintained. This guy shares a shop with a mechanic who does all his work (former BMW dealership tech), and based on the mileage of the vehicles when he gets them replaces parts that have historical problems. That being said, they put in a new water pump (they said the OEM one had plastic impellers and was a piece of junk) as well as the radiator and the thermostat so all those parts are brand new. Now of course they could have done a LOT MORE work than that and not told me, but the records were good, and like I said this guy has been doing this for 30 years in a very affluent area and probably wouldn't have lasted very long if he was in the practice of screwing people.

I originally looked at some 94 and 95 525i's w/low miles but people were asking north of $10K for them or $8-9k for ones that needed at least $2K work to be roadworthy and twice that to , so I said screw it for a few thousand more I will get something I really like and found this one ($13.8K). Interior is immaculate (black), exterior is white, only blemish is someone tapped the bumper at one point and it's scuffed and a small dent in the bottom of the trunk but other than that it's cherry. I'll put some pics up after I take some.

That being said, I am doing away with my 1989 Maxima that is at 230K miles and still running well but I didn't want to sink another $1K into it at 240K to do tires, brakes, timing belt, and front axel, and starting some electrical irregularities. I have done all routine maintenance on the maxima myself (oil, filters, plugs, cooling sys.) religiously and it's obviously served me well. Only mechanical parts I replaced were the alternator and radiator at about 200K (alt was failing and I avoided major stuff like timing belt just because I know if I screwed it up, the consequences would be dire. In any case, I love this 528i the short time I have had it.

I'd welcome any advice, maintenance tips, insight, etc. you have to offer. Friends of mine who have had these cars got 170K+ out of them and I plan to do the same. Also advice as to what types of maintenance items I might be able to do myself and what should be left in the hands of an expert. I was going to pick up a Haynes manual on it but sometimes those don't tell you everything you need to know, especially the important stuff (like they don't tell you that you need to drop the driveshaft on my wife's Ford Explorer in order to get the tranny pan off). I am new to this type of car and sure would appreciate any advice.

Thanks again!

Jeff
jeff.caldwell@plexus.com

[justgeo]

sounds good any q's just ask

[margaritaa72]

need a mechanical manual for 1997 528i help please