2005 MCS, 50K miles, essentially stock, owned since new, gently driven. Have a new and nasty sound from under the hood. Heard mostly when at idle, it sounds electromechanical (like a motor?); first thought water pump, but does not accelerate with engine speed. Stays on briefly after engine shut off, and sometimes comes on with ignition switch before cranking. When in the car, Sounds like it comes from engine bay; but I cnnot locate it there with stethoscope. Makes me think maybe fuel pump. It is not constant, but typically there at idle.
Bingo! Thanks for the help. Aside from fixing it before it died (and with it my PS pump), I scored on sourcing one MUCH cheaper than any specialty house. A1 Electric had the fan (their number 30103009, $60.00) at this site: http://www.a1electric.com/catalog/cat_spal.htm
I found out about this on the northamericanmotoring.com forum. Complete with a picture-by picture guide to fan and PS pump replacement. Very nice.
Got my A1 Electric SPAL fan (their number 30103009, $60.00) today. It looks perfect (and is the exact one the A1 assured me "he sold to all the Mini owners"). However, it's SPAL part number ends in "S"...which is a PUSHER fan. If you use this one, it will blow hot air from the engine and will drag engine heat onto the PSP, the opposite of what you want.
You need a PULLER fan. Part numbers end in "A". The original OEM SPAL number on my 2005 Mini fan is VA62-A100-62A. A1 Electrics' equivilent is SPAL VA32-A101-62A (or their number 30103018.)
They look essentially the same and will bolt up the same. They do have some slight different fan blade shape and simpy reversing polarity will not produce equivilent reverse airflow.
Sorry for the bad initial info. The guy at A1 was nice in exhanging the product. I wonder how many Mini's out there are have PSP heaters rather than coolers....
Strange mechanical sound...
