Radiator fan going full speed + poor power, could it be a bad battery problem ?

[studio54]

Hi,

These last days, each time i start my car, i get the "battery problem" message on the dashboard, and the time is reset. The battery has still enough juice to start the car.

I guess it's time for me to order a new battery.

But today when starting the car, the radiator fan was blowing full speed, and the power of the car was like a "LIMP" mode, like no turbos. No light, no dashboard message.
I stopped the car, restarted it, and it was normal again.

I will try to check with MHD if there is a code.

Anyone got this ?? Could it be related to a battery problem ? i know lots of problem appears with a bad battery.

Thank you for reading

[NorthernDancer]

1. First of all, get the battery charged up to 100%. Every BMW owner should own a good smart battery charger (or battery maintainer). These usually put out between 0.75 amps to 1.5 amps and you'll need leave it on at least 8 hours. I suspect you will need a new battery but at least getting your present one up to 100% should provide some useful information (ie: is the car running better now?). Yes, a bad battery can cause a multitude of funny issues.

2. Fan running fast & limp mode usually indicate a failed water pump.

[studio54]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

1. First of all, get the battery charged up to 100%. Every BMW owner should own a good smart battery charger (or battery maintainer). These usually put out between 0.75 amps to 1.5 amps and you'll need leave it on at least 8 hours. I suspect you will need a new battery but at least getting your present one up to 100% should provide some useful information (ie: is the car running better now?). Yes, a bad battery can cause a multitude of funny issues.

2. Fan running fast & limp mode usually indicate a failed water pump.

Thank you for your answer, i have a battery charger (bought when i bought MHD ), i charge my battery time to time + i charged it very recently, so i guess my battery is really at the end of its life (i don't know how aged is my battery, but i bought the car used almost 3 years ago and never changed it since then).

I hope it's a battery issue so.

Some question about failed water pump :

If it's a failed water pump, how is possible that a stop, then a restart immediatly solved the issue ?

The fan immediately blowed like crazy at the second i started the engine, and the engine was cold, no dashboard message, no light, no thing, i drove like 500 meters, noticed that the power was poor, then stopped to parking. Restarted, and then it was all normal again, like nothing happened.

Tomorrow i will check codes with MHD.

[Pig Farmer]

Don’t know if this is your problem, but I had a similar issue that turned out to be the relay for the fan. However I was running the PPK2 fan & relay at the time. Good luck.

[Freon]

Sounds like a failed water pump, but it should blast again pretty shortly after restart if the engine is hot. It's possible the pump is intermittent before failure, though.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1073153
https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1021604

Went and fixed my pictures. It's not a bad DIY since it's an electric pump except for the one bolt on the top of the pump which is a huge PITA and will require a universal joint and extension or two for your ratchet.

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Freon

Sounds like a failed water pump, but it should blast again pretty shortly after restart if the engine is hot. It's possible the pump is intermittent before failure, though.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1073153
https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1021604

Went and fixed my pictures. It's not a bad DIY since it's an electric pump except for the one bolt on the top of the pump which is a huge PITA and will require a universal joint and extension or two for your ratchet.

Okay thanks i did some research too, and found two possibilities, like it could be the water pump, or it could be the coolant temp sensor.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1390814

After restarting it, and going for a long spirited trip (so engine hot), it didn't come back.

Also i am not sure if i could read those code with the MHD app, or if i will need to plug my laptop with INPA.

I will update when i know more.

[Boosted_135]

Oddly enough, i flashed to MHD v8 beta map and always got a coolant temp sensor code. Fan would run full speed.

Flashed back to v7 map and havent had any issues.

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Boosted_135

Oddly enough, i flashed to MHD v8 beta map and always got a coolant temp sensor code. Fan would run full speed.

Flashed back to v7 map and havent had any issues.

Hello,

I am already flashed to V7. That said, i am just thinking, i had set the coolant target at "Sport" (there are normal/sport/track targets in the flash options of MHD), are you using another target than "normal" ?

Also, were you able to read the code with the MHD app or with INPA ?

[studio54]

Quick update concerning battery :

I decided to inspect my battery before buying a new one. I took it off, and measured it with my voltmeter, and it displayed : 12.40v which is 75% charged.

Now, i fully 100% charged it in my basement, and it displays 12.65V, i will measure again tomorrow to see if it's still at 12.65V.

Consequently i am suspecting a faulty IBS sensor because iDrive should had not display "high battery drain" messages if the voltage was 12.40V, am i right or not ?

[Mr Gasser]

Could be a component tied to the CAS system:

https://www.xbimmers.com/forums/show....php?t=1372349

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Mr Gasser

Could be a component tied to the CAS system:

https://www.xbimmers.com/forums/show....php?t=1372349

Do you mean that CAS drain the battery ? or lead to false voltage reading ?

Cause my battery was 12.40V when i pulled it off, so it wasn't drained.

Update: so battery was charged to 100% yesterday, reading 12.65V when charging was over. I left it unplugged overnight (12-15 hours) and measured this morning, and it was 12.50V, does it look bad or not?

Anyone knows what is a normal voltage for a resting AGM BMW battery 80AH 800A 140 RC ?

[studio54]

Pulled back the battery, no more "high battery drain message", too soon for the moment.

I will check every morning, without starting the engine.

I read codes with MHD, i got a "2EE6" code which is about the coolant temp sensor. I will change this sensor if the radiator fan goes crazy again. Maybe i can clean it?? Any idea?

Concerning the battery, with ignition on (engine stopeed, idrive screen open and inside lights) i measured 12.02V in the trunk with my multimeter and MHD was displaying 11.9V (i guess it's the same value as in the secret menu)

[Mr Gasser]

I believe the alternator puts a few voltages over 12 when running, should be close to 14, 13.4~13.8. Is that what it is when running? A mystery problem...

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Mr Gasser

I believe the alternator puts a few voltages over 12 when running, should be close to 14, 13.4~13.8. Is that what it is when running? A mystery problem...

It should, but i didn't measured with engine running yet (i will when i go for a ride), just ignition on with engine stopped.

If i want to properly measure the resting value, i should measure the voltage, with ignition off, and when car go to sleep mode (maybe 20 minutes or so).

You have to leave the hood open, close the car, waiting 20 minutes, and then measure.

Measuring with ignition on is maybe not a good test cause there are a lot of electrical things running, like idrive, pumps, lights....

[Mr Gasser]

So we assume alternator is good? Seems a major component is on its way out, WP, Alt, ??

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Mr Gasser

So we assume alternator is good? Seems a major component is on its way out, WP, Alt, ??

Do you mean water pump by WP ?

Actually, i really don't know if the radiator fan blowing crazy (2EE6 code : coolant temp sensor) is related to my battery problem. It's may be mere coincidence.

As said above, if the radiator do this thing again (it only did once), i will probably try to change the sensor at first.

And concerning my battery, i will check the voltage again tomorrow

[Mr Gasser]

yes water pump, sensors are there for a reason, they usually work OK.

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Mr Gasser

yes water pump, sensors are there for a reason, they usually work OK.

Yes, i don't know for now, it can be the sensor, aswell as a "failing" water pump.

The only thing i got is this code : 2EE6

[Mr Gasser]

code for a failing water pump: you may have 2 to 6 months before the water pump fails:
I changed mine without changing the T-stat which takes longer and have not had any issues; make sure its a VDO quality pump like this one because you'll be getting the next generation pump while Asiatic pumps are copies of the old design:
https://www.amazon.com/Water-Pump-Bo...n54+water+pump

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Mr Gasser

code for a failing water pump: you may have 2 to 6 months before the water pump fails:
I changed mine without changing the T-stat which takes longer and have not had any issues; make sure its a VDO quality pump like this one because you'll be getting the next generation pump while Asiatic pumps are copies of the old design:
https://www.amazon.com/Water-Pump-Bo...n54+water+pump

Thank you Mr Gasser

[inevitab1e]

Try disconnecting your battery and let it sit for a bit. Connect and drive. I used to get the battery draining message and a disconnect cleared things up.

Outside of that issue, the other stuff sounds like water pump. Mine went out around 55k

[Cavpilot2k]

Failing water pump can manifest itself in many different ways, with no two cars doing it exactly the same.
You may even experience cooler than normal operating temps.

It's possible that it is unrelated, but given that the water pump is pretty much guaranteed to fail at some point (usually around 70k miles, give or take), my money is on that being the problem.