[krystnikyt]

Hi,guys,I'M new to the forum and i need some help.I've been having problem with the electric cooling fan on my '06 330i.When I start the car everything is normal,the car reaches the normal temp and the fan starts cooling off,but when i turn the heat on or the A/C the fan starts on full speed and doesn't shut.I don't have any warning lights on for overheating or etc.,I don't know if that has anything to do with the water pump or the thermostat.Please heeeelp

[mike3000fl]

mine does this. i have a stuck open thermostat. it shows up when autozone runs the code but there is no SES light on the dash for it.

[krystnikyt]

Did u fixed it,did u change the water pump too.I cant believe it happen just like that all of a sudden,any suggestions,not sure is the thermostat.

[mike3000fl]

instead of farting around online, go to autozone, advance auto, pep boys, etc. HAVE THEM SCAN YOUR CAR.

and then come back and tell me what codes they pull and we will help you.

[krystnikyt]

I'm goin' to do it tomorrow,I'll let u know soon as i find out.

[Efthreeoh]

Okay stop for a second. mike300fl has got the right idea but wrong solution. You do need to scan the car, but going to autozone will not give you the answer unless they have a BMW GT1 (which they don't) or a BMW-compatible scan tool (which they won't either). All Autozone will have is a OBDII scan reader, but since your car is not throwing a Service Engine Soon (SES) light, an OBDII scan will not do you any good. If there is cooling system issue with your car (it might be as simple as a temperature probe) there will be BMW trouble codes present in the ECU that only a BMW scan tool can read. Go to a BMW shop and pay a few bucks to have them scan the car for you, or get any of the numerous scan tools available for BMWs.

You guys really need to educate yourselves and understand what the difference is between OBDII codes and manufacturer trouble codes. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. They do cross reference for codes related to emissions, but that is only required by Federal law.

[mike3000fl]

dont listen to that guy, he's got 200K+ miles and reckons he is the guru. I'm speaking from first hand knowledge, not theory. It will show the code even without the light. MINE IS DOING THAT NOW. No light and it throws a stuck thermostat code from OBDII scanner.

autozone will read a stuck thermostat code just fine, and its free, the thermostat shows up on OBDII (i know from experience). if its not the thermostat get a real scan at bmw to dig deeper. no point in paying though and waiting an hour when you can spend 5 minutes at a parts store and confirm it's the thermostat.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by krystnikyt

Hi,guys,I'M new to the forum and i need some help.I've been having problem with the electric cooling fan on my '06 330i.When I start the car everything is normal,the car reaches the normal temp and the fan starts cooling off,but when i turn the heat on or the A/C the fan starts on full speed and doesn't shut.I don't have any warning lights on for overheating or etc.,I don't know if that has anything to do with the water pump or the thermostat.Please heeeelp

If your planning on keeping ur car for a long while. Invest in a BT cable or get a coding cable from ebay and setup inpa (smooth1's free tool with a cheap ebay coding cable will read codes for free). It pays for itself with the first dme read or battery registration.

[krystnikyt]

well,guys,just comming back from the autozone,they said we cant reed the code with their tools unless I have check engine light on.But they said most likely the stat is the problem.Anyway going tomm to a mechanic shop for diagnose,keep u posted.

[mike3000fl]

they can, did they even hook it up?

[krystnikyt]

no,they didn't,just said if i dont have SES light on its not gonna show anythig

[mike3000fl]

the light can go out but the code is stored

[Efthreeoh]

Well I have more than 238K. You reach guru status at 229,121 miles. But back to reality...

So the t-stat is designed to fail safe in an open position so the car DOESN'T overheat due to a failed (stuck closed) t-stat. A car CAN'T overheat if the t-stat is stuck open, so if your t-stat were stuck in the open position your cooling fan wouldn't come on as you describe.

What mikey thinks he's talking about is when the heater in the t-stat fails, which was a common problem with the original t-stat design (metal body version). The N52/54 like all modern engines is designed to produce as little "cold start" emissions as possible, which means the faster the engine warms up the less emissions it creates at initial start up and early running (when the fuel mixture is rich to allow for easy starting - used to be called "choke" in the old days). So to reduce emissions car manufacturers now place the catalytic converters as close to the combustion chamber as possible where the exhaust gases are hottest, so they light off faster to reduce CO and NOX emissions. The N52/54 have the cats built into the exhaust manifold like most modern cars do.

BMW by using an electric water pump and electronically controlled t-stat can have the engine heat up quickly by controlling the rate at which the coolant removes heat from the cylinderhead (very slowly at first so the engine heats up quick). So when the heater fails in the E90 t-stat, it is an emissions related problem because the engine is not heating up as fast as designed and may be emitting more cold start emissions than intended, which triggers an emissions fault code in the OBDII system and illuminates the SES light. If the OBDII system does not detect the fault in the emissions system it may turn off the SES light and store the previous code in the ECU. It was my experience when my t-stat failed that once the SES came on it stayed on. I cleared the code several times over about 35,000 miles (1-year for me) and observed when it came back on (when the weather turned colder - it didn't come on all summer).

What I think is wrong with your car is the water pump is starting to fail. If it is stopping or slowing down intermittently, it will store BMW-specific codes in the ECU, which are not OBDII codes (because they are not related to emissions). Scanning the car with a BMW scan tool will find the stored codes for a failed/failing water pump. The codes to look for are 2E81 and 2E82.

The OBDII system, mandated by the US Federal Government for every car sold in the US 1996 model year and newer, is designed to provide a common set of trouble codes used by all manufacturers so to prevent the need of special test equipment to repair cars, so that consumers we not tied to go to the manufacturer (dealer) to get their cars repaired.

[krystnikyt]

ok,why it happens only when the heat or the a/c is on.I told the water pumps just work or not.Im going tomm to get it fixed anyway,but does anybody thinks that may be something to do with the A/C,I lnow it sounds stupid but...

[krystnikyt]

Hi,guys.I just got the code its 2F0D-radiator blind activation.Need help,pls,no idea what is that.

[mike3000fl]

High or low freon can cause the radiator fan to act weird. No idea if related to that code.

[thomas88162]

Originally Posted by krystnikyt

Hi,guys.I just got the code its 2F0D-radiator blind activation.Need help,pls,no idea what is that.

This is a particularly mysterious code, one which I cannot find an exact translation to what the problem is. The best explanation I could find was "dealer it" . Sorry.

[DJtoad]

Originally Posted by krystnikyt

Hi,guys.I just got the code its 2F0D-radiator blind activation.Need help,pls,no idea what is that.

Radiator blinds are louvers mounted in front of the radiator which are designed to restrict airflow through the radiator when cold, allowing the engine to warm up faster. I wasn't aware that the 330i had radiator blinds, but if it does and they're stuck closed, that would possibly explain why your fan is running at high speeds. Look through your grill for the louvers and take note of what position they're in both when your car is cold and fully warmed up.

[BMWE90 ModMaster]

very good info here.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by krystnikyt

Hi,guys.I just got the code its 2F0D-radiator blind activation.Need help,pls,no idea what is that.

Well, well, so a scan of the car with a BMW scan tool found the issue and a OBDII scan didn't... Sorry had to be a bit of a dick.

This is interesting. DJtoad has a good explanation, but he's also right that the American version of the 2006 E90 doesn't have radiator blinds (flaps). I checked realOEM.dom to make sure and according the realOEM the 330 has the same front end parts as the '06 325i (see pic below). My '06 325i is essentially the same car as the 330i other than difference in the engine intake and exhaust and does not have radiator flaps either. Radiator flaps weren't prevalent in the industry in 2006 anyway and were introduced later as a fuel-saving apparatus to improve aerodynamics at higher speeds where less cooling air is required to keep the engine at the proper operating temperature.

So my thoughts are, is there some reason your car has incorrect software in it that thinks it should have control over radiator flaps that may be on a later version of the E90. I checked realOEM for a 328i LCI later build date and it still didn't have radiator flaps in the front end (same pic as below). The cooling fan is supposed to run at any time the AC system is activated (at least in the summer). Being that it is Winter the AC system does briefly activate when in in auto climate control to keep the windows fog free, but it doesn't run for very long periods so I'm not sure you'd notice the cooling fan coming on and especially on high speed.

So where/who scanned the car for you? If it wasn't a BMW dealer, maybe they gave you the wrong trouble code because the scan software was not exactly compatible with your car, or they did not select the correct engine module to scan. For instance, my BT scan tool picked up the incorrect trouble code on my Wife's Z3 (when the OBDII scan tool did provide the correct code - it was the cam sensor; the BT scanner said it was the DISA tube), so a scan tool can give incorrect codes.

So I'd check the level of coolant (maybe the coolant level sensor is not working and you are just low on coolant). Also I'd unplug the temperature probe (it's in the lower radiator hose on the right side of the radiator) and see if that makes a difference. The cooling fan should immediately come on and stay on as a fail safe for no coolant temperature input.

Other than that, it looks like a trip to a BMW dealer and a $100 diagnosis fee is the next alternative.

I hope you get it solved. Good luck.

[mike3000fl]

Actually it didn't find the issue. That code doesn't apply to our cars. But we did rule out thermostat. OBD wins.

[Efthreeoh]

Actually, Logic and operational knowledge of the cooling system ruled out the t-stat. And the SES light wasn't on anyway so the car wasn't scanned using an OBDII scan tool; the car was scanned (maybe improperly) by a BMW-scan tool, so in reality the OBDII system didn't rule out the t-stat. What the OP does know for sure is the problem he has is not emissions related.