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MINI R56 JCW Thermostat operating temperature
09-03-2017, 13:59 PM,
Post: #1
MINI R56 JCW Thermostat operating temperature
Hi there,

My thermostat failed so I had to change it. In fact, I was not able to monitor the coolant temp and the fan started as soon as I started the car.

I installed a whole new one (thermostat and sensor). However, the thermostat maintains the temperature too hot, about 108°C (226-228F). The fan starts at 108°C (226-228F) and stops at 104°C (219F) when I shut down the engine 30 seconds later at least. It seems to be a common issue because some of thermostat are inaccuracy. They should work at 104-105°C (219-221F). The main issue is that the fan is always running when I'm driving, because of this thermostat that maintains the temperature at 108°C (226-228F).

I don't want to change one more time my thermostat because maybe I will have another one with this problem.

Is there a way to flash/program the ECU to modify the coolant operating temperature ? I mean reducing the operating coolant temp at something like 102°C (215F) to be sure that the fan will not start for no reason.

Thank you very much for your help

Matthieu rofl
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09-03-2017, 19:29 PM,
Post: #2
RE: MINI R56 JCW Thermostat operating temperature
Thermostat is based on mechanical work, so software doesnt help. But 108C should be fine
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09-03-2017, 19:43 PM, (This post was last modified: 09-03-2017, 19:44 PM by OKCZ.)
Post: #3
RE: MINI R56 JCW Thermostat operating temperature
(09-03-2017, 19:29 PM)inspi1981 Wrote:  Thermostat is based on mechanical work, so software doesnt help. But 108C should be fine
Wrong, it's controlled by DME.

Damos would be helpful.
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09-03-2017, 21:48 PM,
Post: #4
RE: MINI R56 JCW Thermostat operating temperature
Thank you for your responses.

Now the outside temperature is between 0-5°C (32-41F) in Switzerland. When I'm driving the coolant temp is always at 108°C (226F). Sometimes it varies between 105°C and 110°C (221F-230F) but most of time it's always at 108°C (226F).

When I'm on a stationary position, the temp is also at 108°C. So the fan can run as much as it wants, but the temperature will remain at 108°C because the termostat is miscallibrated in my opinion and the temperature will never get down until I shut down the engine.


Here a post I found with more and better explanations of the problem I think I'm actually having. What do you think about ?



Quote:RobboMCS on the NAM site posted a really comprehensive explanation for this stage 2 fan effect:

I finally connected my car up to a scanner.

Basically 226 F is the operating temp and fan stays on 30seconds after shutoff as well.

Normal?
Depends!!

To understand what is going on here, you have to understand that there is a temperature sensor that tells the ecu what the temperature is, and a mechanical thermostat that opens at a certain temperature and regulates water flow and therefore the temperature.

What is supposed to happen is that the mechanical thermostat is set to 105C (221). When the car is moving with good radiator flow the temp should stay at roughly 105. Once the temperature goes > 106 (223) the electric fan cuts in. This usually because the car is stationary, with no airflow.

The problem is that the mechanical thermostats seems to be a little inaccurate and out of sync. There are a whole lot of thermostats that seem to run at 107-108C (224-227F). What happens in this instance is the thermostat doesn't open water flow properly until it reaches its temp, so driving around the temp will be 107-108C. This confuses the ecu, as the temperature sensor reads >106, so it activates the fan.

It is also possible to have the reverse problem, ie an accurate thermostat but a miscallibrated temperature sensor which reads the water temp higher than it actually is, which can produce exactly the same problem.

If this is happening, the fan is not just running when you stop the car, but nearly all the time, even driving around. When you stop it will run until the temp drops to the 106C number.

So if you are lucky and have a "normal" thermostat that runs around 104-105C you won't get the fan operating when you stop very often. If you have one of the thermostats that runs at 106-108C you will get it a lot.

Does this matter? Not really from an engine point of view. However, it must be increasing the risk of fan failure in the long run.

Also, just out of interest, there are actually 2 thermostats operating in 2 stages. The main one runs as described above. There is a second one set to 85C (185F). When the ecu detects high turbo load from aggressive driving etc it opens the second stage, and the temps drop down significantly.

Robbo
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13-03-2017, 15:10 PM,
Post: #5
RE: MINI R56 JCW Thermostat operating temperature
Has anyone modified the ecu for this ? Like changing only the operating temperature ? Mini GP2 work at 90°C, so there should be a way to do this for Mini JCW and eventually MCS.

Or is there a way to add a resistor somewhere to modify the behavior of the thermostat ?
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