Balance resistor replacement trick
 

Following my 03 plate 75 cdti clutch failure had to buy another car! (Anybody want spares?) All new suspension fitted then clutch slave failed!
Purchased another nice Rover 75 cdti SE 54 plate and the fan was not working and no aircon.
Had a 100W gold resistor handy, lol, so proceeded to change the old silver one.
Here is how I did it with minimal dismantling:
Place blanket in front of car;
Spray WD40 on the nylon clips at sides of bumper (under the arch covers) just pull back the covers to gain a little access;
Remove the top M8 (10mm socket) bolts holding the bumper, 9 I think;
Unclip the bumper at sides by holding wing and bumper and giving a sharp tug. The WD40 should help to avoid the nylon clips breaking?
Once the bumper is lowered onto the blanket you can see the old resistor through the fan now;
Spray the 2 small holding screws with WD40 or I used Shock Release;
Unscrew the right hand one first then the higher left one as the plastic frame of the fan cowl is fairly flexible and you need to be careful! I put my left hand behind this for support whilst unscrewing as you need a bit of pressure on the Phillips screwdriver;
Remove the 2 screws; The resistor kit came with threaded M3? screws to fit the new resistor;
Locate the 2 wires and snip these close to the old resistor ends leaving as much cable as possible;
The kit came with 2 crimp connectors, however I could only crimp the Long wires together as the short wire is, well, short and would not allow crimping tool in. I used a chocolate block at that end after carefully stripping about 5-6mm from the cable end.
This is a bit fiddly, however, supporting the block from behind and I could just get the right angle on the small, long, flat screwdriver to do up the connections.
I found the size of the old long cable slightly too big for the supplied crimp connector so you might want to go a bit larger?
Tie wrap the now long cables back around the resistor to avoid them tangling with the fan;
Re-attach the resistor at the back of the plastic fan housing again supporting from the back with left hand (unless you are left handed then right hand!);
Replace the bumper.
I used an old blanket to lay the bumper on as I did not disconnect any wires; not necessary!
Simples, about 1 hour when yo know this.
Fan (2 speed) now works, have to get it re-gassed now as probably has non or been run with no fan?
Richard

5 on center top (M6) and 2 each side top holding plastic slotted bumper. I did not undo any small self tapping screws underneath, no need.

You forgot :


1) Disconnect battery! There's a permanent live IIRC to the fan motor. And always a sensible precaution when working under the bonnet and on any of the car electrics or electronics.





Other helpful tips:



You can remove the fan rotor from the motor, it's only a bayonet fit.


On a Mk1 car you only need to remove the grill and ducting behind to access the fan rotor and the resistor btw. (two plastic scrivets to remove). Although you need to be quite good at working in small spaces for this method.



On both cars that I've done there is plenty of cable if you locate and remove (cut off) the existing cable ties.



Also there should be a hex headed screw in the front top of each wheel arch, sounds like yours are missing. Normally these prevent the bumper sides being pulled out of the clips.