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It sickens me every time I see another one of these types of posts. Dang! WHEN is MINI going to get a clue that there IS a problem? Please keep us posted...
Donna
__________________ Founding Members - DC METRO MINIs
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven - burned up)
08' LB MCS Clubman - Mike's Daily Driver - Merlin
67' Morris Minor Traveller - Donna's Daily Driver - Roxy
My "solution" to the problem: I traded in my 2004 Cooper last week.
My husband ordered "Buzz" and took delivery in late 2003. The car became my daily driver after my BMW was wrecked a year ago. Letting Buzz go was a bittersweet moment. However, the waiting, worrying, and disconnecting the battery every night are now a thing of the past.
__________________
BMW E36 & MINI Cooper Graduate
"Do not believe anything you read on the Internet unless it is consistent with what you already know to be true, or you have taken the time to verify the information with another source." --Neal Boortz
Thanks for the info. And I'm very glad to hear you've got your MINI back good as new! I haven't had any problems with Peanut since getting her back after the fire; not even fire smells!
One of my co-workers told me that he observed a MINI fully engulfed in flames this past weekend...it was on the shoulder of Interstate 20 in metro Atlanta. He said it looked like the driver got out unharmed.
__________________
BMW E36 & MINI Cooper Graduate
"Do not believe anything you read on the Internet unless it is consistent with what you already know to be true, or you have taken the time to verify the information with another source." --Neal Boortz
HAPPENED today 3-5-07 to my 03 MINI, 97,500 miles, walked into Dodge dealership came back 3-4 minutes later, smoke under the hood, thought it was a sensor stuck or something, started it drove it around the back of service department and open hood to see flames from back of motor behind the exhaust manifold, ran into the service depatrment and grabbed fire extinguisher and put it out after several tries to get under the shroudings, it accually took two extingishers before we cold get it out and we unhooked the battery in the confusion, that did the trick! Put it on the rack and the POWER STEERING UNIT has all the wires burnt on the top, thus the cause of the fire. The mechanic told me (Dodge Service Tech) that I was lucky because it only looked as if the unit and wires were damaged. Ordered the part this afternoon and hope to have it put in with in the next few days. I hope this fixes the fire problem. $450 bucks for the Power Stering Unit!!!!!
Plus labor to install!
Blake, I'm glad you got it under control quickly. Hopefully you'll have your MINI back in good order soon. Yes, the PS unit is really really expensive! Makes you wonder how much extra you're paying for the 'fire fault' eh? You'd think with such an expensive unit that it would be better designed...
One question: MC or MCS?
So far I haven't heard any response from MINIUSA and this thread has been up for almost a year now... I'll add you to the list.
G.P., I would have added your last post to the list but there isn't really enough information. I think it's enough that it's in the thread at this point, unless you can elaborate some.
Mine is a 2003 MINI COOPER non S and it has 97,000 miles on it now. I also have a 2006 MC with automatic my wife drives. The ironic thing is I might have it (the 03) sold to my insurance agent, she drove it today and applied for a loan and so I put a deposit on a 06 MCS in Dallas today also, all of this just a few hours before the fire. WHAT A DAY!!!
Blake, I hope you have submitted this incident to the NHTSA website. Since you have very good proof of the power steering unit being at fault, this is good evidence to document. Hopefully as complaints accumulate they will initiate an investigation before someone gets hurt or their garage burns down!
I am starting to get very nervous about my 04 MC, and would like MINI to offer some sort of technical reassurance.
Here is the link: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/
par724b - I'm an sickened once again to read yet another MINI burning. I'm very happy to see that nobody was hurt. I'm very sorry about your MINI.
We filed 2 complaints with the link provided above - one shortly after the incident and another tonight. Never heard a peep from the first one.
Our claim took over a year to come to an end - an unhappy one in some ways. We did get a nice check from our insurance company - USAA. But when it was all said and done, after ALMOST getting to court with BMW, they settled out of court with our insurance company. Paid them 75% of what they paid us.
No recall was ever issued - no acknowledgement at all from BMW/MINI that there was any kind of problem. All we ever wanted was for the company to step up to the plate...never happened and probably never will....until maybe - god forbid - somebody gets killed....
Donna
__________________ Founding Members - DC METRO MINIs
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven - burned up)
08' LB MCS Clubman - Mike's Daily Driver - Merlin
67' Morris Minor Traveller - Donna's Daily Driver - Roxy
G.P., I would have added your last post to the list but there isn't really enough information. I think it's enough that it's in the thread at this point, unless you can elaborate some.
As much as I would like to elaborate, that's all the information I was given. The co-worker who mentioned the incident probably recognized the car as a MINI because he had been shopping for one recently, and he knew I had one.
__________________
BMW E36 & MINI Cooper Graduate
"Do not believe anything you read on the Internet unless it is consistent with what you already know to be true, or you have taken the time to verify the information with another source." --Neal Boortz
here are the pics, something screwed up on the other post,okay I am too dumb to do this tonight, tried three times, I give up,maybe I got it this time, we'll see
Blake, your pics came through that time. It looks like the same spot where mine went... link to pics Scroll down to the third and fourth pic and you'll see exactly the same damage. Conclusive proof that MINI has a problem...?
Hey, your pics look almost exactly like mine, I have a rep from MINIUSA customer relations suppose to contact me today, I sent him the link to your pics this morning so they can see this is a real problem that is exactly the same on both units. I hope the address this issue.
Hey, your pics look almost exactly like mine, I have a rep from MINIUSA customer relations suppose to contact me today, I sent him the link to your pics this morning so they can see this is a real problem that is exactly the same on both units. I hope the address this issue.
Excellent! I hope this gets the ball rolling towards a solution... Keep us informed!
Good grief! I've just finished reading this entire thread. Now I'm scared to death! I got on NAM today to find out why there hasn't been a recall for the WATER pump and I find out this! I just spent a bunch to get the water pump replaced on my '02 MCS (out of warranty). Now it appears I have to worry about the PS pump and the car bursting into flames. From what I read here there isn't anything I can do to check for or prevent the problem. One of my first "upgrades" was adding the shroud cover to avoid plastic bags etc. I thought it was really odd not to have come with something stock to do that. But, bursting into flames --- I never thought of that. What do I do now?
I have my car back after the Unit was replaced, it seems to be fine. It did not show any error codes on the PEAK tester I have. It seems MINI is concerned a bit and wants me to fax my invoices to them, maybe this means they will cover the repair and parts, we'll see. They also asked if I could bring the car to the nearest dealer to have the work inspected and make sure the repair was done correct. Will take it the 225 miles on Monday to have it inspected. I had a Dodge dealer where it happened repair it and they had to hard wire the wires to the Unit due to the fact that the connectors were fried. It seems to be fine at this point though.
I would like to hold onto the burnt unit until they agree to pay for the repairs atleast, they would like it back to inspect, that is fine with me as long as I don't need them for further proof of the condition of the unit. Pictures just don't have the same impact as the burnt up motor sitting there!
MINI has really been GREAT and has called repeatedly to discuss this matter, three different people are involved from MINI at this time that I have spoken to and all seem to want to help. As I said ... we'll see!
I have my car back after the Unit was replaced, it seems to be fine. It did not show any error codes on the PEAK tester I have. It seems MINI is concerned a bit and wants me to fax my invoices to them, maybe this means they will cover the repair and parts, we'll see. They also asked if I could bring the car to the nearest dealer to have the work inspected and make sure the repair was done correct. Will take it the 225 miles on Monday to have it inspected. I had a Dodge dealer where it happened repair it and they had to hard wire the wires to the Unit due to the fact that the connectors were fried. It seems to be fine at this point though.
I would like to hold onto the burnt unit until they agree to pay for the repairs atleast, they would like it back to inspect, that is fine with me as long as I don't need them for further proof of the condition of the unit. Pictures just don't have the same impact as the burnt up motor sitting there!
MINI has really been GREAT and has called repeatedly to discuss this matter, three different people are involved from MINI at this time that I have spoken to and all seem to want to help. As I said ... we'll see!
I'll keep you informed,
Blake
Blake, this is very important news! Every other person I know who's had the PS pump replaced, whether under warranty or not, hasn't been able to keep the part. I asked to keep mine, but I only got some of the other damaged parts. It seems that the PS pump is considered 'core' and goes back to MINI. The only reason I got to look at mine after it was out of the car was because I was friends with my service advisor. AND I still had to shell out for a completely new part even though I wasn't allowed to keep the old one!
Please, please, please hold on to the PS pump and don't give it back to MINI!!! And if they settle your bill for you, PLEASE let me know so I can press them to pay for mine too! And everyone else's who's had the problem... I really have to wonder at this point if they're being so good to you because you went through 'unorthodox' channels to have yours replaced, and they couldn't take the damaged part back themselves...?
It sickens me every time I see another one of these types of posts. Dang! WHEN is MINI going to get a clue that there IS a problem? Please keep us posted...
Founding Members - DC METRO MINIs
Just trying to figure out where to mount it. Also think I'll have the auto boot lock disabled
"CHEQQRS" 02 MCS DS/W,RMW DynoTune(203.5WHP),15% Craven,MadnessCAI &Cowl+BlueSilicone,Magnaflow,M7 STB,M7 CF APD,19mm HotchkissRearSwayBar,PowerflexFtControlArmBushings ,HamannRearDiffuser,Kazera KZV17"chrome,JCWdashCF,Chequer:Roof+Mirrors+Custom SideStripes+Whalen+
