North American Motoring - Long Time MCS owner New Time NAM member

Hi all,

I bought my MCS, red with white trim of course, back when they first came to the US in the summer of 2001. Over the years, but not too many miles (40,000) it has generally proven to be reliable......until about now. While looking for some internet help found the NAM site with great information.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you to all those that have shared their work and research.

Over the past month I needed to replace the battery (OK 12 years isn't bad), the plastic coolant tank and rear wiper blade. Yesterday, I lent the MCS to my brother to drive to my daughters wedding (BTW, I wanted to take the mini and have him drive the Lexus, but my better half wanted us to be in the Lexus). My brother hit a pothole, that tripped the fuel cutoff switch that I never knew existed. After a few frantic phone calls and a AAA truck he was back on the road.

After the wedding, the car battery was dead.... It seems that the pothole may have broken the resistor in the fan, as that was whirling like crazy once we jumped the car. New resistor is now on order from Ebay ($6.50).
Drivers window stopped going up and down, though I can hear the relay. I will try the "Fonzy" trick, but suspect it is time to clean the motor inside the door.

One open question I have not found on this site. When I drive I got a very annoying rattle from the sunroof. It was from the "wings" that are spring loaded and pop up when the roof is open. I placed some black electrical tape on the area where it hits the roof cover to make the noise go away. Does anyone know of a more elegant solution?

Steve (aka an5sprite) (59 bugeye)