Greetings,

We have a 2013 Paceman with about 35k miles on it now. We've owned it for about 18 months, and it's our first Mini. It has had some downtime (transfer case, timing chain tensioner, and minor accident that caused bent tie rods and damaged a wheel). My wife is it's primary driver but I have a blast with it every chance I get!

We live in Fairbanks, Alaska and do not have a garage. That N18 can make some brutal sounds on a cold start but it always recovers nicely. By cold start I mean 20 below and colder with nothing but an oil pan heater to help it. Mostly it makes alot of timing chain noise for a few minutes.

I'm interested in learning more about the car in general. I'm pretty handy with repairs and DIY maintenance, generally speaking, but this is no Toyota or Chevrolet! This car intimidates me. If I ever push that button and it doesn't start... Well, hopefully I'll learn something here.

Thanks!

 

Welcome. I know you love driving it. Aside from its looks, the Mini driving experience is special. Post some pics!

Kat

 

Thanks Kat! I'll try to get some pics up here before long.

John

 

welcome!
Can't imagine working on a car in that cold with no garage. The R60/61 is hard enough without the cold. Check out newtis.info for help, but it is indeed not a Chevy or easy car to deal with. I usually looked at problems and then passed them on to a mechanic. If it was anything electronic my mechanic would pass and say go to the dealer or someone with MINI diagnostics.

 

Yes, up their i can get pretty cold. I could not imagine no garage up there. Just one dealer up there, MINI of anchorage, I remember when they had no dealer and people would get service at.... Seattle. lol

 

There is an import shop in Fairbanks that seems up to the task so far. Though we haven't had any electrical issues. The dealer is almost 400 miles from here. I've been reading on newtis.info just to familiarize myself with some of the systems. That engine is so complex! The cooling system alone..

 

Ok, Just thinking for warranty stuff. https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/ and https://www.realoem.com/ are good for technical, also a Bentley manual will help. Thats just the name, does not cover Bentley..lol

if you need anything we ship to AK.

 

Great! Thanks, I'll have a look at realoem and I'll keep your services in mind as well.