Just keeping those of you who like a good saga informed...aside from the recent suspension and clutch failures, the mini died while on my way to NYC for a sympoium on architecture, and a wine tasting...paid for both.

Thankfully the powersteering failed while driving in a stright line...then the battery light came on and I made a mad dash to an exit to turn around - while also turning everything in the car off. I drove about 15 miles and the car completely died 1/8th mile from my home...I gave it a push across a four lane highway - pissing other motroists off - and it sits in my driveway with no visible problems.

When the battery light cam on, I did stop the check a few connections - all good - and the battery light was screaming green...so it's not the battery...belts are fine as well...


Just thought y'all might find this amusing...what day was my car made on?

 

WOW !!! Sorry to hear this. It's stories like yours that scare the **** out of me. Keep us informed with what's going on with the status. Maybe I oughta look into that HHR SS. But seriously, good luck and hope everything turns out alright.

 

NO!!!

What a rash of bad luck. Good luck and I hope it is something easy, if not easy at least cheep.

 

it is clearly one of two things....either your car is going through mechanical menopause or it needs a good exorcism. RMW has the cures for the former and the clergy of your choice should be able to handle the later. good luck.

 

Sounds like your alternator died. Sorry to hear of your troubles; but your story mirrors a friend of mine when his MINI's alternator kicked the bucket.

 

I'll have to test a few things obviously. My Mini parts guy, a guy who I trust more than the two service folks, said he has not sold an alternator since the mini came into production, but that he sells PS pumps and PS fans all day long...but the sequence of events Ryan, point to the alternator, I agree.

I wrote that the PS pump failed first and then the battery light came on...this may have been reversed since I was not really concentrating on the dash...I just don't remember seeing the battery light on. I'll charge the battery, and go for a quick drive...if the PS pump works, the alternator is the culprit...

So far - and these are fair prices

$600.00 PS pump
$165.00 PS fan
$800.00 New Rack - with inner tie rods
$165.00 Rear wheel bearing
$70.00 thermostat and housing
$3,000.00 a clutch job if Mini performs the work
??? alternator...I'll make it $500.00

$5,300.00 on top of all of the other parts that have been replaced so far...that's a nice deposit on a very reliable, albeit, boring Civic...

 

Good luck on the troubleshooting!

OT: btw, you can axe >$1k from that clutch job if you have a good local MINI mechanic work on it [that includes the cost of a ClutchMasters FX100 clutch & flywheel] Labor should only cost about $1k for a clutch and flywheel swap, and an FX100 w/fly should be less than $900.

 

Thanks Ryan...I'm sure I can do the clutch job, I've done a few in my past, but I don't really want to do THIS one.

The battery is charged and tonight I'll test the alternator...I'm sort of hoping I get a poor reading from the voltmeter since the alternator is less than the pump and fan...but the way my luck is going, all three will need to be replaced. Thanks for the tip!

Is this clutch setup still a pretty easy daily driver?

 

Meb, I'm betting the PS is just fine. The PS is turned on and off by a yellow wire from the alt. This is done so that if the alt fails, the PS pump shuts down so not to kill the battery.
Just get the alt checked and you should be fine, no big deal.

Hey, call me on my cell! Lets talk.

 

Okay, I'll give you a call! Thanks for the tip...Hey, you wanna trade cars for a while??? I can perform some durability testing for you

 

Alternator is around $500 from the dealership, I paid around that with a discount when I replaced mine. I forget how much I paid for labor though...

Let us know how it turns out.

 

find a place local and have them rebuild your alternator... alot cheaper... just my .02

 

I hear ya. I pretty much refuse to do any more clutch jobs without a proper tranny jack. It's honestly easier to take out the whole powertrain than just the tranny.

I had an FX300 in my turbo project; it was aggressive. Lots of people had a tough time driving it without stalling it 3 times in a row . I have an FX200 in my '02 MCS currently. It's much easier to drive, but it's still much grabbier than stock, however it has fantastic feel and a nice broad take-up zone. The FX100 uses the same pressure plate but uses an organic solid-face disc [versus solid-face kevlar on the FX200, and segmented kevlar on the FX300], so it should be even easier to modulate. I haven't driven one to be 100% sure though.

Hope that helps! I look forward to hearing the results of your troubleshooting. Good luck!

 

Thanks Ryan!

The good news, the not so good news and the bad news, in that order.

Good news, the bettery is not recieving a charge

Not so good news, getting to the alternator is a PITA

The bad news, the alternator is not connected directly to the battery and there are 6 fault codes that will cause the battery light to come on and cause a non-charging condition.

So, I charged the battery again, I'll drive it on a trailer and have it towed to Mini for a diagnostics...if it's a simple thing they can fix it but I'm not paying them to remove ten tons of crap to get at the alternator...I'll do it swearing the whole time

 

PMed ya. Call me if you need help.

 

hi guys ima dealership tech new to the forum will be glad to help if i can

 

Alternator was dead! A new alternator and serpentine belt - $832.00 - and a new battery for goofs and giggles...They didn't have a JCW belt so they're getting one from NAPA...yikes or no yikies???

 

Napa products are fine, and good quality. I use napa belts on the race car.
Ouch on spending that much on the alt.

 

Ummm, is the alternator $832.00, or is that parts and labor?

 

Parts and labor...and that includes a good price for the alternator...was just informed now that the power steer pump failed as well...

 

Yikes, that's insane.

An S alternator is a 45 minute job tops...

 

...a fair amount of crap has to come off the car to get at it...but as you suggest, with practice...

The PS pump is dead too...so this and the fan are being replaced while there.

 

You better get the old pump back. !!!

 

...you think they may be scamming me Greg? I wondered...I sort of don't have problem if it is replaced since so many of these have failed...21 minis are listed on the NHTSA website as cars that burned to the ground due to the PS pump wiring.

And, the company said, "just have them do the work." So, I can drink wine Saturday instead of playing under the car...both are rewarding in different ways

 

Not scamming, but I sometimes have little faith in these guys.
I'm just saying that if you can get the possible faulty pump, then we can see if in fact it really works or not, or if it's an external wiring issue. Yes, certainly possible that it's shot, but who knows. There are many racers out there that would pay good money for it. You can find these pumps in many BMW race cars.
What exactly do they say is wrong? Siezed? No power?

Just try and get "that" pump back.