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We are in a cold snap here in NH. The other day when I was driving our Mini I noticed the heater didn't seem to warm up like it usually does, but then it was very cold and I hadn't driven it very far so I didn't think much about it.
Today my wife ran a short errand and told me the the car was making a loud noise even after she turned it off and removed the key. I came out and found the noise was the radiator cooling fan, which was running full speed, as if it was August on the Jersey Turnpike instead of 15 below. After about ten minutes the fan stopped all by itself.
I started the car again, noticing that the fan started running as soon as the key was turned on, before the engine started. I turned the key off, and the fan ran for another 10 minutes then turned off as before. Started it again, and found that I could turn off the fan by removing the fan relay, and that after 10 minutes or so I could put the relay back without the fan coming back on.
I do believe that if A/C or defrost is commanded, the fan will run at high speed. Aside from that, defintely check your coolant level, as GimmeBoost said.
Yes, did you check your coolant level? Do you see any leaks of any kind? Sometimes it's hard to see or it wont accumulate on the ground as it can evaporate before it makes its way to the ground. Check around the thermostat. The thermostat can have a hairline crack and pool coolant on top of the transmission. Is the check engine light on or any other lights on? If you have a code reader, might not be a bad idea to plug in and see if any faults are present.
My fan rarely runs at full speed unless it's crazy hot and after a long trip, even if I park it for ten minutes and go again its running at full speed for only a shot time. Your ECU must think your engine is hotter than normal, with the thermostat being made of plastic doesn't help matters. I wonder if you control valve is stuck in the closed position. These 2nd Gen Mini's don't function well at all in extreme cold weather!
did you notice any other issues related to this really cold spell? Sunday morning (-13F), my Mini started and sounded ok but the clutch and brakes took a while to feel anywhere close to normal. Monday morning (only -5), the car coughed and gagged and took about 10 minutes to sound "normal", at which point I got the yellow check engine light. So it's off to the dealer for me in the morning....
did you notice any other issues related to this really cold spell? Sunday morning (-13F), my Mini started and sounded ok but the clutch and brakes took a while to feel anywhere close to normal. Monday morning (only -5), the car coughed and gagged and took about 10 minutes to sound "normal", at which point I got the yellow check engine light. So it's off to the dealer for me in the morning....
I remember about year ago it got colder than it is now on the East Coast (NYC subway flooded) and Mini dealers were flooded with Mini's that just wouldn't run in the extreme cold weather, they were running like your description. Mini even came out with a newly design intake manifold (Cold Climate Version). Somebody must be smoking crack because it's listed for $39.99 when the older version is going for $474 on ECS Tuning, ok I want some!
Coolant level up to line. No check engine or other warning lights on. Tappets sound a bit noisy but then I don't often listen to them with the hood open on a -15 morning.
Thought it might help to get the car all warmed up, but car just wouldn't warm up with the fan on high, so I pulled to fan relay. Fan stopped and the engine kept running with no change, and no warning lights. So I left it running that way for 15 minutes and still no heat.
Anyone know if I dare drive it to the shop (15 miles) with the fan running? Or with the relay unplugged?
There were a bunch of posts about similar but not identical problems with 1st generation Minis, and some one mentioned disconnecting the battery to get the car to do a reset. Anyone know more about this?
Oh, I called my Mini dealer and they said it sounded like "a thermostat or something". I asked about the problems mentioned by Systemlord and they told me they knew nothing about any such cold weather problems, let alone any updated parts.
The dealer said they didn't know about the cold climate intake manifold? We have them here, with a part number that you can give them for reference. The issue that people have with the normal intake manifolds in cold weather is ice forming within the intake causing a CEL. Most people will describe that their engine will sputter. The fan issue does sound like it could be a thermostat issue. Just curious, how many miles are on yours and have you ever had it replaced?
A common problem, the temperature sensor is broken. ECU have a "safety mode",it runs fan full speed when sensor shows unusual temps.Location on termostat housing, very easy change.Just release locking pin,pull old sensor out and change it new one .Add some coolant and bleed it on thermostat housing plastic screw....If you have somekind OBD reader,it shows wrong temperature when you run it , too hot or cold that motor really is...
I agree with others that perhaps your temperature sensor might be defective causing a low or high circuit signal therefore your ECU either thinks the engine is hot as if it were 100F+and having your fan on keeps your engine from warming up.
I remember about year ago it got colder than it is now on the East Coast (NYC subway flooded) and Mini dealers were flooded with Mini's that just wouldn't run in the extreme cold weather, they were running like your description. Mini even came out with a newly design intake manifold (Cold Climate Version). Somebody must be smoking crack because it's listed for $39.99 when the older version is going for $474 on ECS Tuning, ok I want some!
Yea the cold climate version is here, big price drop. Its from the ice issue on super cold days. 11614584240
When the cooling fan runs all the time , even right after start up or on a super cold day. Its usually the Thermostat housing , and its leaking . Mine did the same thing. With a very small leak on the transmission. 11537534521 KT
Yep , temp sensor and checking the pins on the harness side is first step, but most of the time, its the thermostat housing in the early stages of a leak you cannot find / see.
Put in a new coolant temperature sensor with high hopes, but it runs exactly as before. Off to the shop.
Sorry to hear! I have fixed a number of similar cases and always has helped temp. sensor change. Check that the connector is also firmly in place. I also had changed the thermostat housing and "cold climate" intake manifold, but the symptoms were different, leaking coolant and freezing throttle body with bad idle. I hope you find some solution...
Can you tell me why there's such a huge price difference ($40 dollars total for the cold climate version?) between the original intake manifold and the cold climate version? Also exactly what changes were made to this newer version other than the thicker insulation and PCV port hose redesign?
Thanks and much appreciated!
Last edited by Systemlord; Feb 18, 2016 at 11:51 AM.
Can you tell me why there's such a huge price difference ($40 dollars total for the cold climate version?) between the original intake manifold and the cold climate version? Also exactly what changes were made to this newer version other than the thicker insulation and PCV port hose redesign?
Thanks and much appreciated!
Yep, well it was actually priced much closer to the original OEM normal climate intake before, then there was a price change about a month ago ( also new stock ) or so maybe due to the time of year ( very cold ) and warranty replacement, funny thing is last year in the winter it did not dip that much down in price. Or they just want to move them as they were setting on stock, like a clearance or super sale. I have seen it both ways over the years.
Those changes are whats are the difference, it reroute the oil/ moisture from the engine cover to right before the intake bypassing the butterfly valve / throttle housing so it will not collect , freeze and cause the throttle to stick.
Yep, well it was actually priced much closer to the original OEM normal climate intake before, then there was a price change about a month ago ( also new stock ) or so maybe due to the time of year ( very cold ) and warranty replacement, funny thing is last year in the winter it did not dip that much down in price. Or they just want to move them as they were setting on stock, like a clearance or super sale. I have seen it both ways over the years.
Those changes are whats are the difference, it reroute the oil/ moisture from the engine cover to right before the intake bypassing the butterfly valve / throttle housing so it will not collect , freeze and cause the throttle to stick.
Hope that helps.
Sorry forgot to ask, are the cold climate version discontinued?
Car is fixed! Though I am keeping my fingers crossed.
When I installed the new sensor and the fan did not stop I started and stopped the car a few times and drove it a couple of miles, then assumed the worst and called the Mini dealer to book an appointment (the local independant I take cars to occasionally wouldn't touch the job, on the grounds that a genuine Mini diagnosis/flasher would probably be necessary). Got up the next morning to drive it to the dealer, and noticed the CEL was on. Borrowed a reader and erased the codes, restarted the car and the fan had stopped running.
There's a couple of things that still have me baffled, most notably how I could have missed the CEL earlier, but I am not complaining. The reader I borrowed was an unspeakably cheap and buggy Autel, so I didn't manage to get any additional info from it - it wasn't even able to show the error code numbers.
As I have already had temperature sensor problems, I have never found a fault code,no any CEL...just bad sensor,good to hear that your car is fine now.
