Help guys!

I was on the way home tonight, stopped at a shop to pick up a few things and then started on the 25 miles drive home. I notced something was wierd as my water temperature guage read hot hot hot! Then the flat tire light went on, and the fan stopped working (radiator), driving lights stopped working and my driver's side window wouldn't roll down. First I checked the oil to make sure there was oil in the car. Yes. Then I called Bob Smith and talked to Paul and he said he hadn't heard of anything like this happening before.

He suggested driving home slow and careful then having my car towed to Bob Smith in the morning.

Mini Roadside assistance said they'd tow it to the nearest dealer, which is Brecht. Bleh. Not really an option for me.

Has anyone any insight with this prob? Is it the wiring harness as it was in the GTO and the new beetle? (we've owned both ahad both go out in the family vehicles).

Aaaack. Is this a major thing? When I let it sit for a bit, everything began working again however, the service engine soon light is on.

Hopefully someone will be able to guide me on which way to go, as I know the NAm community is good for this kind of thing. Thank you!

 

Never seen it but I'm sure you thought to check coolant before you drove home slowly, right? Sounds more likely electrical than mechanical, yes.

Tatt

 

Thanks Tatt, I hate to admit it but no. Eeeck. It stayed in mid range temp all the way home and is now cooling off in the garage. In about an hour all fluid levels will be checked and then I think she's probably off to Bob Smith in the a.m.

Update: All fluid levels are fine. Temp is fine and now the service engine light is off too. Yikes!

 

LUCAS! ...is ALIVE!! ...in SOCAL!!!

(That does sound seriously electrical, hope your warranty's still alive. Good luck. Is Brecht that bad?)

 

Lucas?!??? hmmmm.

No. Out of warranty. Thanks for the luck.

I would not ever go back to Brecht. They are waaaay too snooty for me. Every time I've ever stopped in it seemed as if you weren't already a customer they wouldn't take time to even talk to you. I called once for an appointment and was told unless I had purchased my car from them they wouldn't service it.

 

I think the cause of the HI temp gauge was not the coolant going away, because of what you said in "all fluid levels are fine".

Might be just haunted. 3 times since January of '05, I have turned off lights, shut down and got out, locked with the remote, and then noticed that the BRAKE lights appeared to be still on. The only way I made them STOP being on, was by starting the car and turning it off again . I did try just getting back in, cycling on/off the lights, stepping on the brake pedal, etc, but only starting/stopping the engine worked.

One for the "Things That Make U Go Hmmmm" file,
Tatt

 

Robyn, you need to have someone with an OBDII reader read your MINI's codes to see if it threw an error code today. I hope it was just a momentary burp.

 

^^^ yeah what Clo said

 

Clo - is it mini specific? Or can I go any where and have it read?

Sorry to seem so dumb here, but I have not had one problem with my car ever. (well, except that pesky window regulator).

 

Let's hope this is just one of those strange computer glitches that seem to haunt modern vehicles.
I also drive an 05 Pontiac SV6 and that does some strange things at times. When the cruise control kicks down the transmission the check engine light soemtimes comes on, the dealer can find nothing wrong. The most annoying thing is at times when you start the vehicle and then open the door with the engine running the bloody "key in ignition" chime starts and refuses to stop. I have to shut the vehicle down a few times before it eventually stops, again the dealer cannot pinpoint the problem.
I'm very pleased to say my 05 MCS has no such gremlins (bad choice of word) to date.

Good Luck with your car.

 

Any autozone will read it for you (or so they say). Or you can pick a code reader up for maybe $30.

 

I've had some unexplained gremlins from time to time. Lights that won't turn off, trunk that won't unlock, once my radio wouldn't turn off, etc. Every time something wierd happens I pull the ground cable off the battery for a few minutes and then hook it back up. It has worked every time except on the trunk latch, which I think was more of a mechanical glitch between the lock and the striker.

Good Luck

and BTW, I've had the same experience at my original dealership. I switched to MINI of Nashville and things are much better. It's a few miles further and worth it.

 

this is just another reason to go for a bare bones MINI

 

I really don't think that matters. Mine only has front and rear fogs.

 

No Mini is bare bones electronically. They are all complex cars.

Wish I would have seen the roll up window option when I ordered my 06, both electric lifts had to be replaced in my 03.

regards,
Red

 

When I had to have both of my defective window regulators in my 05 MCS replaced at 6000 miles, there was a guy in the BMW side having both of his replaced on his $92,000 6-series--at 3,000 miles! You'd think BMW would find another contractor for these mechanisms, given their propensity to fail over what the last 5 decades? Jimbo

PS Brecht sounds like Niello: snooty, indifferent, elitist. What's with these Cal dealers, either one end of the customer service spectrum or the other?

 

Thanks everyone! I have to second the "these are complex cars" comment. Unless you're picking up and restoring a pre-1980 car, they're complex. On board computers have changed everything about servicing cars.

Thank you Chow. I thought this was the case but wasn't sure they were capable of reading a MINI. I have access to one.

Good thing so far today no problems. Work and back, car ran fine without any hiccups at all. So unless we have another episode, i'll call it "gremlins".

Thinking it still has something to do with the wiring harness. Desert dwellers always have to keep it in mind.

The window regulators are going to be the death of me. This will be the second time it has been replaced. VW decided to go with a metal regulator instead of the cheap plastic. It would seem that BMW would want to do the same.