Hey everyone about 2 months ago I picked up an 04 MCS with 40k on it and an aftermarket warranty good to 60k I brought it to a mini dealer and they did the oil pan gasket, bushings, control arms, strut towers, a wishbone bracket a door actuator and maybe some other work... can't remember exactly. They said the car was good to go!

So its been running great but I have noticed a few things:

Whenever the car is idling the fan is LOUD and once in a while it will stay on even after i shut the car off-- is this a thermostat issue or the deal with fan stage 1 not working?

Also sometimes while idling the car will get rough... rpm's will dip... exhaust will chug, sounds like its going to stall for a few seconds and then it will come back to normal. Any ideas?

And finally though this may be normal is that I can hear some rattle from the exhaust when standing behind it (can't hear in the car) and see the tips are vibrating a lot, like some kind of bracket is broken or missing. Is this standard?

Seems like the dealer would have caught these things but who knows -- I do want to milk this warranty as much as possible of course.

Thank you!

pics:

 

Yes this is pretty normal.

Sounds like the inside of the mufflers are coming apart. This is normal on a 8 yr old exhaust if it is stock. Time for an aftermarket one

Check all plugs and wires, especially number 3 connections on the coil. These are know to rust for some reason and cause issues. Clean it with some sandpaper to see if that is it. Good luck Congrats. Post some pics.

 

+1 on everything Braminator stated.
If you want to stay with a stock exhaust rather than going aftermarket you can usually find a slightly used stock exhaust for free.

 

with the idle thing, my car does that (well, did that) once in a while too. after i added several grounding wires to the engine (thread avail w/ how to) that seems to have nearly gone away! ** but i would still check what the others talked about, you never know with "older" cars.

as for the dealer catching things... you would fig they Would, but i often am just as surprised at the things they DONT catch. if you wanna milk your warranty (as i do!) you will have to roll into mini with a written List of every tiny thing that you can think of that is wrong with the car... even Little stuff. for example: i said my shifter was kinda loose: BAM! replaced the whole assembly under warranty. Said my arm rest slider slid too easily, Bam! new one. Told mini my headlight washer was weak, Bam! they replaced the entire pump!

so, keep track of each rattle and roll in that thing! write it down too, because i often go in for one thing, and forget 5 other little bits that need fixing until i walk out and get back in the car!

 

Interesting, I will mention everything and bring it to a different mini dealer fresh to the car. Will check out the plugs too.

No way I'm staying with the stock exhaust... I've been itching to do some modifications -- just worried about the warranty being voided if anything is done to the car. I drive a lot of miles so 60k is less than a year away for me.

Is an exhaust something I can replace on my own? Seems like it'd would be pretty straight forwards... my uncle has a garage and could help me.

Will post pics tonight!

 

Since you have an aftermarket warranty does the warranty allow you to take the car to a non-dealership repair shop. There are many great independent repair shops that know Minis very well. Depending on where you live there might be a good non-dealership shop that will provide a better inspection and repair than a dealership.

The exhaust is pretty easy to install depending on how rusted are the original exhaust bolts. The aftermarket exhaust bolts on and you just twist pipes to get the proper alignment before tighening the clamps.

 

most common mod is the "one ball", which is fairly easy. keep an eye on the forums as well, lots available recently actually!

as for bringing the car to a different dealer, unless one dealer is "better" than the other, i have purposely brought my car to the same dealer for each issue; that way the Know whats been done already, and they get to know you and the car better.

see if you can wander into the repair shop, befriend a tech (i did)! youd be surprised what you can find out about minis!

 

Investigate soopercooperinfo.com. It has a very large independent service shop listing as well as links to just about everything MINI you could think of. I also strongly recommend a light-in-sight. http://www.lightinsight.com/

I have an extended warranty from a dealer which is also honored by the independent I now go to. Shouldn't be any problem.

 

soopercooper looks great thank you! I can bring the car anywhere I want -- I just figured the dealer would know the most about the car. There are some local specialists near me I will investigate however.

added pics

 

+1 on places other than the dealer...
some of the best mechanics from the dealers left and started their own shops...waymotorworks is an example of a factory trained, formerdealer mechanic...
since dealers usually have newer mechanics (from a school) that only know one make, many know of gen1 cars, but have mostly worked on gen2 cars....so often the best guys that know our gen1 cars are actually at non dealer locations....

 

One thing to note...
the very loud fan during idling ....
The mini uses a 2 stage, single fan..
When working the fan should turn on nearly silently on the low speed when idleing...
Then if it gets very close to overheating from a long idling, or traffic, etc, the louder hi speed mode turns on.....
If idleing, for just a bit, and the loud hi speed fan cycles on and off every couple minutes, the resistor, that is used to created the two speeds on the fan, is bad....solution is a new fan. There is a aftermarket kit to modify the fan to replace the resistor, but at about $90 for an new fan and a bit of labour, it is not a huge deal to just toss it and get a new one.

 

Ps...
the fan staying on for a short time after thecar is turned off is normal on most any car eith an electric fan, even the mini...it just indicates the car was hot when shut down. If it does this regularly, chrck you fluid level in the rad.

 

+1+2+3 for Zippy

 

Zippy,
Is this true for all years?
I have an 04 and have never had the after-run even when the car is very hot. Just wanting to know if I am lucky, have a car without after-run or have something to fix.
Thanks

 

Heck mine has only run a hanful of times after being shut off....a few miles of local roads gently driven to get to the house gives it time to cool off...
but if you were tracking the car it would run....but best case there is just to idle, and let the oil/coolant circulate and remove the residual heat.
heck, i remener hearing my parents vw rabit'c electric fan run sometimes after the car was off 20+ years ago....
On the mini, having the fan run often after shutoff is sometimes the first sign of low coolant...

 

That sounds like the issue exactly. Clicks on and off during idle. Will get this checked out thank you!

 

Hey, I see it's been a bit over a year since this thread has seen a new comment, but the rough idle you're experiencing seems to be similar to what my '04 S does. I took it to Advance Auto Parts where they hooked up a machine to my battery (thinking that was the culprit) and ran a few test while I turned things on and off as instructed. The print out he gave me said that my battery was performing "beyond it's rating", but that my alternator was not charging my battery consistently.
Twice in the two months I've owned the car, it's refused to start. Turn the key; click. Waited a few minutes, started right up. The next time, nothing. Had to get a jump (from the guy I bought it from in his new '13). Occasionally, with the A/C on at a stoplight, the rpms will dip, and I get that shudder. I give it some gas and it perks back up.
For now, I've got a spare battery in my boot and cables with me at all times. It's saved me once, and I'm just going to get as much use out of this alternator as I can until I get a high performance one to run my Rockford sound system that's in progress. MOST days, it doesn't complain, but every once in a while, it just has a baaaaad day.

I guess what I'm trying to say is be aware that it may be your alternator. :p

 

I have had a 2004 MCS since new, now with 125k. Regarding the rough idle where it almost stalls, mine has done that for many years. It is not due to a failing alternator, bad battery, or worn plugs, wires or coil pack. It is most likely due to the bypass valve. My rough idle happens very infrequently, has never completely stalled (a quck blip of the throttle makes it go away), and I have learned to ignore it.

 

Also sometimes while idling the car will get rough... rpm's will dip... exhaust will chug, sounds like its going to stall for a few seconds and then it will come back to normal. Any ideas?

That's a notorious problem.....mine does the same thing. Many people have that problem...but to this day, I have never seen a "fix". Just blip the gas a little, and it will smooth out. Mine does it a few times a week usulaly.

 

Fan on after engine off may be normal or your highspeed fan relay is stuck.
Noisy hi-speed fan cycling on & off is a bad low-speed fan resistor. You may either:
1. Replace w/ new fan (OEM, Dorman or TYC). Be specific on build year. 02-03s have the 2plug fans.
2. Replace & wire externally just this resistor:

http://ph.mouser.com/Search/m_Produc...964LXjsYM7uQ==

3. Replace internally the old resistor w/ a dorman replacement resistor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170969660469?redirect=mobile
4. Bypass the low-speed resistor w/ a 12ga looped wire & get high when low is called.

All these are documented in 39pages if good reading here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lution-35.html