Yes, obviously your butt will get warm but what is the button supposed to look like?
when I press the button two little lights flash on then off. No sign theat they on or high low or anything. Does the R53 have high and low settings? Do the lights come on and stay on?
I’ve tried two different clusters and neither of them show the lights on (other than a brief flash)
fuse is good. Plugs for each side both show 12v
confused
oh, one more thing. Where do I get a replacement for the coolant vent plug? Started the car today and after a few minutes the black plastic plug started leaking and then the top of the plug came off. Is there a sturdier version available?
Push once, one light on the button. Push again, two light on the button. Or vice versa - I forget now. Two settings, high and low. The lights stay on when the heaters are on.
Definitely something in the wiring. I have a second set of controls so I pulled the switch control out of the second set (it’s a little PC board). Tried 3 different controls. All behave the same way.
Do the seat heaters work? If not, methinks you have an 'error' depending on year.
On mine, a 2006 R53, one push = two lights, which stay on, high heat setting. Push again = one light goes out, one stays on, low heat setting. Push a third time = off.
On a side note, whoever invented heated seats in cars should be canonized.
Quote: oh, one more thing. Where do I get a replacement for the coolant vent plug? Started the car today and after a few minutes the black plastic plug started leaking and then the top of the plug came off. Is there a sturdier version available?
Yes. Forget the plastic 'OEM quality' (crap) ones. Get the URO aluminum body breather with brass screw.
"While You're In There®" replace your expansion tank with a metal one as well. 'When the tank turns brown, don't leave town...'
Canton if you can afford it but decent quality Chinesium (better than German plastic) is widely available on Evilbay. Also, watch our own Marketplace here on the board for part-out opportunities. https://www.outmotoring.com/MINI-Coo...-3-80-272.html
Not a retro fit that I know of. The seats are original Mini and it has a spot in the fuse panel with a 20 A fuse. Both sides get power to the wiring harness (plug). Have not checked under the seats yet for voltage and continuity
and thanks for the tip on the radiator hose connector. It is in my cart
BYW; the seat thing wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the actual heater worked. I got the car in July so it wasn’t in use. Then I found out the new HG was leaking so it has been undergoing repairs for the last few months
New HG, gaskets, hoses, belts. New SC oil. New plugs, wires and coil. New rear motor mount, new drivers side axle, new pads, rotors, new end links and ball joints.
Just want to get it street worthy so I can drive it down the road to have the cooling system back flushed and see if that will give me heat.
Mystery Solved. Pulled passenger side seat. Plugs are there, but there is nothing to plug into. Guess it was an option not installed on this car.
was it normal for early 02’s to have heater buttons but no butt heater? If so, I’ll go to the junkyard and get a panel that has only the side mirror controls.
That makes no sense. I've heard that in early cars, they installed one wiring harness that had all possible options wired, but you wouldn't get buttons or controls for them unless the car was ordered that way. I have also heard that in early cars, they often came with heated seats but without the buttons for them. Have you tried a VIN decoder to see what options your car was speced with? Do you have the window sticker? Could someone have swapped out beat up seats for the set in there now?
Yep. I agree. It makes no sense. In looking at the bottom of the seat as well as the wiring harness, it would make sense that the plug in for the seat heater would be next to the plug in for the air bag connector (along the bottom front edge). The wires for the seat heater are not long enough to stretch to the back (if the heater plug in was back there).
I pulled the vin up on bimmer.work and it shows that heated seats were part of the build for this car.
So, my only conclusion is that the seats have been swapped and these seats don’t have the heating elements.
@jcolletteiii thanks for the sympathetic ear. I’ve been reading your thread on your build. Very nice write ups and great work. It inspires me to keep this 02
i bought the car for my daughter, but she is too scared to drive a stick. So I picked up a used Infiniti for her
The R53 has been sitting in my driveway while I’ve been wrenching on it to get it running right. Had to replace the HG and lots of other stuff. Runs good now but can’t drive it due to broken coolant blended thing.
other issue is bearing noise from either the SC or the tensioner (which I just replaced 0 miles ago). So once I get the cooling system worked out, I’ll have to decide if I want to spend the $1k on the SC or just pass the car along
it is a blast to drive and I love having a project. This R53 has 130k on it, but I’m not impressed with its general maintenance. The car is also under a salvage title. It must have been hit bc it has several replacement panels. The repair work is good. Everything lines up and is the same color. Just notice that a lot of screws and fasteners are missing.
so is it worth a resto? I guess it is if it’s worth it to me
A used supercharger can be bought for 3 or 4 hundred bucks. Allmag bases their prices on mileage, and right now they have several between 5 and 6 hundred. But there are several other places to try that might be less expensive - Willmek is place in Ohio run through facebook... https://m.facebook.com/people/Willmek-Mini-Cooper-Parts/100057311685275/ - the owner's name is Adrian Willoughby I think and he's a goo, honest guy. Bought stuff from him before. There is also Redline - another MINI specialist breaker - https://www.redlineautoparts.com/mini/2002-2006-mini-cooper/. I didn't see any S/C's listed on their site, but they do have several cars they are working on, might be a good idea to send them an email.
Sure the noise is coming from the supercharger? Another part in that general area that is known to go bad around the mileage you have is the harmonic balancer. The MINI has a design with an outer steel wheel that is filled with rubber. When the two start to separate, they can produce noise and vibration that comes from the same area. Might want to check that first. You may have already checked that. A lot of us replace that with an ATI Superdamper.
Anyhow, hope you keep the car - these cars are one-of-a-kind.
I replaced the tensioner assembly and the idler pulley while I had the SC out for service. Doesn’t guarantee that they are not the issue. I have a stethoscope for checking bearings and it seems to me that the noise is from the SC snout bearing. Everything is so tight over there it’s hard to pin down if it’s the alternator, the idler, the AC??
my plan is to take it down the street and ask the shop for a second opinion. I want them to backflush the cooling system. The heater isn’t working (blows but no heat). Hoping a flush will unclog the core.
if they agree with me about the SC then I’ll check around for a used one. Thanks for all the info.
if only there was a reasonable way to retrofit seat heaters….
