I was in stop and go traffic yesterday for about 20 minutes when I happened to glance at my water temp gauge. It was about 3/4 of the way up and climbing rapidly. Ambient temp was about 85f. I pulled over as it shot to the top and the red warning led began to flash. Scary!

I shut the car down and waited a few minutes, paging through the manual to see if I could find something valuable (I didn't). I switched the car on again and the temp was still high, but not pegged. I pulled out and got a little speed up in the shoulder the temp rose a bit more then plunged back down to normal. I spent the next 25 minutes in the same stop and go traffic with no problems, and none since.

If this was an pre-digital car, I'd say the thermostat was temporarily stuck. But I have no idea how the cooling system on this car works, and the manual gives you absolutely zero information.

Any experiences like this? If so, did the dealer replace anything afterwards?

 

Oh, and AC was off at the time.

 

I had the same problem, and my dealer put in new wires, a fan and something else. It hasnt done it since. I assume you have an MCS because this is common. If you do have an MCS, when it starts to overheat, to speed up, to get the air in through the scoop to cool it off, and turn your heat on as high as possible. Good luck, mine was covered under warranty.

 

Nope, it's an MC.

 

I just had the same problem. Take it to the dealer right away and they'll replace the fan.

 

Did the same thing again today in some bad traffic. After sitting still for about 10 minutes, the needle began to climb. AC off and only about 80f outside. I cranked up the heat and pulled it back down to normal pretty quickly, although I was dying in the cabin, even with the windows open.

Afterwards, I reproduced the same thing sitting in the driveway. Once the needle started to climb, I popped the hood and confirmed that the fan wasn't spinning. I shut it down and then checked the fuse for the fan - looked fine. So it does look like either a bad fan, sensor, or wiring harness. In either case, I don't feel at all confident that a replacement will last any longer.

I had come to be at peace with all the miscellaneous rattles, squeaks and trim issues with this car, but this is a critical and inexcusable failure. Had I not been a well-conditioned vintage car driver, I probably would never have checked the water temp gauge and would have trashed my engine by now.

A huge blow to my already shaky confidence in this car.

 

XAlfa,

I had a similar problem with my MCS. It was the power steering fan, causing a short circuit with the auxilary radiator fan. Seems that these are both on the same circuit. Have the dealer replicate the problem (not too difficult to do) and trace the entire circuit to find the faulty piece. I had both p/s fan, aux. fan, and two relays replaced, and now I no longer blow the fuse/overheat in stop and go traffic.

Best wishes getting it fixed right.

 

Thanks very much, MGCMAN:
I'm definitely going to have the dealer take a look, but I think I may have a different problem than yours, as the fuse for the fan(s) appears to be fine.

W.B.


>>XAlfa,
>>
>>I had a similar problem with my MCS. It was the power steering fan, causing a short circuit with the auxilary radiator fan. Seems that these are both on the same circuit. Have the dealer replicate the problem (not too difficult to do) and trace the entire circuit to find the faulty piece. I had both p/s fan, aux. fan, and two relays replaced, and now I no longer blow the fuse/overheat in stop and go traffic.
>>
>>Best wishes getting it fixed right.

 

All,

I've got 11,000 plus on my Cooper S and had never driven it in stop and go traffic until yesterday while participating in a parade of all things, and boy did I think she was going to blow. Had to take an early exit out of the parade (no small feat with all the streets lined with people) and car returned to normal temp essentially within a couple of blocks of normal driving. Replicated the situation this morning by driving around the neighborhood to warm it up and parked it into my garage letting it run with the a/c on, sure enough she started getting hot and I used my flashlight to confirm the auxillary fan was not on...made appt with dealer a few minutes ago and will let you all know why my fan is not working.

Kevin

 

>>XAlfa,
>>
>>I had a similar problem with my MCS. It was the power steering fan, causing a short circuit with the auxilary radiator fan. Seems that these are both on the same circuit. Have the dealer replicate the problem (not too difficult to do) and trace the entire circuit to find the faulty piece. I had both p/s fan, aux. fan, and two relays replaced, and now I no longer blow the fuse/overheat in stop and go traffic.
>>
>>Best wishes getting it fixed right.
Thanks for the post, This sounds correct. Let the dealer check it out.
Overheating an engine is a big deal. Important stuff and something to watch out for in ANY car.
Probably once it is fixed it will be OK but still need to monitor.

 

I was in a parade too and had to keep a eye on things. The worst problem was the clutch but none the less, that AC will lower the efficency of the radiator.

A good reason to have a good quality motor oil. Try our 0W30. It can handle the higher than normal fluctuations, and won't burn off causing your PCV system to clog up prematurely. That alone is worth it when you get to 100,000 miles.

The Synthetic Warehouse - MCO Sponsor

 

Driving home after picking mine up..........from KS to AZ, i get stuck on the 87 freeway in the middle of nowhere outside of Phoenix because a truck caught on fire and set some landscape near it on fire too! So they shutdown the highway and helicopters are flying around dumping fire-retardent chemicals all over the place and we're all sitting there watching.

Engine's are running and it's 111 degrees out!!! A/C was on and no issues! Man, I thought that had to be the ultimate test. However, I have Navi so really all I'm saying is the dummy light did not come on.

The dealer is flushing my brown coolant right now under warranty....I noticed the color when I checked to make sure I had no leaking and handn't lost any coolant after that drive. Instead all I saw was a yucky color.

Off to go pick it up right now.

haf :smile:

 

>>Engine's are running and it's 111 degrees out!!! A/C was on and no issues! Man, I thought that had to be the ultimate test. However, I have Navi so really all I'm saying is the dummy light did not come on.
>>
Has anyone found a good placement for an engine temp gauge when you have Nav?
Under all the switches seems too low....

Heard there was one that goes by speedo and tach...pics?
Where did you get it?

 

>>Engine's are running and it's 111 degrees out!!! A/C was on and no issues! Man, I thought that had to be the ultimate test. However, I have Navi so really all I'm saying is the dummy light did not come on.
>>
Has anyone found a good placement for an engine temp gauge when you have Nav?
Under all the switches seems too low....

Heard there was one that goes by speedo and tach...pics?
Where did you get it?

 

i had the same problem on 7/03/03. still have not had the mini returned. the dealer said there was an 8 week wait for the fans.i also have a noise coming from the shifter. still waiting for the upgrade to the second replacement of the linkage.anyone else with similar problems?

 

Just a follow up to this thread. I finally got this fixed at the dealer. This issue was, as suspected, a bad power steering fan, which was blowing the fuse for the "stage 2" engine cooling fan.

The service manager told me that the problem is not the the power steering fan gets clogged with bags/leaves/etc (although this could happen in theory), but that it gets wet and shorts out. He said any puddle more than a few inches deep could be a problem at high speeds. If he's right about this - the ps fan motor being less than water proof - then I wonder about car washes with underbody sprayers as well.

All in all, seems like this problem is related to three major design mistakes: 1) putting the PS and engine fans on the same circuit and fuse, and 2) leaving the PS fan in such a vulnerable position, and 3) installing the PS fan motor in a non waterproof housing.

The bad news is that it appears, according to my service manager, that MINI is doing NOTHING to address any of these 3 problems. Hmmm.

 

>>Just a follow up to this thread. I finally got this fixed at the dealer. This issue was, as suspected, a bad power steering fan, which was blowing the fuse for the "stage 2" engine cooling fan.
>>
>>The service manager told me that the problem is not the the power steering fan gets clogged with bags/leaves/etc (although this could happen in theory), but that it gets wet and shorts out. He said any puddle more than a few inches deep could be a problem at high speeds. If he's right about this - the ps fan motor being less than water proof - then I wonder about car washes with underbody sprayers as well.
>>
>>All in all, seems like this problem is related to three major design mistakes: 1) putting the PS and engine fans on the same circuit and fuse, and 2) leaving the PS fan in such a vulnerable position, and 3) installing the PS fan motor in a non waterproof housing.
>>
>>The bad news is that it appears, according to my service manager, that MINI is doing NOTHING to address any of these 3 problems. Hmmm.

Funny, I came to those same conclusions upon first reading this thread. With regard to #1, it seems logical that the fix for the fan circuits would be to split them up/add new wiring for one fan or the other.