Here's a good one I haven't heard anything about. Let's hope mine is an isolated incident.

About a month ago, around 2000 miles on the odometer, I started to find a small amount of water on the driver-side floor-mat around the throttle pedal. I also started to smell what I thought was mold in the air-conditioning. The last vehicle I had was a JEEP Wrangler and it had a problem with the air-conditioning drain intermittently plugging which would cause the plenum to hold water. I thought my MINI might have the same problem. We only have one MINI dealer here in North Carolina and it is over an hour away from Charlotte so I decided to stick it out until oil change time. BAD IDEA! What I later disovered was that I had a small leak in my heat exchanger and it was misting anti-freeze into my ai-conditioning ductwork! The first time I tried to use my front defroster I blew anti-freeze laden water all over my windshield and nothing would clean it off. Now the inside of my car reeks of anti-freeze.

My "local" MINI dealer, FLOW MINI in Winston-Salem North Carolina, did a fine job of replacing the heat exchanger. It took three days, without a loaner, but the dash doesn't rattle like I was sure it would.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but next time you get into your MINI, check to see if there is any moisture on the floor mats.

 

Wow, I found one post related to this! I've had my MCS for a month now, and just noticed this two days ago. Half of my floorboard is wet, but the floormat managed to sop up most of it. It isn't anti-freeze, but instead water. I can't figure out where it is coming from, and thought that it was actually from the rain we've been having for the past few days. I'm currently drying the mat and I'm going to see if it happens again. I hope not, this is ridiculous!

Cheers,
-Justyn

 

well sometimes when you run the ac at high temps and get the tubing real cold then just shut it of the system condensates badley the moisture then results in the mold smell, the recommended fix is before you get home and the car will sit for a while, turn off the air and run just the regular stuff this will bring up the temp. in the pipes and not cause condensating, now this might not be the issue but if it is this is just a way to fix the prob!!!!!!:smile:

 

Thanks for the info!

No mold yet, just a large amount of water on the floor. Should I really have to do anything like this with a new car? I've never had any problems like this with any other car. I'll keep my eye on it -- but I smell a trip to the dealer!

 

I just pulled out my rubber floor mats for some cleaning and found that the carpet under the drivers side floormat was pretty wet. This thread was the only one that I found related to this problem. Have any of you had a reoccurrence of this problem or figured out what the source of the moisture is? I felt and smelled the moisture, and it seems to be just water (no oil, antifreeze, etc).

 

Sorry, but glad to hear of similar experience. I just changed my carpet mats for rubber mats (kids wearing Lacrosse muddy shoes) and noticed a small puddle under brake pedal after washing car today - never noticed before.... Have modified with ALTA CAI and added boost gauge, but added silicone in firewall penetration (very small) for boost gauge. Today I did direct more water than normal over the driver vent below windshield - assume leakining from that area. Have also noticed loose plastic piece approx 3"x5" semi-floating in the area infront of the firewall. Curious if there is a chronic issue in early 05 MCS models?

Thanks for posting ~

 

No. Take it to your dealer, you may have a condensor drain tube backed up.

And the mini recomended fix (for mold on a non leaking system) is to spray hospital grade lysol on the condensor, it also may be time for a micro filter.

 

I had this happen a few times when I neglected to shut the drivers door with sufficient force to get the driver's window to raise fully.

FWIW, I noticed that the MINI's windows drop about 3/4" when you open or close the doors -- probably to prevent stress on the glass ? -- and if you shut the door gently it will sometimes not raise the glass back to its fully sealed position. Personally I noticed this while washing the car

 

Yep, I'll second that, though it is the evaporator & not the condensor (that is located up front in front of the radiator). The evap drain tube was routed incorrectly on early '05 models, causing the water from normal a/c operation to drain underneath the passenger front floorboards, potentially causing all kinds of electrical gremlins after the BC1 gets wet. The correction is to replace the drain tube, and check the BC1 connections for evidence of water damage.

Is your brake light staying on after the car is shut off? Do you have wierd stuff like radio volume increasing when the windows are operated? If not, lucky you. If so, time for a new BC1. If that is the case, just remember to write down your vehicle setting (daytime running lights, lock functions, express opening, etc) & bring all your remopte keys with you when the BC1 is replaced. They will all need to be reset. Hope this helps!

 

yes, evaporator. The bulletin I read said that the wiring harness was blocking the drain tube on some models.

 

Liquid Yellow
I too have discovered a water leak issue in my LY 05 MCS/JCW. With only 3000 miles, I have to believe it is a front windshield installation issue and covered under the warranty-I hope. Their is definitely water on the driverside floor, just underneath the fuse panel access cover. It appears water is coming from the driverside front window pillar area. The water runs down the inside of the window pillar, tho' I can't see it,then drips off the bottom edge of the dash, down along side the fuse panel access and onto the floor.
After reading rclements post. I'll make sure the door is secure and the window is completely closed next time I wash Motorrr-I would take a big bite of humble pie if that were the cause. I rather enjoy the simple fixes.
Always, Motorrr

 

I have the same exact issue, except mine is MUCH worse, my coolant resevoir is COMPLETELY empty! The inside carpet is soaked with antifreeze and the windows are completely fogged up. Its one heckuva mess. I had it towed to the dealer earlier, so, hopefully they will fix it all under warranty and replace the carpet and get things all cleaned up. In the meantime, I am driving an 06 325 so life isn't too bad for now. :-)

 

I just realized that I never came back and shared the resolution to my problem. I finally took the car into MINI of St. Louis - they found that there was a AC drain tube that was malformed - it had some sort of built in grommet or gasket or fitting where it was press-fit into the AC drain housing. The grommet was shaped wrong and was allowing water to leak down into my driver's side floorboard.

They replaced the malformed part (which must have been there from the factory), but didn't replace the carpet - they pulled out the seat and lifted the carpet up and dried it out for 2 days. It's been fine ever since...

One interesting thing I found was that for some reason they had to remove the exhaust to get to the part that was replaced. I don't know exactly why but I thought that was a non-obvious requirement.

 

I got a call from the dealer today on my issue. It was the heater core that went bad. They ordered a new heater core and a new carpet set, its all covered under warranty. Well, it not too bad, I'm still enjoying the 2006 BMW 325i that they loaned me while my Mini is under repair. :-)