One of the rear hatch hinges broke ....has this happened to anyone else?

Does anyone know if a DIY thread on this topic is posted?

I ordered 2 new ones and plan on replacing them myself.

 

It happens when people don't lube them periodically - they rust and sieze and since you have so much leverage with the hatch, it just tears them up. If you do a search, you will find several threads on this and a How-to to replace them.

 

Yes, you are correct...I never lubed my hinges...

I'm wondering if they are easy to replace?
I'll continue to search NAM for a DIY thread.

 

I never touched mine on the 02 and at time of sale they worked fine . . .

that hinge is what .... 1/4 inch stock?????

that's a bunch of rust b4 being noticed . . .

 

There is rust at the pivot point, the hinge severed ~ 1" below that.
Sheared the metal, it almost looks like metal failure.

I'll post pics when I can.

It's straight forward on how it mounts to the hatch, but it looks like I'll need to remove the headliner to get to internal mount.

Still searching for a DIY.

 

Just received my new hinges....still no luck locating a DIY on NAM.

Anyone know how easy it is to remove the headliner?

 

I've seen a DIY somewhere. I don't think you need to completely 'remove' the headliner; just loosen the rear-most edge.

 

Well I finally had time to repalce the hinges....all was well until I stripped the flippin' torx screw. MINI could have used a more robust srew head or a deeper well.

Had to drill both of em'....what a pain in the butt.

New hinges are in and "LUBED"....hatch works nicely.

I love this car, but the numerous little issues that pop up are starting to test my resolve.

 

No hatch hinge problems but had a seat hinge and hood hinge replaced on my '08. I know it is frustrating.

 

Man you should have called us, we have used hinges in stock and they are already painted to match your car, cause we just parted a BRG car.

 

I'll definetly keep you guys in mind....I'm sure more items will need to be replaced.

 

Thanks...good to know.

I'm looking for a trim piece, I'll do my best to descridbe it.
The small trim piece on the drivers side upper pillar between the widnshield and driver side window. I had the windshield replaced and the trim piece fell off. I hope I did a good enough job of describing it?????

 

Try depositing an extra $200/month in your resolve.

 

Can you go over what you did to get the new hinges in? One of my hinges is on the verge of breakage, and removing the headliner enough to get at the bolts proved very frustrating today! In fact, I couldn't really do it and I was afraid I was going to break the plastic trim pieces on the columns and/or ruin my headliner. Any suggestions you can offer from your replacement would be much appreciated.

 

It's definately a two man job, I removed the pillar trim, gently pull the top, middle then bottom until you feel it release from the securing fixture. Then I gently dropped the roof aenough that I could get a socket in and had my son hold the roof liner down as not to crease it. The I used a torx bit to remove the nut. The torx nut worked on one side, but the other had to be dripped out. It's a bit awkward at 1st, but if you get the liner spacing right you don't need to remove any additional trim pieces to get to it. And always lube the hinges....I lube the 2x a year...I'm not going thru that again!!!

Hope that helps??? Are you local??? I live in Webster, Ma if your not too far I would be more than happy to help you out if you need it?

 

That's what's giving me the trouble, I can't seem to release those pillars with a reasonable amount of pressure. Even at the top of them, I was able to get it loose, but it was still held on by some kind of strap - I was able to peak in through the crack to see it. I couldn't get the middle and bottom of the piece to budge without feeling like something would almost certainly break. Did you have replace any clips or plastic pieces?

I'm in MD...if I was in MA, I definitely would take you up on the offer!

 

This happened to my friends 2005 BRG base Mini. Seems to be common on 2005 (BRG?) models. Sorry about the problem you're experiencing.

 

Successfully changed my hatch hinges today. Certainly not as easy as it looks. Fitting a ratchet in under the headliner to loosen the hex nut is pretty tricky. Also took me a few tries to verify proper alignment of the hatch. I did try to use the paint lines as a guide, but being off even just a little caused noticeable alignment issues when closed.

What surprised me the most was how hard the old hinges were to move - basically seemed almost completely seized when off the car. On the car, you never would have noticed because of the torque of the hatch. Lesson learned - make lubricating hinges a part of regular maintenance on any car!

As a reference for those who might attempt this:

The torx bolt that attaches the hinge to the hatch is a T40. The hex nut that attaches the hinge to the body is 13mm. If you need a replacement hex nut (I dropped mine into the bodywork right after loosening it, probably good to have on hand just in case the same happens to you), the spec on the threading is 8mm, 1.25. You'll also need a fender washer if you use a new hex nut. Or, you can buy replacement screws from the dealer which include a flange.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I have a 2005 MC. My back hatch hinge simply snapped 2 days ago. No rust and no wear anywhere!

 

Removing the entire headliner would be a serious pain:

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/07/12/99

You might not have to do everything mentioned there, but even still, it would be a pain.

I managed to loosen the rear pillars enough to lower the back part of the headliner down so I could get at the nuts holding the hinges in place. I had to bend the headliner, but the creases were only temporary. Once everything was back in place, you wouldn't be able to tell that I had to bend it.

Also, having an extra person to hold the hatch up while tightening the nuts is pretty much a must.

 

Anyone experience the hinge pulling through the sheet metal of the body?

 

Wow - I'd like to see a picture of that.

 

Yes, my bolt on the hinge just pulled through the body today. I don't have a T40 Torx to remove from the hatch yet. I will take some pics and post. I thought I read in one of the posts that the writer suggested adding a fender washer.

My hinges have not broken, but alignment has gotten way off. I think it was pulling the bolt out of the hole.

 

Chances are whichever hinge it is is gapped away from the body? The sheetmetal behind my hinge split and peeled. I need go bend the metal back, re-weld, potentially add additional sheet (both sides) to reinforce it now.

 

Here is a picture of the mounting hole. I don't know what it looks like normally except there is rust particles in the bottom. The nut came right through the hole, so the hatch was way out of alignment. The hinge itself was rusty, but the hinge was not cracked. I flated out the area, put some SS fender washer behind the hole and bolted a new hinge up. It seems to have worked. I also lubed the new hinge with silicone lubricant