Okay, this is a new one.

My hatch (boot, whatever) won't close. It is hitting the parcel shelf and bouncing back up. I have had to remove the parcel shelf, which allows the boot to close normally.

It is hitting on the rounded part, where the parcel shelf is relieved to allow the cover for the wiper motor to rest under it when the boot is closed.

Anyone else had this happen? Do you have a DYI fix? I don't want to waste a saturday going two hours to the dealer for this one.

Travis

 

Yes, I have had it happen as well. Basically, when that happens, reopen the boot, and lower it down a little slower, that should work. It will close, there just seems to be some odd friction or something. I can't tell you why it happens, and I honestly can't be bothered bringing this up with the dealer. I just chalk it up to another one of the "glitches" of being a MINI owner...

 

Does this happen everytime? This has happened to me a few times too. For me, I noticed it happens when the shelf does not go down all the way; usually when I push the shelf up higher than it would normally be opened by the automatic boot movement, the shelf gets caught on the weather stripping (both sides) and gets held up. Sorry I don't have a fix but make sure it does not go too high.

 

I had the same problem and had it looked at by the dealer as there was other work being done. They couldn't duplicate it, so they did nothing. It seems to work now! ha. Maybe just time? My MINI is fairly new. I had no problem with the shelf, but for the first month or so the boot light came on because the boot never closed on the first three tries! Sorry, not much help...just some sympathy.

 

I've had it happen a couple of times, usually when I try to close the boot too fast. Lower it down about 2/3 of the way before slamming it closed.

 

Travis,

Had your problem happen a couple of times and also noticed that I was hearing a knocking noise from the trunk and parcel shelf area. I relieved the curve of the parcel shelf that covers the wiper motor with my handy dandy Dremel tool. Took out about 1/8" or a little less of material. Cannot see the alteration. The door shuts 100% of the time and the knocking sound is eliminated. I think that there was a little interference between the parcel shelf where it meets the plastic housing on the trunk lid for the rear wiper that caused both problems.

Hope this helps.

John Petrich in Seattle

 

I have this problem as well, and found out that simply shutting the boot lid slower helps it not to happen. What seems to be happening is when you slam a door or trunk lid, the air that is getting compressed in the cabin is trying to escape. If you watch the parcel shelf as you are closing it fast, it gets blown downward as the air rushes out of the car. It then snags the face of the wiper motor housing. It seems that even the vents in the shelf are not quite enough to let the air move through to prevent it from buckling . Also, over time the shelf sags a bit. Placing a small felt door bumper on either side where the shelf rests to raise it slightly should help too.

 

I too have had this happen.
The problem seems to happen only after I've taken the boot shelf out to haul something around, and then put it back in after the schlepping is done.
Try reseating the boot shelf.
Give it a firm (not hard) push to reseat it.
You want to make sure the studs of the boot shelf are pushed into the very back of the channels in which they ride.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

 

There are some rubber feet on the inside (when shut) of the boot. When it's open, you're basicly staring right at them. Turning them adjusts the closing of the boot. They might be too far out.

 

>>There are some rubber feet on the inside (when shut) of the boot. When it's open, you're basicly staring right at them. Turning them adjusts the closing of the boot. They might be too far out.

Tried that. Doesn't work.
But making sure the boot shelf is firmly seated does everytime.

 

happens to me tool... i finally noticed it happens more when the back seats are down, than up.
bugs the heck out of me...at times, its like I go to close it and the car says A sorry no, not this time, now try to be more gentle and I will see if I will let you!

sounds like its a MINI thing thru and thur.

 

I've tried going slow, fast, everything, and it still happens. Of course, I shut mine pretty hard a couple times, and might have bent my shelf a little bit when it hit.

I might take the dremel (actually I have a craftsman rotary tool, pretty much the same thing) to it this weekend and solve my problem once and for all.

glad I'm not the only one

Thanks for the replies!!

Travis

 

Does it make a difference if the windows are down when you shut it? Maybe the air pressure inside the car is keeping it from shutting properly.

</longshot>

 

My '03 has started doing this. Glad I did a search!

 

I had the exact same problem. Mine ended up being the little rubber feet on the bottom of the parcel cover. There is one on either side. One of mine came off and was making the boot bounce back every time I tried to close it. I just replaced the rubber piece and that completely fixed the problem.