Okay, so I am girl who Just got a 2005 Cooper S JCW, 106 miles, has some issues, would appreciate any help.

The power steering is stiff, makes some noise, fluid is low.
What kind of fluid is needed, does it matter?

Car overheats while idling without heater on. Coolant is brown and thick and sludgy, looks like oil in it, but no white residue. What kind of coolant is needed? Will a flush fix this sludge issue?

Engine oil does not have white residue, looks normal, doesn't smell sweet.
No smoke out of the exhaust, doesn't overheat while driving with heater on, and runs strong, do not think it is headgasket.

How to diagnose cause of overheating, or check functionality of the thermostat, radiator, water pump, etc ? Do I need to go to a BMW/Mini dealer/specialist, or any mechanic is ok? I'm in the Westchester, NY area.

Door does not open from handles inside, needs to reach out the window to exterior handle.

Any help/advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

Hard to tell what is actually wrong with the car from your description.

If I were you I would take it to a mini dealer and have them do a complete service. Change oil, filter, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and flush and change coolant. It won't be cheap but it is difficult to find a good mechanic that knows the needs of a mini.

You are probably the subject of a recall on the aux water pump and mini will do that recall service for free. Have them check the thermostat when they do the service and recall. Some thermostats were bad.

You might be fine with that.

By the way, there is no such thing as a Cooper S JCW. It is either a JCW or a Cooper S with a JCW kit.

 

PS fluid is very specific! I'll post a link but you'll find it with a search. PS hoses are notorious foes leaking. Don't let the fluid get too low though, PS pump is way expensive.
Do a search for the door lock. I had a shop do it, charged me $140 labor, all they had to do was hook the cable back up. There's instructions on how to do it, just never got it to work for me. I'd have the shop do the coolant flush, just cuz they can suck all the Gunk out. I do most stuff myself but coolant and ps hoses I had done. Sorry I can't help diagnose your engine woes, somebody else will chime in
Welcome !

 

Power steering fluid is very specific, you're going to be looking for CHF 11 S. Some places may carry it or you can pick it up online.

As for your coolant issue, it could be a few things that may be causing it.
- It may be a head gasket (good way to find that out is a compression test to see if there's any issues)
- Oil cooler may have cracked (has been known to happen, but rare. It causes oil to be introduced into the coolant system usually instead of the other way around)
- Previous owners may not have serviced the coolant properly or even added bars-leak/stop-leak products into the coolant, which can cause a similar sludgy, brown chocolate milk-esque liquid to form when those products break down.

Flushing the system definitely will help, but if it's been in the system for a bit, it'll collect in the lowest part of the coolant system, which'll be the heater core and you'll have intermittent or no heat in the winter.

Issue with the door, may just be the bowden cable needs to be replaced instead of the entire door lock.

If it's a bit much, you can always look for a mechanic that understands Mini's. You could try nemini.org, quite a few people more localish may be able to recommend shops for you.

 

Might be the low speed fan is not working. Very common and not hard or expensive to fix. New fan assembly is less than $100. *not at mini though

 

The recall is for 2007-2010 2nd gen. The OP's car is 2005 and there has been no recall for the 1st gen.

That was a relatively recent marketing change by MINI, to give the factory JCW a different model name from the S. In past years, it was sold as MINI Cooper S JCW edition. Even the GP's official name is "MINI Cooper S John Cooper Works GP edition". BMW's official parts catalog (which can be seen at RealOEM.com) still calls the model Cooper S JCW.

 

Ok,thanks rkw.

I didn't realize that about the name change.

 

Aux water pump recall is for 2nd gen.

 

Coolant with a brown thick oil like substance in it is most likely caused by a failed heat exchanger/oil cooler.

 

For hands on help,,,, where does said girl reside?

 

Thanks a lot guys for all the information! I will contact a few places and hopefully I find someone who has experience working on a mini.

 

So fixed a few things, topped off PS fluid with CHF11s, it was very low, maybe took almost half a liter. Noise is greatly reduced now, there is still a light whine when the steering is being turned, I read that this is normal?
PS fan also appears to work, there is a fan noise from under the exhaust at the back of the motor after the engine is shut down with the ignition on.

Observed that the engine cooling fan would not come on at all as the car began to overheat past the middle mark on the coolant gauge while idling. Tested the fan with direct 12v power/ground, and found it to be working, just not coming on by itself. Checked fuses and found one fan fuse blown, defroster ones missing, replaced, and the high speed now works. Car no longer overheats! Tested relays and both are good, believe the low speed resistor is bad in the fan assembly.

Had car looked at by a local shop experienced with Mini's for $105, they ran a pressure test on the cooling system for 1 hour, and said it lost no pressure. They said since the oil cooling system is directly connected, any leak between them would show on this test. They said the slime in the coolant is a small amount, looks likew oil but could be anything, leftover from a prior failed hg replacement or just never changed. They advised to drive 1000 miles and observe if it gets worse or stays the same, then if the same, flush the system.

They also said its the high speed fan that doesn't work and the low speed is working, they tested it by powering up each circuit, but based on the information on the forums and the fan's behavior, quick spool ups and downs etc, I believe they are mistaking the low and high speed? Additionally, they also said it's worn out and pulling too much current, could damage the ECU, and needs to be replaced.

So what's the best long term solution to the fan problem that is reasonably priced, efficient, and reliable for my 05 Cooper S with JCW? Dorman, TYC? A custom resistor with heatsink setup? Also for my model year with 1 fan connector, do I need a certain model?

Thanks for all the help, I'm loving my Mini!

 

So fixed a few things, topped off PS fluid with CHF11s, it was very low, maybe took almost half a liter. Noise is greatly reduced now, there is still a light whine when the steering is being turned, I read that this is normal?
PS fan also appears to work, there is a fan noise from under the exhaust at the back of the motor after the engine is shut down with the ignition on.

Observed that the engine cooling fan would not come on at all as the car began to overheat past the middle mark on the coolant gauge while idling. Tested the fan with direct 12v power/ground, and found it to be working, just not coming on by itself. Checked fuses and found one fan fuse blown, defroster ones missing, replaced, and the high speed now works. Car no longer overheats! Tested relays and both are good, believe the low speed resistor is bad in the fan assembly.

Had car looked at by a local shop experienced with Mini's for $105, they ran a pressure test on the cooling system for 1 hour, and said it lost no pressure. They said since the oil cooling system is directly connected, any leak between them would show on this test. They said the slime in the coolant is a small amount, looks likew oil but could be anything, leftover from a prior failed hg replacement or just never changed. They advised to drive 1000 miles and observe if it gets worse or stays the same, then if the same, flush the system.

They also said its the high speed fan that doesn't work and the low speed is working, they tested it by powering up each circuit, but based on the information on the forums and the fan's behavior, quick spool ups and downs etc, I believe they are mistaking the low and high speed? Additionally, they also said it's worn out and pulling too much current, could damage the ECU, and needs to be replaced.

So what's the best long term solution to the fan problem that is reasonably priced, efficient, and reliable for my 05 Cooper S with JCW? Dorman, TYC? A custom resistor with heatsink setup? Also for my model year with 1 fan connector, do I need a certain model?

Thanks for all the help, I'm loving my Mini!

 

Hi,

The low speed fan in my 2005 mini cooper s does not work. I am going to replace it and would like to know what's the best long term solution to the fan problem that is reasonably priced, efficient, and reliable for my 05 Cooper S with JCW? Dorman, TYC? A custom resistor with heatsink setup? Also for my model year with 1 fan connector, do I need a certain model?

Thanks!

 

Best long term solution is the custom mounted heat sinked resistor solution discussed in the sticky post on low speed fan resistor. Owners who have replaced the whole fan unit have often found they need to do it all again because the new one fails due to the same design flaw.
I went with the Arcol unit available from Mouser. Mounting point is your choice of placement. Several different location choices made by people are pictured in the thread on page 10, also some have mounted it behind the bumper. There is also a unit from Detroit Tuned pictured in detail on page 15 which goes in where the old failing unit is. If you take your MINI to any MINI or BMW shop which has been in business for the last decade they will have seen many instances of this failure, and have likely seen some of the solutions.