OK, Here's the deal. I went motoring today at Shenandoah National Park on the north half of Skyline Drive. For those of you who have driven it, you know, aside from being fun and twisty, because it's in the national park and patroled it's not really a road for "spirited" motoring, more just really fun touring. You can of course push it, but I never went above 50 (which admittedly I was hovering around 40-50, but 50 was due to coasting descents, amazingly, there was hardly anyone in the park, and I always motored very conservatively - today was just a fun relaxing touring day - NEVER pushed Cary). Most curves are 30-35mph (35 mostly the limit in the park) and because it runs mostly along the ridgeline, there's very little if any hard climbing, just what I would consider rolling predominantly. From where I live, I spent a total of 7hrs in Cary, stopping only at one of the visitor centers for a "natural" break and a snack, otherwise pretty much continuous motoring. Beautiful day, blue sky, perfect temperatures 50's-60s. That's the necessary backstory.

On the way home, I turned on the heater, set for auto and set for 70. Temperature outside from 6-9pm was 45-50, so cool but not cold. Luke warm air blows. Set for 76 - still luke warm... Actually luke warm air up to 84... then air starts getting warm. However, turn on front and rear defrosters, immediately warm air blows to whatever temp I set. Turn off and set back to auto, back to luke warm air. Got frustrated so just left it on auto set for 76 deg but I seriously doubt it reached 70.

When I got home and pulled in to the garage and shut the engine off, I just happen to have touched the bonnet on the way past to scrape off a squashed bug... Bonnet was HOT to the touch! First time ever this has happened, even after 10 hr drives. Every other time just cool to luke warm. I opened the bonnet and, of course, the entire compartment was hot. No smoke, no burning odor. No unusual engine sounds... Nothing obvious to the senses. No heat indicator light... The box of the CAI was even hot which surprised me, but so too was every other shielded surface.. Valve cover... Everything. WHAT'S GOING ON WITH CARY??!! Is a heat coil going bad?? Thermostat? This really has me nervous. Up until this Cary has ran like a champ without issues. Has this happened to anyone else? Could it have to do with the CAI? Or, does anyone have any ideas/advice?

Thanks in advance!

 

Just because the bonnet and the engine are hot doesn't mean the engine overheated. Did you see any warning lights come on?

 

No warning lights. Just VERY hot (bonnet and engine). It's just never happened before since I first took delivery, so was very disconcerting. I've read before (even here at NAM) the engine temperature warning lights have been known to fail to warn of problems until too late, so in combination with the heater issue (also the first time) I became concerned a problem might be starting to present itself. Thanks!

 

What was the Coolant Level?? Molly blew COLD Air when her Water Pump went, it might be something to keep an eye on. It was a sudden change though and nothing I did with the Auto A/C in Heat Mode made a difference and NO Warning what so ever. She was flatbedded to the Dealer on a Sunday and all fixed up on Monday under Warranty.

Sounds like it is definitely time for a Service Visit though!!

Good Luck and let us know how things come out!!

 

Oil level is fine, but coolant level is at the minimum line - both levels checked with engine cold after sitting overnight. Per manual, it says the "proper" coolant level is between the minimum and maximum lines, so my bad there. No low coolant level indicator lights, though (which seems odd if the engines are as sensitive as the manuals say, I would think they would want the indicator light to turn on at the minimum line). Nothing in the manual tells me when the light comes on and when it starts becoming a problem which would be nice to know. Is this one of those MINI quirks I have to keep an eye on (coolant consumption)?

Per the service indicator, I am 600 miles from the required service (dealer gets to pay for this one) so was hoping to make the dealer pay for it.... and just so anyone wonders, no, I haven't waited the nonsensical 15k miles between services.

I'll certainly keep you posted.

Folks, any other ideas? I'd at least like to be able to go to the dealer with a small list of items to at least check out. Thanks!

 

Dont forget these engines run at 220 degrees as normal so things WILL be HOT. But it sounds more like you might have had some debris on the grill. I know from experience that can make the bonnet feel hot without the car overheating.

I would just make sure the coolant is topped off and when the dealer looks at it they can tell you more about what is going on.

 

After a long aggressive drive, my bonnet felt quite toasty when I stopped to refill wiper fluid. My grill and radiator were both jammed with dead bees/wasps/flies/moths/what have you. No problems ever cropped up. I think you may be worried about nothing. Keep an eye on the car, but relax.