Hey guys, haven't been on in a while, but I figured I'd bend your ears!

I'm having a couple of issues with my MINI that are KILLING me:

1) My hood will not pop. The plastic piece that holds the cable to the metal piece in the foot-well keeps popping out. Tried a zip tie and it breaks the tie! Tried two channel locks (1 on the barrel of the cable, 1 on the cable outer) and I can't get the cable to budge.

2) This started happening yesterday. My passenger running light (above the foglight) and my rear passenger tail light are on, even when the car is off and key is removed. I have no idea why this is happening, but I'm scared its going to kill my battery as I'm going away for a week and can't get a battery tender on it!

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please throw them at me. I just moved into SE Florida and have never went to either of the dealerships around me, but I know I'm going to get jacked for these issues.

If only cars were as easy as vintage vespas...

cheers
t

 

Hi Travis, it sounds like you have engaged the European parking system, where the lamps closest to the road lane are left on to prevent other cars hitting your car, hence why they are called "parking lights" even in the US. This is because many roads/alleys in Europe are medieval in age and very narrow. Check the owners manual to see how to turn this off or call your dealer, Im pretty sure thats whats going on, but I thought only the 1 gen MINIs in the US were coded for this function, it should be easy to cancel/disable. It appears I may be wrong. Anyone else have experience with this?

As to the hood latch, it sounds like the cable froze internally, thats going to be ugly. Sorry, no clues there.

 

Yes, you are absolutely correct on issue 1. I took him out for a ride, disengaged the parking brake (I had him on ramps), and the lights went off. WHEW!

The hood latch is killing me! I bottomed out last year and cut the ac wires near the front of the car, I spliced them in a hasty manner and it never worked. Now that I live in Florida and not Jersey, I needed to fix my shitty job! I spliced the wires proper and its giving power, but the air is still warm.

I wanted to check my fuse box and change mi oil! Cars, what a pain in the ***.

 

I can set this on my 2008 Clubman so at least at that point is was available on US models.

As for the hood latch cable I would call a dealership and see if they can tell you how they get them open when the cable snaps or freezes. I bet they have some type of tool to open them.

 

I actually lucked out after a few hours of cussin' and bitchin'. I got the barrel back into the pull assembly, put the plastic piece back into its holster, and held it in by gripping it into the metal holster with an alligator channel locks. It held, and it popped open.

I'll go by Advance and grab some white grease and lube it up once it stops raining. Still gotta figure out whats up with my AC.