2003 Mini Cooper CVT, 32,300 miles...trouble-free (mechanically) until today!

Scenario: It was 102 out today in Jersey. Drove the MINI about 30 miles at highway speeds to do some errands around noontime. Brought it back home. Parked. Drove it again for about 10 miles around 4 PM... everything is fine except for the super high outdoor temps.

Started it up again around 6 PM to pick up a pizza and noticed as we pulled out of the driveway that: the DSC light and low tire pressure light were on, and the coolant temp gauge pegged itself into the "red" (red led light was on in coolant guage upper left side).

Odd thing is, if I hadn't looked at the guages, could've just kepty driving, I guess, because the car functioned fine. But I didn't drive it...parked it in the driveway and popped bonnet. Coolant overflow bottle was fine... didn't seem like an overheat situation. BUT: There was a loud, continuous humming sound eminating from around the battery...like a circuit was open and would not close. Even with car turned off and key out of ignition, humming sound eminating from that area...just slightly left of where the battery terminals go into the battery box. Also, the "P" symbol on the shifter stayed lit up (again, car off, engine off, key out of igntion).

30 minutes later, humming stopped, "P" symbol not illuminated anymore. Called MINI service and they are gonna flatbed it to the dealer tomorrow morning (it is 9 PM here so they said they should just pick it up tomorrow morning -- it's a 60-mile drive to the dealer anyway and the dealer is of course closed right now).

I haven't tried starting the car since... but what could cause this, any ideas? Stuck solenoid? Again, 102 F. outside today but car drove like a champ, coolant needle stayed dead center even during stop-n-go traffic. It wasn't until I started the car for the 3rd time (after being in the garage for about an hour after the last drive) that the coolant needle was pegged and all those lights mentioned above stayed "on".

Thanks for any insight...guess Ill know for sure what is wrong when dealer pulls the fault codes tomorrow...

-Boognish

 

The "P" light always stays on for 3-4 minutes. Don't know why; it just does.

Could the humming have been the electric cooling fan behind the radiator - the sound might just be reflecting off some other part of the car.
Of course it should not have been running then ...

The DSC light will be on if there is a suspected flat tire - and of course the flat tire light would then be on too. Probably smart to check all the tire pressures just in case it was something as simple as that (in combination with too much heat making the fan run).

 

Wow, interesting...never noticed the "P" light staying on after shutting off the car before. Guess I never looked!

The humming sound was not a fan, that is for sure. No fans were running (another sign that I think this is an ELECTRICAL GREMLIN rather than an actual overheat situation) at the time. The sound was an electrical humming...similar to say, the sound that a huge power supply for a computer makes, only amplified A LOT. Hummmmmmmm...

Thanks and rock on,

-boognish

EDIT: You know what, now that I think about it...maybe it was a power steering pump/fan malfunction...because the humming was coming from the left of the battery, which is where the power steering pump is located. Maybe the car was *trying* to turn on the power steering fan because of the excessive heat outside (102 F) and it was jammed (the fan and or pump) which sent a signal to "peg the coolant needle" as a precaution... in other words: power steering pump/fan malfunction equals automatic "overheat" situation codes, even prior to a full "meltdown"...like a safety? Anyway, all signs point to that. Will post an update after find out from dealer tomorrow.

 

The power steering cooling fan is under the engine, about dead center.Not sure if it continues to run after the car is shut off. But the rad fan does.

 

On some early cars the radiator fan and the PS fan are on the same circuit. If the PS fan gets stuck it usually blows the fuse. This results in the radiator fan not running and an engine overheat quickly follows. It sounds to me like you have something stuck in your PS fan but, for some reason the fuse is not blowing. I definitely would not drive it and would have the dealer check it out. I would also suggest you invest in a PS fan grill to keep stuff out of it.

Hope this helps and that you are back on the road quickly.

 

I think you may be right, petecrosby.

My MINI was in for a service recall for the very issue you speak of, about 10 months ago. They replaced the "old" power steering/radiator fan fuse relay and apparently put them on two separate circuits, like the "new" coopers come with -- specifically to avoid this type of issue from occurring!

Anyway, my best guess is that power steering fan and/or pump finally gave up the ghost. The tow truck is going to be here in 20 minutes. It takes an hour to get to the dealer, so I should know something by noon time (that is if the dealer can "get around to looking at" my MINI today!).

rock on,

-boognish

 

Isn't the battery in the boot?

 

Good luck for a speedy resolution! Sounds like nothing too major. The power of the Boognish has spared thee from serious harm, and instead cast this setback your way to protect you from complacency.

 

Only on the MCS, not the MC.

 

My April built 03, came with the seperate fan circuits. I think they started doing this on the March 03's.

When my MINI dumped coolant after a faulty block heater was installed, (the MINI block heater, warms the coolant, not the oil pan), the rad. fan cut in on HIGH, sounded like a jet engine.

Thank goodness it was -30F when that happened. The temp. guage spiked when I was about 30 seconds from home. As soon as I got into my driveway I shut it down. The fan turned off in about 5 minutes. Temp. was back in the normal range. That happened 5 months, 11K miles ago, and all is good

Because the block heater is mounted high on the block, the engine still had coolant in it, but the rad was about 1/2 empty.

Does the MINI have an electric water pump?

 

HMMMMMM!!!!!

the only time ive seen that combination of lights on including the temp gauge to the red is reflashing the ECU,
I wonder if the car somehow entered programming mode?????????
will be interesting to see what the outcome is
BTW the Mini waterpump is not electric on any model

 

Well the dealer has had my MINI since 10 AM Thursday and they still haven't given a decisive answer to what caused the coolant temp needle to peg to "overheat" and the DSC and Flat Tire Monitor lights to illuminate, nor have they been able to answer why there was a definite electrical (definitely not a fan moving) buzz/hum eminating from the engine compartment for 30 minutes even with the car off, just to the left of the battery box (but the hum was not coming from the battery itself). I don't know if this was an actual overheat situation or an electrical gremlin....seems they don't either.

It's almost noon and haven't heard from my SA. Well, he called at 10 AM today to give me the "still searching for answers" update. Looks like they'll have my MINI for another day! They are open Saturday so...I sure hope to be trouble-free motoring again by Saturday afternoon...

rock on,

-boognish

 

Ok the Service Advisor called me a few minutes ago. They said there is a problem with the Power Steering Motor (does it have a motor???) and it will need to be replaced -- which is what they are doing right now.

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning when I pick it up, I will get a copy of the service order and see exactly what they did/what parts they replaced.

Anyone ever heard of a bad Power Steering "Motor?"

-boognish

 

Yes the power steering is driven by an electric pump. That's the whirring sound you hear when the car is sitting still, and you turn the steering wheel.

Seems for some reason it was still running after the car was shut off. Maybe the fault in the power steering was confusing the ECU.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

oh i see.

 

Hey, at least they found the problem and you get a warranty fix, right? So, do you have the car back?

 

Hi Chris,

Yes, they "found" the problem although I kind of directed them to it...I left a note on the front seat describing the issue in detail, with a final statement "Possible power steering pump failure?"

So I guess my guess was correct. I really do think many MINI owners know more, mechanically, about their MINIs than the mechanics at MINI do.

And yes, they replaced the PS motor under warranty. They also replaced the entire steering wheel leather, because it was bubbling/peeling.

SO far in two years ownership this is what I've had fixed/replaced:


1. Harmon Kardon Amplifier: failed/replaced under warranty
2. Driver side door lock/unlock mechanism: failed/replaced under warranty
3. Dashboard rattles: they removed dash and inserted foam/rubber "bumpers" to help alleviate the noise. Noise has returned, though.
4. Power Steering Motor/Pump: failed/replaced under warranty
5. MINI Recall: To put power steering and radiator fans on separate fuse relays (older model 03's and 02's were on the same relay, causing car to overheat if the power steering failed)
6. Passenger seat would not stay in upright position (something wrong with seat-back mechanism): not replaced, but they "fixed" it. It does get stuck now and again so I rarely let people who need to sit in the back, in on the passenger side.
7. Steering wheel leather bubbling and peeling after 24 months ownership: removed steering wheel and replaced with new one (although the new one looks like it has the exact same kind of "faux leather" as the original one...oy vey...genuine leather does not bubble/peel, does it?)

That's it so far. 33K miles, 28 months of ownership. Despite all the problems, and 65 mile trips back and forth to the dealer each time...I still love this car.

rock on,

-boognish

 

My '02 MCS has the re-fuse issue sorted out, but no grill over the fan. Classic says the fan with grill is $125.00 (Gulp here!) Says they'll replace mine when something goes bad. I'm a proactive kind of guy....so where do I find a grill? (and not a Weber!) :smile:

...Les

 

There are people on this site who have used $3 computer CPU grilles to protect the PS fan. I think I've even seen a good how-to.

 

is what I thought it looked like.

Thanks....Les :smile: