Nope, that wasn't the fix. I had Moss's shield installed when Peanut caught fire. It had been on for well over a year at the time. It's definitely helpful to have, but it won't keep your MINI from shorting out.

 

so what so i do to prevent it?
(yay!! im 2nd gear now )
MaC

 

What year Mini do you have, and was it before they seperated the circuits?

 

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...577&q=gti+fire

DEANA... DEANA... say it ain't so oh oh...

Sorry, nothing constructive to say, thread just reminded me of this video.

Can't even imagine if this happened to me. :impatient

 

MINI MaC, until they actually acknowledge there's a problem and do something to fix it there isn't anything you can do. Keep a fire extinguisher in your boot (a good idea no matter what you drive) and an eye on your MINI when you can. Don't sweat it too much, there are still only a handful of MINIs that have turned into Car-B-Ques.

Gromit, I have an '03, January '03 build. I doubt I have the split circuit. As others have reported here, the split circuit may not protect you from shorts. If your ps fan stays on too long and blows the circuit, then it won't run. How will you know if it stops without checking on it regularly? If you drive around a week, a month or longer with no ps fan, you will undoubtedly do some kind of damage from overheating, possibly causing a short. So there you have it.

 

I was talking to a dealer mechanic today and he says that they didn't split the circuits on the older cars, but added a larger amp fuse to keep it from blowing if the fan got stopped. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, then maybe that's why these cars burn up?

Steve

 

I have a pre-owned MCS 02, and i don't know if the previous owner did anything to the mini ... and keeping an extinguisher in the car wasn't the best answer i was waiting for... ill go tomorrow to buy on

MaC

 

Might be a good idea to install an onboard halon system!

 

You could also install a battery kill switch. If the car shorts and you can get to the battery in time it's even better than an extinguisher. Again, I wouldn't worry about it too much; only a small number of cars have had problems.

 

Make sure if you do, you roll up all window's, close sunroof and, oh yeah, exit the MINI!

 

This is an interesting quote from a used car website here in the uk http://www.honestjohn.co.uk
(go to the "car by car breakdown" then MINI) :-

"Early MINI One, Cooper and Cooper S: ASC, ABS, RDW+ handbrake warning lights on with possible intermittent loss of speedo and rev counter and sometimes gradual loss of electrics amd fire/smoke from engine bay. ABS pump wiring shorted out on pump bracket. If minor wiring damage, repair loom. If major, replace main vehicle wiring loom. Always fit a protective edge cover to pump bracket."

Not sure if US owners are aware of this cause of ABS module fires? I checked my 2002 MINI and the cable instead is sleeved with ribbed black plastic tubing where it touches the lower ABS bracket edge to prevent wear/chafing & a possible wiring short to the bracket. Not sure if this was done at the factory or later on a visit to dealers, as I only bought the car secondhand recently.

 

I think I had a close call a few weeks ago.

I stopped at the store and noticed a whining sound with the car off. I attributed it to the solid counter top shop. Once I made it home, I STILL heard the whine with the key off. As it turns out, my power steering pump was (not the fan, the actual PUMP) was still running with the key off.

I started the engine to keep from killing the battery and called roadside assistance and got them to hook me up with a service tech. He advised me to shut the engine off and IMMEDIATELY disconnect the battery. I verified that my emergency boot release worked, rolled down the driver's window about 1/2 inch, shutdown the engine and unhooked the battery.

I took the next day off from work and made an emergency service appointment to get my car fixed. Before I drove the 120 miles to the dealership, I jacked up the car and unplugged the power steering pump for safety. (I had to remove the fan to reach the wires) According to the service tech, there is no relay or fuse you can ****** out to shut this pump off. (There is a relay built into the pump, but no easily accessible relay you can unplug)

Anyway, a few hours later I had a new PS pump.

From the reading and research I've done, I'm pretty sure I'd be posting about a roasted MINI if I hadn't taken the precaution of disconnecting the battery.

IF there's no fuse on the PS pump circuit, that's a p!$$ poor design. IF there is, I couldn't locate it.

The moral of the story? If your MINI makes any suspicious noises with the key off, disconnect the battery! Electrical fires need electricity to happen.

I found it a little suspicious that they told me to "just bring it down and we'll take care of it right away", and they just happened to have the pump in stock when I had to wait an extra day for a JCW belt and JCW air filter element on an earlier visit....

They may not be talking, but they know about this. That service tech from ASK MINI was emphatic that I immediately disconnect the battery. And I betcha you don't waltz into a Buick dealership and they'll have the right PS pump in stock.....

Rawhyde

PS I just proof read my post, and the tone sounds kinda harsh...I don't mean it that way. Just want to advise people to be observant and if anything is "hinky", disconnect the battery!

 

Edit: Stated another thread on my noises.

 

Well, add one more to the list. Parked my 03 outside the grocery store last night, came out to find smoke pouring from under the hood. Small flames could be seen when I opened the hood, and it was obvious from the smell that it was electrical. Disconnected the battery and towed it to the dealer. We’ll see what they say now. 99.99% certain that it was the PS pump.

 

custard,

I'm very sorry to read about yet ANOTHER fire ....Please please keep us posted on what the dealer finds.

And don't forget to report it to the NTSB... the more reports they get - just maybe - maybe - MINI USA will FINALLY realize that there IS a problem with the early model years.... ours was the first here is the US - at least that we can find. But ours wasn't the PS pump - it was the fuse in the ABS box. As you may already know - ours was a total loss...

Donna

 

Hey Custard, so sorry to hear that you've become another 'victim'. If you give me your specifics, I'll add you to the list.

You've already stated it's an '03 and it was parked.

Cooper or S? Where are you located (state)? How many miles? Date of fire? Cause (when you've got that info)? Amount of damage?

Good luck!

 

Thanks SCoop. Here’s the scoop (excuse the pun!)

Model: Cooper S.
Year: 2003 model year, build date I think was 9/02.
Mileage: 42k
Date: January 4, 2007, approx 10.30 PM.
Location: Seattle, WA.

The story:
Drove home from a friends place, approx 8 miles, and parked outside a grocery store 2 blocks from home to get some milk. Returned after <5 minutes to find smoke pouring from the hood. Opened hood to determine cause and smelled electrical smoke, and saw flames coming from under the engine. Doused flames using a fire extinguisher from store, and disconnected battery (after unloading a ton of stuff from the trunk!) Good job I had a 10mm wrench.

Had the car towed to the dealer the next day (don’t you love it when there’s only 1 dealer in the whole state!). Initial dealer investigation indicates that the damage was to the power steering pump, PS fan, PS wiring harness and a good chunk of the main harness. Damage estimate is around $2.5 – $3k.
They “don’t know why this would have happened”, but didn’t seem surprised when I told them what had happened.
Of course, my warranty expired in mid December, so I have a claim into my insurance company. We’ll see where it goes.

I’m very glad I stopped for milk, otherwise I’d have just pulled up @ home and the 1st I probably would have known about this was the sirens!
I did notice that when I opened the doors to pop the hood, all of the dash lights were lit up like a Christmas tree. This is what clued me into a probable electrical fault. Well that and the smell.
<rant>
I used to be a photocopier engineer many years ago, and pretty much all the electrical components that could generate heat were protected with not only a regular fuse, but also a thermal fuse that would cut power if the temp got above the fuse rating. It amazes me that for a component like the PS pump that seems to be directly wired to the battery, *and* runs so hot BMW had to add a cooling fan, that they skimped on what is probably a $1 part that could have saved so much damage and risk. Ah well.
</rant>

Fingers crossed the insurance folks will move on this fast, and I’ll get my baby back soon.

 

Woo hoo! Just got a call from my dealer (Northwest Mini), and they're going to fix everything under warranty - even though it expired in mid December.

I love it when companies do the right thing!

 

Custard, that's great news that the dealer will fix it under warranty!

Don't forget to file a complaint with the NTSB. I think there's a link in one of the replies here, or you can google it.

BTW, I've added you to the list (in the first post). Oh, if you want to know the build date for sure, look at the plate inside the driver's side door jamb (hard to do when the car's at the dealer, I know...)

SCoop

 

Last Monday, I lost my 06/2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible JCW. Driving in the middle lane doing 120 km/h (app 80 miles, max speed in the Netherlands) at 22.30h I suddenly heared a loud explosion sound on the front right side and I immediately lost all power. Steering to the shoulder, in the right lane I saw a flame coming out of the bonnet airintake hole. Oops. Drove immediately to the shoulder where I wanted to brake but the brakes totally failed.I stopped by using the handbrake and got out. Got back in twice to save some personal things (wasn't thinking by then...) while phoning the alarm nr. Fire dept was ther in 10 minutes but by then nothing was left of my 'pride-n-joy'.

My brother was driving behind me, heared the loud bang and immediately the underside of my engine was on fire. He saw the flames (that I could not see by then) and smelled the car burning.

Bye bye lease car, you brought me fun while it lasted.
Here are some pics of the moment and of the day after.

 

and the day after...

 

All I can say is WOW. I'm glad you & others were not hurt.

 

Holy Moly! Is there any idea what caused it?

I've added you to the growing list in the first post... do you know how many miles, or kilometers, were on the odometer?

 

I would like to add what appears to be case #19 in the area of the spontaneous Engine Bay Fires.

We have a 2003 Mini purchased in North Hollywood, CA., and last weekend the Power Steering Fluid pump shorted and caught fire. Like many of the other posts I have read, the car was parked and turned off.

We were very forunate that we caught it right away, and that someone had a fire extinguisher handy. Although the damage still was over $3,000.

When the car arrived at the dealer, they told me that they had never seen a problem like this. That's when I decided to do some research and found this site. Thanks to all that have posted this problem ahead of me.

I encourage anyone else that has had the same problem to post your story. The more stories, the more likely it is that BMW/MINI will take notice.

One more thing, I have passed this site on to my insurance company as a reference to their investigation.

tdsas

 

tdsas, I'll put your info up as soon as I've got a moment. I'm in the middle of moving house... it could be a few days. How many miles on your car? Cooper or S?

You might find the original fire thread to be most useful. Mike and Donna are personal friends of mine and they have kept up the fight for MINI safety. There is a follow-up thread here somewhere but I don't have time right now to look it up. Their insurance company, USAA, took the fight to court.

Good luck!