Gotta say I have the opposite. Mine whines under load.
I havent hard of a no load whine

 

CXRK, check the PS fan. It's the fan that shorts out, PS pump fails, starts to leak & causes the fire IMHO.

 

03 MC 147,000 miles. Spontaneous fire after turning the engine off. Short in power steering pump, took the wiring harness with it and shorted the battery too. $2500 repair. Plus irrepairable damage to teenage daughter's reputation when her dad's car caught fire right in front of the school at pickup time.

 

Is this the first reported (in this thread) of a car fire on a 2005 MCS?? Up till now, I thought all reports and assumptions have been with '02-'04 models.

 

I think you're correct. Only other post on an '05 (#95) describes a completely different sort of failure, much more catastrophic and likely not the same root cause.

It would be interesting to know rockymt98's build date. Could be that if it's early in the model year, it might have been manufactured prior to institution of the redesigned PS pump fan and wiring harness.

My '05 Justa (05/05) has the redesigned fan.

 

Hello to all forum members-I'm new to this forum, but have been on others prior to my recent interest in MINIs. One of my reasons for joining is a "love" of this car and all it is and can be. I'm certain you feel the same. Until today I have been actively searching for the "right" one, in my case it is a first gen '03, S. I've just looked at most of the entries by you and ,quite frankly, the fire issues have me very concerned. I have carried a fire extinguisher in my cars most of my driving life and thank GOD have never had to use it on my own cars- I am glad to say I've had to replace it a couple of times.(glad that I had it I mean!)My point is that fires are real adrenalin pumping circumstances and I'm having second thoughts-can anyone help me put this in perspective or say anyting to a "light at the end of this tunnel"? thanks in advance for your replies-I respect your responses. Fred.

 

Fred, welcome to NAM and good on you for doing your research in advance of your prospective purchase.

I've been following this issue with keen interest for several years, even though my MINI was manufactured in '05 and supposedly after the subtle design changes were introduced to mitigate the generally accepted root cause (PS components). When you consider the fact of the thousands of '02 to '04 MINIs that were sold and are still on the road today, the fact that the reported instances of these types of fires is measured in a few dozen instances (and only a handful of known catastrophic failures) means that the chances of this happening to you are pretty remote. This is obviously little consolation; however, if you are one of the unlucky ones whose MINI ends up as a smoldering shell and heaven forbid if it would happen in the middle of the night while parked in your garage.

IMHO, the way BMW MINI has responded to this issue has been shameful and the associated NHTSB report a laughable piece of under-researched rubbish. Something drove the company to a redesign of the PS pump fan and wiring harness but to my knowledge the underlying rationale has never been publicly articulated. Of course, one can easily imagine that if they'd said "the old design tended to catch on fire" that they would open themselves up to serious liability concerns. Recall the Ford Pinto, where the accountable company--fully knowing that there was a design flaw--decided that it would be cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits for resulting deaths due to fires than implement a $11 per vehicle (1968 dollars) design change. (At least BMW MINI did a redesign for post-'04 cars, albeit no effort made to recall and fix the earlier versions.) Makes you wonder if there is an analogous super-secret cost-benefit analysis based on MINI sales volume and design costs buried deep within the corporate file cabinet.

Now, if I were in your shoes with my eye on a cherry '03 MCS and knowing what I know now, I'd do the following:
1. Replace the PS pump fan ASAP with the redesigned part
2. Have a competent mechanic inspect the wiring harness to the PS pump for integrity and wear; maybe even do a little preventative sealing around the connectors to help keep moisture out
3. Recognize that the electro-hydralic PS pump on ALL 1st Gen MINIs is a item susceptible to premature failure; check the fluid level in the reservoir regularly and stay alert for unusual grinding noises that could indicate the impending demise of the pump
4. Continue your habit of maintaining a portable fire extinguisher in the car
5. Enjoy motoring in your MINI!

 

Sounds familar but mine had more complications.

I purchased my '03 MCS with 49K from a Honda dealer in August. In December, I got tires (ditched the run-flats) and then went to the carwash afterward. When I got home and before I put it in the garage, I took out the hose and washed off the wheels and under the car. During the process there was white smoke, which I thought was steam from the water hitting the manifold.

I put the car in the garage and later when my wife came home she commented on the smoke and mist in the garage (it was quite cold that night.)

The next day when I pulled the car out, the steering was very stiff and I only drove it out the driveway and on the road before I realized the PS was completely out. I drove it about 15 miles to the dealer after checking fuses and determining that the problem was beyond my mechanical skills.

The PS Pump, fan and harness were replaced along with the battery (shorted out). The main power harness was also damaged and the Honda dealer that did the install used Honda protocol (shrink-wrapping connections) on the harness which interrupted power to the pump. A MINI dealer reinstalled by removing the shrink-wrap and all was OK.

Cost was $1999 from extended warranty and $2700 additional from comprehensive (HondaCare extended warranty would not cover harness, etc because they were damaged by the fire; StateFarm insurance was exceptional and covered the difference with comprehensive)..

Interestingly, no other damage was done to the car and I have been told that it is not possible to see at this point that there was any fire at all.

 

interesting... and ironic for me. I just bought a 06 Mini because my previous car, an old 83 Mercedes 300D that I had restored caught fire and burned up. This was what I chose as a replacement for that!

Well... if truth be known there are a lot more car fires, of all types of vehicles, daily that no one realizes until it happens to them. In my case it was an unfused run between the Climate control and the auxiliary water pump that I didn't even know was unfused. But it seems some did. A simple inline fuse could have prevented it.

But I do have a couple of comments to add to fire preparedness.

Don't get a cheap fire extinguisher that might do as much damage in the long term as prevent. Most dry chemical extinguishers are corrosive and the residue is difficult, if not impossible to remove. Ruins paint, Ruins computers. Get a Halon or Halotron type. Yea they cost $100 but they are the kind used in Computer rooms and on race cars. Do yourself a favor and put one in each car. I have them now... wish I had one then as I think I could have saved the car.

Also, battery quick disconnects are cheap. Like 18 bucks. And when you have a direct short that is not fused there is no way to cut that off without disconnecting the battery. And normal fashion takes too long. Install a simple disconnect switch and it just takes the time it takes to get to the battery and its done.

Anyway... These things are in my cars now. Once you lost one that you poured a lot of your time and effort into, you will not do so again.

Now... back to this Power Steering pump... what are the preventions that work best so far?

 

If you have an '06 you have nothing to worry about. Most fires are early models and I have only seen a couple write-ups on '05 cars. I never heard of an '06 doing that--as was posted a few back the PS system was redisigned in mid '05.

 

Thanks for telling me that. Good to know but... Oh I worry anyway now! And not particularly about the Mini... but about them all!

Before:




During:




After:

 

Hi. First, sorry to hear about all of the fires... so sad. Second, I did NOT have a fire. I guess I started reading through this because it popped up as a new post for today. I skimmed through most of the pages and it's late but I may have missed this info that I am mentioning now.

We bought a new 2008 MCS Cabrio around 9/20/08 in Houston TX and drove it home to Sarasota FL. We stopped in Lafayette LA and spent the night. In the morning we went to New Orleans and I was parallel parking when this huge SUV pulls into this tight spot behind me. I'm backing up and counting on my PDC (Parking Distance Control) to kick in and let me know when I'm too close... but it doesn't. (We have an '05 MCS Cabrio too so I am used to this feature.) So the PDC doesn't work. Weird.

Get home and contact the Houston dealership about the PDC and was told that it was probably something minor. I called the service Dept there too and no one could tell me if the PDC was a key setting or why it wasn't working. I was thinking that it was just something simple to fix. I searched for a long time on this forum... lots of different search terms... looked in the manual... literally spent HOURS and couldn't find what I needed. Anyway, the dealership/service people didn't seem to think it was a big deal so we figured that we'd just get it looked at when we took it to MINI in FL when it was due for its first service.

So I'm driving the MINI all around until late October when we take our road trip to the NC mountain twisties and Blue Ridge areas. It was really cold and in fact we got stuck in a freak snow... but the point was that it was COLD (about 26F). Normally in FL I have open toed shoes and no socks but on this trip I was totally bundled up and had socks and boots on in addition to the heat being on. There was a point when I was drving and I told the husband that my right foot felt REALLY HOT like it was on fire! He thought it was just because I had socks and boots on and it was pretty much attributed to what I was wearing. This was the third day of driving. Seemed strange that I hadn't felt it before even though I was dressed the same.

So about a month ago I finally broke down and drove the 1.5 hours to the dealership to have the driver's seat fixed and figured I'd have the PDC looked at while there. Well, they can't replicate the problem with the seat so they couldn't fix that... (clunks in and out of place many times while driving).

BUT the surprising thing we learned is that the reason the PDC wasn't working was because the fuse for the PS fan was blown. Apparently the PS fan fuse is linked to PDC?!?!? We were told by the Service guys that when the PDC isn't working usually the PS fan short/failure/whatever causes the fuse to blow is the first thing they look for! Would've been nice to know... like 4000+ miles back. We asked how this PS fan causes the fuse to blow but we didn't really get any definitive answers.

So reading this thread now makes me wonder if we were actually close to having a fire? When my foot felt like it was on fire... maybe it was close to literally being on fire? I can't imagine if that would have happened.

Maybe someone else has PDC that isn't working (symptom) and they'll be able to find this and associate it with something going on with the PS fan and get it fixed. The fires seem to be related to the PS fan or the PS pump... better safe than sorry.

 

"When my foot felt like it was on fire... maybe it was close to literally being on fire? I can't imagine if that would have happened."

I wonder how healthy the PS pump is????? That would be where the heat for your foot was comming from.

 

Yeah, we wondered too. When I was typing last night I couldn't remember if they changed out the pump too. But just talked to the husband and he said that they did not. Downtown/Orlando MINI said that the PS pump was fine and so I think that just the PS fan and fuse was replaced. I remember hearing the husband on the phone with them now... was expressing concern for the integrity of the PS pump since it had been so long without the PS fan working.

There was mention of ABS component as a possible cause too. I am not so mechanically inclined... where would THAT part be? That day that my foot was so hot was the day that we came down the icy snowy mountain road. I was driving in 1st gear VERY slowly but RPMs were not too high. We started to pick up a bit of speed when we were coming to a turn and I was being VERY careful not to hit the brakes too fast or two hard. Just barely touching the brakes and all of a sudden we could feel that hard THUMP THUMP THUMP. Think it was probably ABS and I think the DSC was working too. I grew up driving on snow and ice and had older cars that didn't have either of those features. I assume that it was the ABS that kicked in twice... could this have attributed to the heat in that area? Didn't have that heat there any other day that I remember.

 

Well I can say this... the rear cup holder (the one just behind the arm rest) is a perfect fit and very good place to put one of these. I just got the one for the MCS today and was sort of searching for a place to mount it when the thought struck me. And so I took it off its mounting bracket and PRESTO! Fit and looks good too.

This one



This one I obtained from Summit but here is the specs on it. Good computer safe, residue free one. Comes in Red or Chrome but Chrome looks good in the cabin.

http://www.h3rperformance.com/hg100c.htm

I know this is worthless without pictures but it was too dark to take a good one. I'll get one up tomorrow for ya. Looks great really.

By the way... most sellers of this one list it as 1 pound of ingredient. The manufacturer says it is a 1.4 pounds.

 

The ABS is on the passenger side of the car, behind the glove box. There is a wire harness that, pinches, shorts out, causes a fire mostly seen on VW, I don't know about the Mini.

The power steering pump may be fine. It does take some time to fail after the PS fan fails. It does get pretty hot.......

Cphilip's solution is a good 1. It's chrome, doesen't get much better than that....

 

Well the chrome one is $25 more than the Red one but, in this instance where it will show, I think its worth it. And its at the ready this way.

It does come with a mounting bracket and holder and there are a couple of real nice Billet Aluminum mounting solutions too. But this one works pretty well. Note you cannot raise the arm rest all the way back with it in there though. But I rarely do.

Here are a few pictures of it in the back cup holder.

 

Hey guys,

Just came across this thread this morning and thought I'd add a data point. I don't own a Mini, but this morning my dog was very insistent on gettng me out of bed and outside in the morning. Upon getting out of the apartment, I noticed a burning smell. It was raining (according to the weather reports the worst rain we've had this year in L.A.) and my neighbor's Mini, which she parks about 5 feet from my house was totally engulfed. It was parked under the overhang of her apartment building and the flames were just starting to reach the overhang. Someone had just called the fire department and the showed up a few minutes later.

According to the fire department, we were about 3-5 minutes away from catching the neighor's house on fire and my house shortly after that.

 

Yikes! Sure thankful that both of your houses are okay!

Yet another example of what BMW calls "...a localized, smoldering condition..."
And worse yet, the NHTSB still buys their story hook, line, and sinker.

 

It's a novel idea, but...what happens to you or your passengers when that thing gets loose in the cabin during a crash?

 

Same thing that happens when anything lose in the cabin becomes a projectile I would imagine however its fairly tight in there. Piece of thin foam keeps it wedged in there pretty darn tight. It has to be thin because its almost a perfect fit by itself. Notice the arm rest forms almost a perfect cage around it. It would have to come straight up to get out. I imagine if its bad enough crash your more likely to be dealing with the air bags. You can use the bracket on the thing if you wish. Point is you need a fire extinguisher close at hand some where you can reach it fast.

 

+1

Oh the irony of being killed by flying safety equipment. Your call, your head.

 

Somethin's gonna get cha! Would be ironic for sure.

Its going to be very hard to get it out of there though. You'll just have to set one in there and see for yourself. Its well caged in there. And a tight and solid fit. Can't come forward due to the arm rest. Can't get out without going straight up and would have to then clear the cage formed by the arm rest bracket. I imagine can only happen in a roll over... then you got lots of other things to worry about. But hey... don't do it if your paranoid about it. Or perhaps get yourself a tin foil hat to deflect it?

Your more likely to get hit by your flying iPod I would imagine!

 

Ok, quick question about all of this. I've read through this thread before I got my car and last night just caught up on all the new posts. Note to self: never read this thread late at night when you're tired. Doing so = paranoia!

I have a 2008 justa and I know there shouldn't be any problems with the PS system since its a new model/year, however in the warmer months, I notice a fan staying on after I turn my car off. It'll either stay on, or go on after the car is off. I asked my advisor at the dealer and he seemed puzzled and said that it must be the fan staying on to continue cooling the engine and that was it. I also started a thread here about it and didn't get much of a response. A lot of you have said you've never heard of it.

Now I'm worried that it could be the PS fan? It hasn't done it all winter when its been cold out. Usually in 70 degree temps or higher- not everytime I drive but not limited to long trips either.

I'm bringing it into the dealer on March 10th for the passenger window. The window gremlins have now taken over that window as well. While I'm there, I'd like to ask about this, but want to know what I'm talking about when bringing it up. Any thoughts?

 

The first and second gen have different systems.