I got my 2003 Mini Cooper out of the shop about 3 weeks ago… They replaced the damper, the serpentine belt, thermostat, coolant gasket seal, rear rotors/breaks, bleeding of the breaks, and inner cv boot. Noted to get the oil pan gasket replace which i planned on doing in the upcoming week when i got an oil change but they put beside it was light leakage. All Power Steering was redone under a recall warranty mid July.
Yesterday earlier that morning my battery light came on but than proceeded to try off by the time i was back home. I drive my car in the afternoon, i notice that my battery light is on and continued to stay on. Then my temperature gauge goes all the way up. i open the hood, its nothing noticeably different. I sit there for quite sometime and i drive it again to see if it would overheat. I drove about 3 miles to my in-laws and the car no longer overheated. I decide to drive it down to the autozone to check my battery and she tells me it weak to leave the car running to see if it recharges but thinks something pulling on the battery. (the battery is new barely over a year old) During the drive to the autozone and back to my mother in laws the car doesn’t overheat but the battery light remains on. I leave the car running in the driveway a bit later i notice the car is smoking, literally hear the antifreeze boil in the car,antifreeze is all over the ground, and the temperature gauge is running hot but the cars fan was not running.
i’m not sure if these problems are connected but i never had either of these problems prior to get it worked on. My car has always started strong. The alternator could be going but all lights, electronics,door-locks, windows,heated seat are working. Furthermore the car starts so strong every time, haven’t had any symptoms of a bad alternator.I read it could be a belt issue but the belt and damper are newly replaced.
i plan on getting it to the shop but they aint open til tuesday
You either need as new seprentine belt or/and a new belt tentioner.
The belt is not spinning the water pump fast enough to keep the engine running at the proper temp, plus the alternator also runs off this belt and it is spinning too slow to run the charging system.
Sorry, somehow I missed the first two paragraphs of your post.
There is a coolant temperature sender that sends the signal to the computer that the engine fans need to turn on. Then the computer turns on the fan.
This sensor is not the same one that tell you how hot your car is running.
When you were driving down the road…the wind blowing in thru the grill served as a fan. Once you let it sit…no air was blowing in and it overheated.
When moving at a steady pace the airflow through the radiator (due to the car’s motion) may be enough you don’t need the electric fan(s), so you don’t overheat. But when you slow or stop and idle, then the electric fan will eventually need to come on to keep the coolant at the correct temperature. I think that’s the first place to look. Ask your mechanic to find out why the electric radiator fan isn’t coming on when the coolant is reaching temperature that it should.
There are other possibilities of course. Like you may have air in the cooling system (due to the replacement of the thermostat) that needs to be bled out. On cars with a low hood profile (like sports cars), the designers have to keep everything in the engine compartment low, and this can make getting the air out of the cooling system difficult, and a special procedure is sometimes necessary on this type of car. A mechanic w/experience w/minis would know about whether it applies in your case. Does your shop have such a mechanic?
Also, it may be something very simple, like there is something wrong with your radiator cap. May be the shop put the wrong cap back on or the gasket fell out, or cross threaded it or something.
Ahhh… I see what your saying, i would be surprised if they did get all confused and did that but at the same time i wouldnt it was a lot of work at one time. I’m not gonna say they are speacialized in MINIs but they have been around from like the 60’s and have worked on a variety of car. Our other cars were work on by them and they usually do great work.
