[zoomini]

Hi All,

I'm just writing to tell you my experience with my Mini. Two days ago the needle on my temperature gauge started climbing and I thought my car was overheating. After reading on this forum, I thought I might be suffering from PS fan failure (see another thread). I had my Mini taken to my dealer, and they said that it was actually a problem with the programming of the instrument gauge cluster. Some of the parts, when they age, turn out a different resistance w.r.t. temperature than Mini engineers originally thought. The tech told me that they programmed the computer to look for resistance within a certain range, and that the range was too narrow, not accounting for the natural ageing of the materials. Now, they've reprogrammed it, and all seems well.

Moral -- if your temp gauge is rising, do pull over, check your coolant, and check your PS fan, etc., to rule out other problems. And do have the car taken to the dealer. But know that it may just be a minor programming glitch, as mine apparently was.

[firstmini]

I too had an abnormal temperature gauge that was fixed by software. The needle would consistently read 1/8 hotter than actual. With the ignition off, the needle was at 0 but after starting the engine it was immediately at 1/8th. Then, after warming the needle was pegged at 5/8ths instead of 1/2. I was not really worried that my Cooper was overheating since the gauge was consistenly miscalibrated but took it in to be fixed anyway.

Just wondering how prevalent this problem is.

[R1]

Quote:

Originally posted by firstmini
I too had an abnormal temperature gauge that was fixed by software. The needle would consistently read 1/8 hotter than actual. With the ignition off, the needle was at 0 but after starting the engine it was immediately at 1/8th. Then, after warming the needle was pegged at 5/8ths instead of 1/2. I was not really worried that my Cooper was overheating since the gauge was consistenly miscalibrated but took it in to be fixed anyway.

Just wondering how prevalent this problem is.

I had exactley the same problem!!

I noticed this the first day I picked up my Cooper in April. I took it back to the dealers two days later and they fixed it with what I asume could have been the software programming. The trouble is about two weeks ago it started doing it again!

I've now had it fixed only this week. My dealer was told to change the speedo cluster for a new one. Seems OK now.

[here2help]

The temp guage is damped between 76 degrees and 112 degrees c. In other words when it reaches normal operating temperature above 76 degrees but below 112 degrees the needle should be straight up...anything below 76 goes to cold and above 112 goes into the red...hope this makes sense! its same on all bmw's

[zoomini]

Sorry to take so long to respond -- I was out of town for a couple of weeks. Anyway, my temp gauge was reading 3/4, which was why I thought it was overheating. As soon as it reached that mark, I started driving more slowly, so as to not push the temperature up further. But it probably would have just remained at 3/4, who knows? Anyway, it now seems to be fine, weeks after the fix. If I have the problem again, I will let people on the board know.

[Wul]

Popped to the shops this lunchtime and the temp gauge has just gone up to almost 3/4 point for the first time in 6 months.

Pulled over and checked the coolant level, right on the min mark so will top up and see if it makes a difference.

Out of interest - how does the PS cooing fan affect the engine temp? surely the PS fan is not water cooled hence the need for a fan or does the temp gauge also sense the temp of the fan too?

[zoomini]

If the PS cooling fan failed, and in turn blew the fuse, then this could stop the main cooling fan and cause the car to overheat. This is why the other glitch is such a problem. (Or at least knowing about both glitches at once )

Anyway, the most common of the two glitches is the defective/misprogrammed temp gauge. But the only way to know for sure which problem you have is to get the car to your MINI dealer. Let us know how it turns out . . .

[Wul]

Well after getting a new speedo cluster installed in Dec02 to sort the temp gauge fault - on friday it has come back! AAARRRRGGGHHHH!

So back to the dealer it goes again!

[zoomini]

Yikes! Poor you. Mine hasn't shown up again -- and I didn't get a new cluster; the dealer did some re-programming. So maybe you just need the reprogramming?

The dealer explained it to me (finally, after I insisted -- I guess they thought a girl couldn't understand) -- the computer is programmed to look for resistance within a certain range, and the range did not account for the wear and tear on the materials. As the materials aged, the resistance went out of the range, resulting in a faulty gauge reading. So instead of getting a new cluster, maybe ask about the programming? Again, keep us posted! My car has only 3100 miles, so maybe that's why my problem hasn't resurfaced.

[Wul]

Well the temp gauge fault is back for the third time and the dealer has ordered up speedo cluster NUMBER 2!!!

AAARRRGGHH!!!