My Poor Mini

Im on for a bit of a rant now so I apologize in advance

This weekend I decided to take a nice trip down to Diss in the mini to see a girl I met a few weeks ago, it was the first time meeting her parents etc.... so it all went well and I made it there no problems on yesterday and we were going bowling in Ipswich in the evening, so took the mini down to Ipswich and left about midnight to head back to Diss. but coming back the battery light came on and the lights slowly got dimmer and dimmer so I tried my best to make it back but about half way the engine cut out and that was that. So a quick check under the bonnet and the fan belt had snapped off, which I only had replaced along with the alternator 2 weeks ago! So I phoned the AA and 3 hours later they arrived with a tow truck and pulled the mini back to her house.

So this morning I attempted to replace the belt myself and managed to do it easily enough and got it all running again , after a couple of hours I decided to leave and got about 5 miles down the road and noticed the engine temperature hadn't gone up at all, then about 30 seconds later smoke came pouring out the engine, so I pulled over and had a look and the radiator was empty and the engine had gotten roasting hot and had oil pouring out the top and had a very strong burning smell So I phoned the AA again and another 3 hours passed before they arrived with a truck. He had a look and it looks like the fan belt snapping has cut my radiator up then he tried getting her running again and the immobilizer refused to let engine run So I kindly asked to be towed home but because I didn't have relay on my AA he said he couldn't So £60 later after upgrading to relay I am back home and the mini is in the barn looking very unhappy.

So all in all an interesting weekend, she seemed to think it was funny so hopefully I'm ok there but now I don't know what to do with the mini I know it needs a new radiator for sure but don't know what damage the engine has I will be paying a visit to the garage that did the work a couple of weeks ago to see what they say, The AA said the belt had been over tightened which caused it to break so I guess they should be responsible for fixing it!

Anyway thats my rant over for now but will update when I go to the garage tomorrow!

I'm sure it can be fixed.

A rad can be had off e-bay for around £50 new,(I know I need one before Germany)
The A series is a resiliant little engine, There's a good chance you'll have got away with minimum damage. Worse case would be a head gasket, and that's not the end of the world

sorry to here about your troubles
you no you need a rad because the one you have is crap have you taken the bracket of your other mini yet
the temp gauge didnt work more than likely you or the garage knocked the wire of just under the thermostat ubove the alternator
there are normally 2 sizes of alternator belts did they fit the right one
i had to wait 4 hours for aa once and made a complaint. They upgraded me to free hire car hotel ect for free of charge because they are surposed to be with you within an hour
i would make the garage repair at there cost
you should tell us the garage so other owners dont use them

I have used that excuse to get a girls tights off !!!!!!!! you always have fun in a mini

Sounds painful... But by the sound of it an easy fix!!!

Yeah like johnnie said worst case is the head gasket!!!

Thats one of the main problem with garages (but i can't speak cause i do it!!!) On modern cars you need the bely quite tight so you use a bar!!! But doing this on a mini is a bad idea as it fries the bearing in no time flat!!!

A mates SPI always has problems with his immobiser, you end up dissconnecting the battery for a while which is ok until it starts to snow;0)

Hope you get it fixed ok !!!!

(they should pay for the damage)!!!!

Thanks everyone my only worry is the engine might have taken a bit of a beating with the heat and i saw a bit of cream coloured oil coming out of the cap on the rocker cover when it was hot but haven't tried turning it over since. The garage (Woodrow garage near Aylsham) said this morning that there is no way they could have fitted the fan belt wrong and it was probably a stone that hit the belt and sheared it. Not sure if that could be true or not? but they are coming in a bit to take it away and fix everything and check he engine over. I bet that will be at my cost but will have to see first.

As long as can be fixed though I'm happy I will probably take it to the other local garage after just to have it all checked over and make sure there is no dodgy work, and then use them from now on!

a stone
now thats funny cant see it myself
ive lifted mini engines out with a fanbelt around the rocker shaft before it takes some before snapping
get a price before having them go ahead with the work

Apparently they see lots of minis with stones breaking belts haha! Never heard of it myself. They just towed it away they wrapped a bit of rope round the tie bar and towed it like that, not sure if thats the best way as I guess it can bend but I will have to see. Just got to wait to see what they say needs doing now. Although I guess I should be happy that it happened now and not somewhere in the middle of Germany

Not really the best way to toe it!!!

They should pay for the damage!!!!!!!!
As they fitted the belt not to long ago!!!!

Harry H wrote:Apparently they see lots of minis with stones breaking belts

"Cough Bull$h!t"

Sound like a right bunch of
Get a quote and no more Harry, they really don't sound like they're doing you any favours, and as for towing it any distance on a tie bar!!!!!!!!! wrong wrong wrong.

The mini is home! and alive again Think I have figured it all out though. We let the garage do it this time just to get it going but thats the last time they will see me. But they have had to replace the alternator again...even though they put a new one on a few weeks ago, apparently water must of hit it when the radiator split and so it broke. But I reckon that what must have happened is that the alternator they put on was dodgy and maybe had a tough spot which slowly destroyed the fan belt, so they made up the excuse that the water broke it to replace it. But they are sending the old one back so hopefully I wont have to pay for that but it seems to be holding water well now and sits at a nice temperature so Im happy again just got to replace my tie rods as the steering is ropey after they towed it! But lesson learnt...never use them again! I will treat it to some tyre shine tomorrow. then it will go forever

sorry to hear you've been ripped off Harry, but, great you have the car back.
A lesson learnt, we've all been there, just never use them again because they've spun you a complete pack of lies there.
Just to recap. A stone jumped up into the fan belt, broke it, which clattered into the radiator, causing a hole SO big that a jet of water gushed out directly into the new altenator causing enough damage to require a new replacement. Have I missed anything in this remarkable series of events?
Don't hold your breath on the money back for the altenator, if its water damage (unlikely) its not the makers fault, if it was a manufactering fault it proves the rest of the tale was a crook of sh*t. I recon they've said they sent it back so you couldn't see it or get it checked by somebody who knows what they're talking about.

haha yeah thats the story they gave very unfortunate but its what happens with these old minis apparently I will just have to wait and see what they say about the alternator now. I might have to write it all down as I couldn't have made up a story like that! and everyone should be very careful when driving from now on, you never know when that stone will launch itself into your fan belt and cause major problems

Harry H wrote:The garage (Woodrow garage near Aylsham)...

Maybe they deserve a mention in this topic Harry.