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Sorry for the delay, I was busy integrating Facebook into Motoringfile and I lost track of time.
Full notes to follow.
Oh, and Gabe didn’t have Ebola. Or Monkey Pox.
Woofcast 284:
Download | 20.8MB | 45:20 | WRR @ iTunes
For the record – it was my tach you guys were discussing with the -12 temp.
Answer: 2005 R53 Cooper S
Just wanted to mention that the car going into limp mode at cold temps (happened to me at plus 6 yesterday) definitely IS a design flaw. You can’t brush something like this off as ‘it’s just really cold’. I’ve owned upwards of 40 vehicles, including 4 MINIs, and this R56 is the only one to have an issue like this. And judging by the 20 or 30 other cars at the dealer with the same problem, there is a design problem.
Saying there isn’t makes you guys sound like shills for BMW/MINI, and you are better than that.
Alright, I’m officially looking into this. Please tell me which dealer has 30 MINIs in for frozen throttle bodies.
While I understand owners’ frustration, a cursory Google search revealed that a frozen throttle body is not limited to MINIs but occurs in many other makes at cold to very cold temps.
You know we’re not shills for MINI or any other brand. What I do understand is the engineering limitations of design of any product that will be used worldwide in conditions from 120 F to -50 F. LIke I said in the show, mother nature is going to win out because water is going to turn into ice at very cold temperatures every time. Maybe there is a design improvement to prevent where that ice forms. Rest assured, we’re looking into it.
International MINI in Milwaukee had 25 on January 19th.
As of right now, they are fitting a new intake manifold on cars after the second occurrence of the issue. The problem is, the parts are on backorder, and they claim my car would have to sit for two weeks waiting on the part (which they can’t order unless my car is there, and then they can’t let me take my car and come back when the part is in….)
Also, people are reporting that the new manifold isn’t correcting the issue.
I have nearly 15 years experience developing under-hood components for tier one automotive suppliers. I understand the limits that components are tested to. (125C to -40C in most of our cases.) That’s why I don’t buy the ‘mother nature wins’ statement. Well, that plus getting to be the butt of jokes at work becuase my ‘new’ car is the only one not working!
I simply want to weigh in on the frozen throttle problem. It is a design flaw that should not occur. The BMW dealership in Minnesota, Motorwerks Mini, is overwhelmed by the number of Mini Cooper S autos that have been brought in because of this cold/moist weather problem.There is nothing normal about it, and it is hazardous to drive with a car that has very low power. It is the responsibility of BMW to find a solution.