[ventmore]

My windows seem to be steaming up a lot lately with the cold weather. Tonight, the entire front window was steamed and both passenger windows. I ran the engine on the drive for a bit to clear the front, then took it for a 10-15 min drive. When I got back...everything was clear but the rear passenger window which was still completely covered. I ended wiping it with a towel.

I've never had a car that's steamed up quite as much as the mini. I've checked all the carpets for moisture and, of course, the boot, but can't find any at all. It has been sat for a week or so. I seem to remember it happening last year, but I didn't have any issues this year until it was serviced. That's probably a coincidence though as it was serviced late October when it started getting cold. I did wonder though if there could be moisture in the new pollen filter that was fitted.

So...is it just the cold weather, or do I have a possible issue?

Whilst I'm on......I had difficulty selecting a gear tonight. I leave the car in reverse as the drive is on a slope. It came out of reverse fine. When I tried to select reverse again, around 10 mins later to pull off the drive, it wouldn't go in. Trying the other gears, none of them would go in until I tried 4th. Once I'd selected 4th, everything was fine after that. Each gear was a little notchy at first as they always are in cold weather, but after that they went in as smoothly as any other time.

Has anybody else experienced this?

 

[pilotwoo]

My initial thoughts were water ingress, but you have checked that. You are certainly more likely to see it this time of year, especially if its only a small leak.

In a previous VW, water used to collect in the bottom of the doors as the drainage channels used to clog. Not heard of that in a MINI though.

Do you run the AC on? Mine is on all the time to dry the air.

 

[ventmore]

Yep...I always run it on auto.

It was only parked up half an hour and the passenger side windows had misted up again. Weirdly...the drivers side windows haven't. Maybe the passenger side is just a little more exposed to the cold. It is bloody cold though......I've just tried to wipe down the front drivers window and it started turning to ice once the door was open.

Door drains eh......any easy way to check them?

 

[jeremybingham]

It isn't the damp pollen filter business is it?

 

[ventmore]

I believe the pollen filter was changed when it was serviced. What causes a damp filter?

edit: The procedure looks easy enough...even for me, so I'm gonna inspect the pollen filters later.

 

[ventmore]

Checked the filters and they're both dry. Had a quick look inside the filter housing with a snake cam and everything looks clean enough in there.

Getting at the filters is an easy enough job unless you're an idiot and get the instructions from a US forum then proceed to dismantle the wrong side of the dash.

BTW...what's this speaker for that I just happened to stumble across in the passenger footwell whilst doing something totally unrelated to checking my filters? 🤣

 

[ventmore]

My initial thoughts were water ingress, but you have checked that. You are certainly more likely to see it this time of year, especially if its only a small leak.

In a previous VW, water used to collect in the bottom of the doors as the drainage channels used to clog. Not heard of that in a MINI though.

Do you run the AC on? Mine is on all the time to dry the air.

I assume this is the door drain......if so...it all looks clear.

 

[MINIkiter]

Checked the filters and they're both dry. Had a quick look inside the filter housing with a snake cam and everything looks clean enough in there.

Getting at the filters is an easy enough job unless you're an idiot and get the instructions from a US forum then proceed to dismantle the wrong side of the dash.

BTW...what's this speaker for that I just happened to stumble across in the passenger footwell whilst doing something totally unrelated to checking my filters? 🤣

LOL 😂. I'm thinking "where the hell is his filter located, I didn't know you could get to it there" then finished your post!

It's a guess, but the speaker might be for the 'computer noises' like indicators and warning bongs?

 

[ventmore]

Yep...it was a real doh! moment. 🙂

You're probably right about the speaker. My immediate thought was parking sensors, but that warning comes from the speakers. I think you can set a speed limit warning so maybe that would come from there. I'm curious now so I'll jam one of the kids into the footwell at some point and try to get it to make a noise......only whilst stationary on the drive of course.

 

[ventmore]

I had a lot of condensation on the rear window a few days ago, and again this morning. I'm wondering if the rear window isn't sealed properly. It has had a rear window replacement at some point before I bought it and it's certainly not the neatest job in the world up close.

I was gonna take the interior boot trim off to see if I could see any obvious points of ingress but decided to leave it for today. However...when I close the boot, something came off inside and is now rattling around behind the trim so I guess I'll have to take it apart today.

Am I right in thinking, once I take out the 2 torx screws out of the centre, it's just a matter of unclipping the trim around the edges?

 

[MINIkiter]

Am I right in thinking, once I take out the 2 torx screws out of the centre, it's just a matter of unclipping the trim around the edges?

Yes you are right, but the plastic pop clips that hold the trim to the hatch are flippin' tight! Big wide plastic trim tools might help, and I found that making a gap and then using fingers was eventually the safest and 'easiest' way. Hurts the hands a bit, but man up!

When you put it back together, get the overlaps right (where the side trims join the top trim) before popping it all back in... I speak from experience

 

[ventmore]

Yes you are right, but the plastic pop clips that hold the trim to the hatch are flippin' tight! Big wide plastic trim tools might help, and I found that making a gap and then using fingers was eventually the safest and 'easiest' way. Hurts the hands a bit, but man up!

When you put it back together, get the overlaps right (where the side trims join the top trim) before popping it all back in... I speak from experience

Lol...many thanks for the speedy reply...I can get straight on it now before the snow.

I tried to make a gap and get my fingers behind but don't have any trim tools and couldn't make a gap small enough for even my tiny hands. Luckily my brother has a full set so he's on his way to me now. We work together on a daily basis where social distancing isn't possible so no problems there.

At least there's only one boot trim so I won't take the wrong one apart this time. 🤣

 

[MINIkiter]

Haha! Yep it is a bit tight, but there's definitely only those 2 x Torx screws in the recessed area you've found already.

 

[MINIkiter]

I tried to make a gap and get my fingers behind but don't have any trim tools and couldn't make a gap small enough for even my tiny hands.

Some really useful notes on how it's done here: Trunk Lid Grip Removal - North American Motoring

Look for GregoryK and Dannno comments. And Rocket_man - photos too, very handy. It's a lot about the emblems and tailgate handle, but lots or trim removal notes with it.

 

[ventmore]

Well...we found lots of glass in there, but that's was all stuck in yellow grease. We also found a torx bit but that was also stuck in the grease.

Turns out the rattle was a large piece of ice. When we found this, my nephew suggested checking the drainage hole on the boot lid (guess I should've checked that earlier but I didn't even know it was there) which we found was clogged up with yellow grease.

We've unclogged it now so hopefully that'll stop the condensation issues.

BTW...the grease is like a hard waxy grease. I assume that should be in there?

 

[MINIkiter]

BTW...the grease is like a hard waxy grease. I assume that should be in there?

I'm not sure, but expect so. I was only trying to cure a rattle that turned out not to be that trim. There's waxy stuff in my bonnet - maybe they 'waxoil' some cavities at factory?

 

[ventmore]

I'm not sure, but expect so. I was only trying to cure a rattle that turned out not to be that trim. There's waxy stuff in my bonnet - maybe they 'waxoil' some cavities at factory?

I've suspected the boot trims of rattles in the past. There is quite a bit of movement and they rattle when tapped. They don't rattle when driving, but I may stick some padding in there whilst I have them off.

 

[ventmore]

Just had to take the car for a run as I was getting a battery warning......probably because I've had the doors and boot open all day and it's only had a couple of very short runs last week.

I had the gear issue again. Reverse wouldn't go in at all...at least it was gonna take more pressure than I was willing to use. First wasn't happy but got it into second then immediately changed to reverse. Gear feel got a little better after a few miles, but it took a good 5 miles before the change was as slick as usual.

Is this usual in cold weather? The car's been stood since last week and it's 1° here ATM.

 

[MINIkiter]

Just had to take the car for a run as I was getting a battery warning......probably because I've had the doors and boot open all day and it's only had a couple of very short runs last week.

I had the gear issue again. Reverse wouldn't go in at all...at least it was gonna take more pressure than I was willing to use. First wasn't happy but got it into second then immediately changed to reverse. Gear feel got a little better after a few miles, but it took a good 5 miles before the change was as slick as usual.

Is this usual in cold weather? The car's been stood since last week and it's 1° here ATM.

I've got mine on the Noco (charger) all week now, as it was moaning about low battery. I don't take him out much if at all in the week currently.

I've never had the gear issue you describe, but I'm on a flat drive so don't need to keep in gear. Could you try parking it in 1st gear a few times and see if that helps? Might help indicate that it is related.

 

[ventmore]

I've got mine on the Noco (charger) all week now, as it was moaning about low battery. I don't take him out much if at all in the week currently.

I've never had the gear issue you describe, but I'm on a flat drive so don't need to keep in gear. Could you try parking it in 1st gear a few times and see if that helps? Might help indicate that it is related.

Took it out today. No battery warnings and the gears were perfect. It's still 2°C today, so maybe it's a combination of the cold weather and being parked up all week. I park on a slight decline too but I don't know if that'll make a difference with where the fluid's sitting in the gearbox.

If it was a real issue, I suppose it wouldn't make sense that it got better as the transmission warmed up. I guess I would've also had a problem today too.