As is my custom, I recently bought a car with several problems to sort out. It's normally a BMW that has me beating my head against the wall, but this time around I thought it would be fun to give a MINI the opportunity. The car is a 2009 Cooper 2-door (102K miles). It has a JCW appearance package, but none of the performance enhancing options - which is fine because it's my wife's car. I have it mostly sorted except for a frustrating problem with the HVAC blower motor.

When I got the car, the A/C and heat worked, but the blower wouldn't run. I did some troubleshooting and ended up unplugging the motor and connecting it directly to 12V. It spooled right up and worked great after that. For about 2 weeks. Then it quit again. I thought that maybe the plug has just worked loose or wasn't making good contact, and that's why it worked after I ran it off direct 12V. So when it quit again I unplugged it and plugged it back in. Nothing. I wiggled the connector around to see if it somehow wasn't making good contact. Nothing. So, again I hooked it to a 12V source and it spooled right up and has been working for the last couple of days. But it's only a matter of time before it dies again.

My first thought is that the blower itself is failing and the 12V jolt gets it going again temporarily. But before I put myself through the financial and physical pain of replacing it, I'd like some confirmation that I'm on the right track - or a correction if there's another possible cause. I know it's apples and oranges, but I had a similar problem with my 2008 Toyota Tundra tow vehicle and replacing the blower cured it 100%. Can lightening strike twice?