New to mini but not new to wrenching on vehicles. Long story short, bought an 07 R-52 Base convertible as a project because I'm not to smart. Yes I got it dirt cheap Had no idea that there were so many nuances to these things and it seems available information is limited so I'm hopeful some of you familiar with these can shed some light on a few problems. Let me say first I bought this from a kid that was by no means mechanically inclined and I think his "car friends" weren't qualified to change a lawn mower spark plug. I was advised his "mechanic" told him it needed a transmission, The car would go but not over 40 MPH. I looked at it without benefit of seeing it run at first, body was clean, top in good shape etc. Later met the kid to hear it run, he tells me on the way the battery was dead but they jump started it (I had no clue this could be a problem on these). It runs, seemed to idle to idle fast, dash lit up like a Christmas tree, went into gear forward and reverse (didn't go for a test ride because tag was expired and he already said trans was bad). Loads onto trailer fine and I bring it home to start digging in.

Figure I'll pull codes first before anything else. Find out none of my scanners will communicate well enough to be of any use. Buy one the works for a mini. Get a codes for "unmetered air before (and after) supercharger......it isn't supercharged, one for steering angle and no TCM found. Tried running it for a while (new battery) to do a live scan, car overheats, cooling fan never came on (no water in oil no oil in coolant good compression on all cylinders. scanner still shows no TCM Key fob also will not unlock doors but it is in rough shape so not sure if something is mis-matched or the fob is just bad.

As I sort through stuff I'm wondering if one of the past fixes was to replace the ECU / DME , any idea how I can tell if the correct one is in the car? Or could they have bricked it when jump starting. When I pulled it out there was a tar like substance coming out of the small weep holes at the bottom

Where exactly would the TCM be located?

With respect to the cooling fan, I suspect this was a junkyard replacement , reason being is that all the wiring diagrams I can locate only show a single connection, this one has two a large with three wires and a small with two lighter Gaige which has no matching connection in the chassis wiring.

Is there any kind of software available to re-code modules (like ForScan for Ford products)
Any help would greatly be appreciated

 

ECU is located inside the engine compartment and has the VIN # on it. Disconnect the battery, pull the ECU and compare it to the VIN listed on the car. That will let you know if it's been replaced. If it has, someone would have needed to recode the car to the replacement ECU otherwise you would not be able to start it. It also sounds as though you have a CVT auto trans which has a reputation for failure. Check thermostat first for overheating problem. Cooling fan should come on with A/C. Recoding can be accomplished with INPA software.

 

Thanks for the info. Is INPA reasonably available to the public or is it geared more towards shops?