ok, I've given up searching and trying things.

HOW are you guys keeping the ignition turned on for programming (and, in my case, stereo tuning.)?? Externally powered, of course.

On rare occasions the car works with me and I get it to turn on - but either I can't figure out the exact steps, or something else is happening.

And I mean on for more than 1-2 minutes at a stretch. I know it's possible, as I've managed to have it on for >8 hours...but I can't repeat the trick on demand.

(no comfort access here, the victim is a GP)

So, open the door, enter car, insert fob, press start button (no pedals pressed). Wakes everything up, fuel gage lights up, etc.

Now how do you -keep- it here, instead of it doing the two stage turn off in a few minutes?


thanks guys, I'm at my wits end here....


UPDATE for future readers and searchers:


The correct process really is simple: insert keyfob, press start button once (no special holds, no second click) with no pedals pressed. Keep in mind you want external power if you're going to run it for any length of time.


The -problems- seem to stem from the various nannies in the car. In my case, I believe my charger was shutting off after an hour or two for a while - allowing the battery voltage to drain below whatever threshold the car wanted it to be at. The charger would kick back on automatically, and during my testing the voltage to the car was >13.5v, BUT whatever is monitoring the battery was already triggered.

Until the car was left off, and allowed a full re-charge cycle from the charger (to whatever satisfaction the battery nanny needed), I could not get it to stay on (as demoed in the video).


Since that time I've switched away from using a battery charger (which has it's own logic rules) to using a regulated 13.8v power supply, and have now had 3 full days of testing w/o any problems.


The power supply I'm using is a Samlex SEC-1235M ($140 on ebay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/141092051725 - and it's a lot smaller than it looks!


So, there you have it.

 

Get in your MINI, Put in the key. Hold the start button ---- Don't Press the clutch brake pedal or anything while doing this. Then the ignition is on, but the car is not running the engine.

Just leave it, should stay on, push the button one more time. Unless the GP2 is different. Mine stays on ?

 

put fob in, hold button then press button? ok, I'm confused by that.

 

Fixed.

 

ok, here's an attempt:


key in at :06, start pressed at :07

first stage of power down at :28

final stage of shutdown at 2:28

 

ok -

key in, hold start. how long?

release start, ignition wakes up.

press start again, ignition turns off (leaves stereo on for a few minutes)




I know this should be simple....

 

To update:

today this works.

open door, insert fob, press start (no pedals), leave it alone. closing door is fine.


stays on.


why it doesn't -always- do this is a complete mystery to me.

but there we go.

 

One thought...
If the voltage is low due to a weak battery, or heavy load, the car is smart enough to shut stuff off to save enough power for a start..
I would suggest hooking up a battery charger while keeping stuff on...might help....
If anything else the tuning will be more accurate with steady, full voltage.

 

yeah, 30a of 13.5v external power attached in all cases.

 

I've been trying to figure out how to do this for ages. I play the radio while I'm cleaning the car and it's really irritating having to get in every 10 minutes or so to turn it back on again. I'll try the "hold the button" trick next time.

 

first post updated for success.