As some of you may know, I had my car stall at 70mph, and brought it in. MINI applied the software updates and essentially treated it as though it was related to the Auto Start/Stop issue that some have experienced.

Well, the car stalled again at about 20mph on an onramp this morning. I was able to push in the clutch and start it right up without any delay so no big problems.

I noted to myself that at both times I had a Wifi ELM327 plugged into the OBD2 port for logging engine info, MPG, etc. Doing a quick google search revealed this thread over at palmerperformance (who make an excellent OBD2 App for the iPhone):

http://www.palmerperformance.com/for...p?topic=8448.0

It appears others have had similar issues, and a couple of them were driving minis. The fault seems to be with a cheap, or faulty, ELM327. I wouldn't say not to use an ELM327 - it's a very useful device to have. But I would be mindful of which one you purchase, as there is a potential for disaster if your car stalls at the wrong moment.

 

Pardon my ignorance but why is the ELM a useful device to have? If it's supposed to give you all this useful engine data then I'm sure it was able to tell you WHY THE ENGINE QUIT WHILE YOU WERE DRIVING THE CAR. Right? Remind me to not get one of those lol. That thing will void your warranty for sure if something gets screwed up on your car, trust me.

 

The cause of your stalling was the OBD2 device? I guy on the forum here is considering not buying a mini for his daughters because he read your first post and thinks the new mini is unreliable.

 

I trust you Newt, but there is nothing in the warranty that precludes a code reader. If you clear codes you will likely void warranty, but not by simply plugging it in and reading the information. If you use a device to tune the car (I.e. Not merely a reader), you will void the warranty.

As for someone relying on information I provided, I don't know what to tell you other than reporting all the information I have. I never advised that person one way or another. And I'm following it up with the cause as soon as I found out.

ELM327 readers are pretty commonplace items in the performance world. I have never heard of a reader causing any kind of problem in the past; indeed it seems to be a very rare occurrence.

 

Crimguy, did you find anything interesting from the log file? Information related to why the engine stopped?

I don't believe the ODB2 reader has anything to do with stalling an engine. I have a cheap ODB2 reader bought from ebay long time ago for about $20, works perfectly fine on Hyundai Elantra 2007 and Mazda CX-5. Mine's actually a ELM327 knock-off, as most of the other $10-$30 range devices are. I opened it up, and saw it has a programmed microprocessor.

Mine is Bluetooth by the way. Works well with my Android phones with TorquePro. I can leave it on for days and it won't drain the car battery.

So, obviously once you get your car back, you are not going to plug in anything, right? Please keep up updated!

 

<<<@!1!@>>>

I would tend to agree - however all indicators seem to imply that the OBD2 reader is doing something detrimental to the normal functioning of the car. It is, like your's, . It's remaining unplugged, and unless it stalls again, I will assume the OBD2 reader is causing the problem. It's wifi, it's plugged into the system, it's drawing power from the OBD2 port. Perhaps it's drawing too much power intermittently, and causing the ECU to momentarily shut down? Dunno. But both times my car crapped out, it was plugged in. The first time was within 2 days of plugging it in; the second time was within 20 minutes of plugging it in. The fact that others have had similar experiences, and palmerperformance acknowledges it is rare but can happen, gives me enough pause.

I will likely get another, higher quality one - I'll probably head over to miniTorque and ask for recommendations. As you know, it provides a lot of information about the car that you couldn't otherwise get. Acceleration times, coolant temp, fuel flow, boost/vacuum, intake and ambient temps, MAP, MAF, and loads of statistics. So it's a nice thing to have.

 

I bought a GoPoint BT-1, the old model. I have been using on my interim vehicle, I sure hope it works.

 

Excellent post, that may put much anxiety to rest.
especially since the manufacturer confirms the occurence.

 

I hope so. There are enough legitimate problems with our cars to concern ourselves with

Keep in mind that Palmer Performance does not make or distribute the OBD2 reader. They make an app for iOS and Android devices that reads the data from your car. It's a really nice piece of software and modestly priced. A few years ago this kind of stuff would cost you hundreds of doars.