Looking for some help from the very knowledgeable here. I ran out to do some errands earlier today. I came home for about an hour. When I got back in the car I tried starting the car and it kept stalling. It would go on for a second then just shut off. If I gave it gas, it would not stall. I drove it to my destination and showed my friend what was happening. At that point, the car didn't stall but the idle went up and down. Then I came home for a while. I went back out and showed my husband. At that point, the idle either went up and down or there was no problem. (Go figure.)

It's a 2010 automatic S. I have had it for literally a week and 2 days. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Yes, I tried calling service today. No service people were there to talk to today aside from the service receptionist. She says bring it in Monday morning. I say I need to get to work so I'll drop it off today if you could give me a loaner. Nope sorry. All loaners are loaned out. Maybe they could give me back the car I traded in.

I did go through a lot of the stall and yo yo threads but I thought they pertained to the 1st gen models which is why I'm posting here.


Edit:

It's also not a cold start thing as the engine was hot.

Now that the car has been sitting a while without use, when hubby and I went out to see what happens, there was no problem. I'll give it a few days to see what happens before I badger the service dept. about it.

Thanks!

 

I understand the high pressure fuel pump has been known to fail even on brand new cars... Your symptoms sound like they could be in-line with that.

Sorry you're having trouble with your brand new car... At least it's warrantied. Real bummer that it happened on a weekend when service was closed, though.

 

Yep, sounds like a bad high pressure fuel pump...

 

I agree its your high pressure fuel pump I had the same problem less than a month when I got my 2009 mini clubman s. Mine had the check engine too first day i got it. They will warranty it. Mine is good now with 15k miles. Good luck on that.

 

Thanks for the feedback all. After my last post last night, I went out to start it again and had no problems. I had no problems today. I wonder if this all had to do with the fact that I put my first tank of gas in on Friday. Strange that it would take a whole day to give me a problem though.

I'll post again if the problem re-appears.

 

Our MCS do have the direct injection engines. This provides more power, lower emissions and better fuel economy.

These HP fuel pumps operate at almost 30 times ( yes 30!) the fuel pressure of older fuel injection systems and it is not that unusual for some of these pumps to fail early - regardless of which make of car. More and more manufacturers are going to these direct injection systems. The symptoms you describe are consistent with those encountered with a sick HP pump and some posts describe the on and off nature of the symptoms.

 

If your real lucky the dealership will claim bad gas, and try and charge you for the repair.

 

I called the service manager this morning and of course his first question was what kind of gas did you put in?

I was prepared to leave the car and have a loaner for a few days but they did the repair right there and then. And yes, it was the fuel pump. Hopefully this will be the only issue.

Thanks all again for your input. You guys really know your stuff.

 

Hi there,

Picked my new 2010 MCS up on the 6th of June and drove it 500 miles home. I've put one new tank of gas in - top tier as recommended.
I went out to run some errands and for two days now, I start it up, drive it to where I'm going, go into the store, come back out after about 20 mins to 1/2 hour and same problem. Starts, stalls right away. Have to give it gas to keep it running, then its fine. It only seems to be after I've driven a short distance and the engine is warm, not hot, or cold.
My MA called to see how my drive home was and I told him about the stalling. He asked me the same question, what gas did you use? How long ago did you fill up? He said he never heard of that problem. Nice, sure you haven't, nice try!
Anyhow, we'll see how it goes over the next day or two and then I guess I'll be in the same boat as you, off to the service department, at the dealership that I didn't buy it from. We'll see how that goes....

 

Well, you know what my problem turned out to be. If it is your fuel pump, and right now you don't know, it's not something I would hold off on. You can call your service dept. Monday morning and have them take a look. I'm curious to know what the problem is with yours.

 

WOW...I posted a nearly identical message

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-and-dies.html

Did your service engine light ever come on? Did it actually stall when it was at the dealer service dept?

They basically refused to do anything for me until either the light goes on or they had to witness the stall. After hearing several people say its the fuel pump, I'm going to take it back and camp out until they fix it.

 

Oh my lord. Another one of these threads. Who will be the first to guess correct?! I don't mean to be brash but the answer is - *drumroll* - let the dealer take care of it. Don't stress yourself out so much. Things happen and your MINI is still under warranty. They will take care of you

 

No the light never came on. They did replace the fuel pump though. And lucky me, today, after having the car for a month, the same symptoms are happening again. I'll have to call service and get them to take care of it.

 

I'm not if that was directed at me or the other person stating they had the same problem. While you might not stress out about it, it is rather annoying to me to have something happen like this so early in ownership. And now, it seems I'm having the problem again. So yes, the car is under warranty and I'm glad they'll cover the cost. But the same problem shouldn't continue to happen whether its covered or not.

 

Before my third fuel pump, the engine would stall but no check engine would come on. The HPFP failure was nonetheless displayed by the diagnostics system. As I have posted in other threads, MINI is buying my 5k miles car back to keep me in the brand, because of this known problem with HPFP, shared by 3-series turbo BMWs and not solved after 4 years of tinkering. Good luck

 

Thanks for the info. I truly hope that is not the case with mine. I'd hate to feel that I made a mistake buying a Mini when I've wanted one for so long.

 

The diagnostic showed a problem with the fuel pump? Do u mean the dealer's diagnostic tool or the car's on-board diagnostic check funtion that u access with the push button on the turn signal stalk?

 

What's the name of your dealership that was nice enough to replace your fuel pump even w/o being able to replicate the problem? I just dropped off my 2-week old MINI today at a local dealer for the same exact problem and I can already tell they won't be as helpful.

 

I never said they weren't able to replicate the problem. That was another poster. My dealership told me the diagnostic tool they used said it was the fuel pump. Unfortunately, it's acting up again and I have to take it back. I am becoming concerned that this is going to be an ongoing problem. FWIW, my dealership is Mini of Morristown in NJ.

 

I have no idea how to check error messages and codes myself with the turn signal push button. The dealer invoice after the 3rd fuel pump (second replacement) mentioned an error code from the fuel pump, I presume on the dealer's diagnostic tool.

Initially the dealer told me to wait for the check engine light to come and stay on before sending them the car (150 miles one way via road assistance) a third time. I decided I would not wait as long after my car stalled in the middle of a street with traffic as I was getting out of the parking lot at the end of a full day of work. That was a bit unnerving. So they did find an error code without the CEL coming on. Mind you that the CEL did come on after the engine stalled but did not stay on after subsequent starting attempts were successful. The CEL did stay on however before they replaced the intake manifold at 300 miles and the fuel pump around 2-3k miles. Hope this helps.

The car is now sputtering on cold starts... not stalling yet. I only hope the replacement MC Mayfair will make it to the dealer before the third fuel pump gives up and requires a fourth haul to the dealer... by which time the lemon law could kick in here in NY state.

 

Two attempts at repairing a life-threatening problem, four attempts at repairing a non-life-threatening problem (I think the stalling problem falls under this category, but I'm sure some would argue the former, especially if it stalls while you're driving), or 30 cumulative days in the repair shop within 18 mos. or 18k miles is what the lemon law says here in CA.

My concern is what is officially considered an "attempt to repair" or "a day in the shop" if you bring the car in multiple times but the dealer won't acknowledge a problem.

 

Ive had the same issue with the sputtering/missing on a cold start. Had the CEL come on and took it to service, they initially said that it was due to excessive ethanol in the fuel, but have been using top tier fuel in it.

The dealer did a fuel injection cleanse on my 2009 MCS with 6200 miles on it. Worked fine for a day, and then on a cold start the same thing happened again, sputtering/missing and after 30 seconds it smooths out and will run fine for the rest of the day.

In order to better illustrate to the Service Dept the problem, I have a small Digi recorder (cell phone would do it too) and record the start. If it starts normally then delete it, if not, it gives the service tech a better idea of what is wrong since, as we all know, Cars always behave when visiting the dealer.

I will address the possible issue of the high pressure fuel pump when I am in the dealer on Monday.

 

I've been having the same problem and my car is 1 week old. In it's first week, it was at the dealer for 2 days and of course they couldn't find a problem. It's a cute car but I didn't sign up for this so I'm going through the California Lemon law process...since I picked it up last week and now the engine light is back on and it stalls....give me back the workhorse Mazda that I traded in!

 

My question....what happens when these cars are out of warranty??

 

That's what I am worried about. :/