Hey Mini friends,

My beloved Mini Cooper had a scary light come on yesterday. After checking my manual immediately, I determined it was the yellow engine light, the one that says "engine malfunction with adverse effect on exhaust emissions. You may continue your journey but get it checked asap."

I called my local dealership as my Mini is still under warrenty and explained the situation. They asked me the last time I filled up my gas tank. i said about a week and a half ago. They explained that the most common reason for this light is that the gas cap is loose. I was at work when I spoke with them so I couldn't go out and play with it during the conversation....

The service tech I spoke with this morning told me when I got home to jiggle the gas cap, and to turn it tightly, and that should make the light turn off. He said it if it didn't, it might take 100 miles for it to turn off. This didn't make a lot of sense to me.

He said that even if the light stays on, I should keep driving it. Really? Well I played with the cap as much as I could, and it did absolutely nothing.

I'm half tempted to take it to the dealership tomorrow anyway, but is there something else I should try at home? The car is running beautifully, only has 15k miles on it... and most people seem to think the gas cap is the first thing to go...

Opinions? Suggestions?

 

Hi. My MINI hasn't entered the "birth canal" yet but from my experience with my 2002 Passat your dealer's advice sounds right. The gas cap on the VW clicks shut and if I stop at the first click the engine light will go on. I think it's related to some anti pollution device based on keeping pressure in the gas tank.

In my car it did take a few miles before it reset.

 

Gas cap is usually the culprit and it does take a few miles or restarts of the engine to reset. As long as it's running good, oil level is good, not leaking anything, drive it and it will probably clear.

I had brake lights (both red and yellow) come on after hitting a severe bump in NJ. With the red light, I was afraid it broke something. Called the dealer... no help. Finally got the idea to pull over and shut off the engine for a couple of minutes. That cleared all of the lights and I finished the 600 miles home.

 

If that is the issue it will take some time to reset. My previous car did that once.

 

I have an '09 Clubman with 10k miles, and my check engine light went on my car 2 weeks ago. My dealer told me not to drive the car and sent a flat bed. They diagnosed it as a faulty cam shaft sensor, after the pulled the fault codes from my car.

I'm not sure if you have the same issue, but since the car is under warranty, I would take it to the dealer. If there is something wrong with your car or it's a loose gas cap, they will be able to pull the codes and tell you what caused the check engine light to go off in your car.

 

Was the faulty camshaft sensor a yellow or red check engine light?

 

It was yellow, but they still sent the flat bed anyways.

Here is the narrative from the invoice:

During fault inspection found fault for cam intake sensor being shorted, ran through test plan found connector to be faulty. Replaced connector and sensor per si 12-01-10 tested system after repairs no other problem found.

 

Sounds like I'll be calling the dealership again in the morning. Do you think I should drive it to work? The service tech seemed to think I should, but my original thought was that could really **** up my engine. He said as long as the car was running fine, that the light didn't matter. Uhh..

 

Yeah I would take it to the dealer or your local auto store to pull the codes for free. And as far As I know, you can usually take the ground (black wire) off the battery for 5 minutes and that should clear your codes. And if they reappear than you probably have a problem. But that's just my past experience. But hey, never had a car under warranty and if I did, I would just take it to the dealer.

 

Yes, when you see a yellow check engine light the first thing to check is a loose gas cap. That can trigger it and it's a simple solve. However, you want to keep an eye on it in case it's something more significant. If you haven't filled up for 1.5 weeks I would fill it up in the morning and make sure the cap is on tightly and see what happens on re-start. The 100 mile thing is not something I've heard before. If it was still on tomorrow after cold start, fill up and re-start I would probably take it in.

 

Yeah I have seen a gas light many a times. Chevy blazer, Mazda 6, Acura Tl. It was always off though. Just put it back on and took off the negative wire like I said. Problem solved every time.

 

Believe it or not your gas cap (according to specs) should be tightened 3 clicks . And if you can go to your local auto zone and pick up a OBD2 code reader and see what codes you pull. it should come with a guide and that should tell you where about your problem is.

 

My yellow light came on Friday night and went away about 10 hours later. Mini said it was a bad thermostat and they replaced it under warranty. 49,700 miles right now. How much would it of cost if it was out of warranty?

 

Another data point: My 11 has 4500 miles on it and I got the yellow light last week. Tried the gas cap thing but it did not resolve it. Dealer found a faulty thermostat and replaced under warranty.

 

At 600mi (and it was a day shy of being in my possession for only a month!) I had a yellow check engine. Turns out it was a faulty emissions sensor. Replaced under warranty. I drove it for about three weeks with the engine light on because this was back in October when the 2011s were still very fresh off the line and the dealers weren't stocking parts yet. No problems arose, but I did get them to sign something saying they were telling me to keep driving, juussttt in case

 

Agreed about the gas cap. I had the same issue yesterday. I was worried about driving it with the engine light on, especially since I am in the process of driving from CA to Philadelphia. I am nearing the end of my trip and was concerned about doing damage to the engine of my 2006 by driving it the rest of the way with the light on. I called my mechanic in CA, who said it was probably fine to drive and that it might be the gas cap. The gas cap as the potential culprit really took shape when I came on to this site and saw some of the responses. I then went down to my car and, sure enough, the cap was loose. [NOTE: my gas cap actually says that the engine light will come on if the cap is not properly secured.] I tightened it, and it took a couple of miles of driving before the light went out. What a relief.