Apologies for the long title.


Anybody ever seen the following before:


Headlights always on, locks don't lock when driving, roof won't fully open


Seems to me like one common failure somewhere but not sure where to look.

 

They seem like 3 independent issues to me. Please clarify... did none of these issues exist before, and they all suddenly started to happen at the same time?

 

How old is the battery?

 

The battery is a replacement Bosch battery and looks fairly new. No problems with starting or anything.

@rkw... it's not my car, I'm repairing this for a customer. To be perfectly honest I'm not really expecting to get this resolved through the forum but have posted this on the off-chance that somebody has seen or heard something.

I'm pretty well experienced in resolving these sorts of issues. It's not that unusual for one fault to cause 3 separate electrical systems to malfunction. This is because MINIs and lots of other modern cars use bus-system electrical circuits where signals are sent between control modules using common wiring for multiple systems. So it is perfectly possible for 1 failed part to knock out 3 systems.

All I know so far is that from diagnosing the roof fault individually that the sunroof motor (in the overhead cross-bar on the convertible, opens the front part of the roof) works fine but when you expect the hydraulic motor in the boot (trunk for US guys) to take over nothing happens. When connected to the computer testing the convertible roof buttons says those buttons are not working and the voltmeter shows no power going to the hydraulic motor.

 

For the sunroof portion of the convertible : see here.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...tible-top.html

Test the battery, when low voltage all kind of weird things happen. That might be the lock and headlights on. Also check the BCM in the kick panel for damage from water, there is one just for the R52 Convertible bodies. Also causes weird things to happen in the lighting and electronics.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/61356982115/



, in the convertible it might be from a top left open, or flood damage.

thanks

 

Have already attempted reset of convertible top module and body control module by disconnecting, waiting, reconnecting. That technique has resolved faults on other cars in the past but no luck this time.


DIS says replace convertible top module. I'm not convinced that would actually have any effect.


DIS says the roof buttons are 'Not Active' when testing those. This is while the sunroof motor (in the cross-bar) is operating, DIS still reports buttons 'Not Active'


A voltmeter on the power to the convertible roof hydraulic pump shows no power is being sent to the pump. So that rules out any possibility that the pump is faulty I think.


I might look at the central locking fault next as the fault is very specific and that might help track down the fault. The locks aren't automatically locking when driving. The customer thinks all three faults appeared after she had the radiator replaced at another workshop. The only theory I have which might connect with that would be some fault with the ground point X165 on the right front chassis leg. That only connects to the headlamp though, not central locking or convertible roof module.

 

Hmm...
One thought....
Does the car have an i-pod adaptor??
When the go bad it can really mess up lots of unrelated things since it is on the canbuss...

 

No iPod adapter but it does have an aftermarket stereo so something may be causing a problem in that area. It's possible there is a fault there.


I've found that the tension bar microswitch is set to 'open' at all times. That might disable operation of the roof. I'm going to start looking into that but will have to find it first.

 

Is this an R52 or 57? The '06 and earlier R52's don't have an Ipod adapter unless one was owner installed, can't say for sure about the '07 or R57. One thing not mentioned and very simple for the top operation problems. Is the DS parcel shelf foot all the way down closing the safety switch? That little gizmo gets overlooked often.

 

I'd say it's an R52. That's first generation, this car is a first-gen. The microswitch for the parcel shelf works but not the one for the tension bar. That's the primary focus of my attention at present. I can see the read-out on the computer screen to show whether the microswitches are working.

 

It wasn't the tension bar microswitch. When I worked out where that was (it's behind the left-hand leaver which holds down the rear section of the roof)


After a lot more testing and tracing wires ect I've come to the conclusion that this problem with the roof is with the General Control Module or Body Control Module - whichever name it has. The headlights, roof and central locking problems are all caused by the same faulty control unit.


When you run a diagnostic the computer does not detect the BCM, it just skips that test... that isn't normal.


So the current plan is to try and reset or re-code the BCM. If anybody knows how you do that feel free to offer some advice. In the meantime I'll be having a go at working it out.

 

This has been fixed by replacing with a used control module from another car. I've had to reprogram the keys and match the unit to the car.


Unfortunately now the hydraulic roof motor operates but it is not moving the roof. It seems as if it does not have enough power to move the roof. It moves freely if you operate by hand, you can put it all the way down and bring it all the way back up. The latches work fine. The motor runs but the roof does not move.

 

Did you get one from another convertible, the BCM for the hardtop and Convertible are different, that might be the problem, how did you get the BCM to take the reprogram, most will not take it and you have to buy new.

Thanks

 

I actually didn't source this myself. The customer managed to find a supplier who had an almost identical car to take the replacement module from. So it is an R52 module (says it on the sticker) - the roof hydraulic motor is working but seems as though it does not have enough power to move the roof. We are a long way forward with resolving this now.

 

After a really brief think here I'm probably looking at a roof which has had the manual emergency override engaged when the previous workshop were investigating. i.e. I didn't think to check it because I didn't engage the override myself.


So that's the plan for now, to see if the manual override is engaged.

 

Yeah, it was that. The valve was open on the pump because someone had been trying to operate it manually.