Today I brought in my Cooper for a check engine issue that's been recurring for a while. I have an 03 MC CVT with the Borla and K&N Typhoon intake. The dealership called and said the exhaust is causing a random misfire, and that they can't do anything unless I put the original exhaust back on. Has anyone else encountered this problem before? They said the exhaust is allowing too much gas to the engine. The one reason I have a serious problem with that explanation is that I bought the exhaust off someone else who had it on their MC, with no problems. Why would it suddenly decide to act up on my car? Maybe they're right. I'd just like to see if this has happened to anyone else. Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

Sounds like a total BS answer. A free flowing exhaust will allow more gases to flow which in turn allows more air and fuel creating a bit more power. But the ECM and sensors will allow for the extra flow. Try another dealer... thats just not acceptable.

 

Sounds like bovine manure to me!

 

Combustion waste particles are being injected into your rectal cavity

 

Thanks. I was kind of figuring that they were just giving me a hard time, but I thought it would be good to see what others had to say before reading them the riot act. The weird thing is that I've had the exhaust since the fall, and had the car serviced several times since then, and nary a complaint, even for the very same check engine issue. But today was my first day with my new service advisor, and I'm wondering if he's more of a stickler than my last SA was.

 

Call your new SA a liar, then procede to spit in his face. Move on to the next dealer service representitive and call it a day.

 

Wow, that's pretty startling. Who is your dealer?

 

New Country in Hartford, CT. I picked up my car just now (naturally my SA was pulling out as I was pulling in), and the check engine light was off, but other than that I have no clue what was done to the car. I'm trying not to get too riled up, because it is entirely possible that they are correct. But there are also a million other reasons why I'm suspicious and think they're just blowing me off. Tops on that list is that I'm at 48K, and if they give me the run around just a bit longer, I'll be out of warrantee and they won't have to do any work or they can charge me. And I certainly hope that it's not because I'm a woman and they think I don't know any better, because that would truly make me I would take it to the other dealer in CT, but that basically means I'd have to take a day off from work, which seems rediculous just to get my car checked out. Plus MOT is next week, and I HAVE to have Velvet Vinny around for that. Things are not looking good for this to be resolved before the dreaded 50K mark.

 

 

As much as I love Oolong the Pancake Bunny, I have no idea what that was about.

 

Did they even look at the plugs or wires???
Or chect the ECU for codes??
The exhaust BS is stalling to blow you off and not in a good way.

 

Write a letter to the dealership documenting the problem before you hit 50K. Nothing nasty, just firmly noting the problem and that it may not have been adequately addressed yet.

Mike

 

I should also mention that the problem is only occuring when I try to drive in the Sporttronic mode. Everything is fine if I leave it in normal automatic mode. Any ideas on why that would be?

 

Talked to my SA this morning. He mixed up yesterday, the engine is actually getting too little gas. He recommended a new fuel pump or injectors. He said the ECU code was saying the car was about to misfire, and that it could be because the automatic transmission can't handle the combination of the intake and exhaust. They can diagnose it and try to find if that's the specific problem, and if it is, then I have to pay for that and whatever repairs may need to be made. So I'm kind of stuck right now. I really don't want to take those parts out, but I don't want the car to get damaged. And I really, really don't want to have to pay for anything right now. Thoughts?

 

Wow! New smoke up your butt. They are clever aren't they?

Get the ECU code and post it. There are many ways of finding out what it means.

How far are you from another dealer or maybe just a competent shop of any kind?

 

Not trying to be smart NoNo but everybody here has told you that it is BS but you still believe the dealer, they are trying to stick you and f they can BS you they have won so if need be take it to another dealer.

 

Quote:

ran·dom (rndm)
adj.

1. Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective:

So how does the dealer trace a "random" problem to a specific cause?


--
Cheese

 

Perhaps because they're specifically trying to get money out of him by giving random (incorrect) answers?

 

I don't believe them by any means, I just don't know how to prove them wrong. They could run all the tests they want and still say "Well that's caused by the mods" and frankly I'm not car-savvy enough to know if they're right or not. My gut instinct tells me they're full of it, but it's going to take a lot of time and hassel to prove it.

obehave: He gave me the code yesterday, but it's at home now. I'll post it tonight.

 

Sounds like they can't diagnose the problem after repeated attempts - so they're just going to blame your after-market mods to avoid their warranty obligations.

Keep after them. Explain the fact that you've had it on your car for a while and had no problems - not to mention the thousands of other MINI owners who have cat-back exhausts with no problems, as well as the guy you originally bought the exhaust from!

- - m

 

So I brought in the car last week for the diagnostic test. Today they called back to say that the problem is a random misfire, it's caused by the aftermarket parts, and they're not covering it under warrantee. What "it" is I couldn't tell you, because it doesn't sound like there's anything to do, other than take the exhaust off. Still no one can tell me why this only happens when I put it in Sportronic mode, other than a vague "Well, uh, things work differently in that mode, and uh, it must not agree with your exhaust." On top of that, they're refusing to do the ECU upgrade under warrantee. I'm waiting for the service manager to call me back to explain that, because that has nothing to do with the SES problem and should still be covered. So aside from taking the exhaust off (which I'd absolutely hate to do, but if that'll solve the problem, then so be it), what are my options? To me it still seems like there's a deeper problem. I can't possibly have the only Cooper that can't handle a cat-back and an intake, can I?

Edit: The manager just called me back. His first question was whether I had ever chipped the car, because they've seen this problem before, and it's always been with cars that were chipped. I have not, specifically because I knew that it could cause problems, moreso than with changing the intake or exhaust. He didn't seem to believe me, but that's his problem. He agreed to do the ECU upgrade, but said he doubted it would change much. He also said he'd waive the diagnostic fee, which I greatly appreciated. So I'm going to pick the car up today, give it a whirl, and see what happens. In the meantime, I'm going to give Borla another call to see what they say.

 

There is absolutly no connection whatsoever to your misfire issues and your exhaust. Disgnostically that shouldn't even be a consideration. While it's completely possible that your car is running so rich that it's causing a misfire event, it's unlikely that's the cause, especially running stock software.

I'd say your issue lies either with your spark plugs, or elsewhere in your ignition system (Coilpack, plug wires, coils themselves, etc).

I've been working on a resolution to this exact same recurring issue on my car, and still haven't figured it out. In the near future i'm going to swap out my plug wires, coil pack, and coils to see if that helps.

FWIW I have a 2006 MCS 6 Speed and the issue seems to happen mostly either at idle, near idle, or at high RPM's with low load (Coasting in a low gear with RPM's above 4500). I know for a fact that my car is running very rich (Evident by the machine-gun-like popping I endure every time I let off the throttle much above 2000 rpms). I'm hoping that with a new software flash and ignition troubleshooting this issue will go away.

 

 

Maybe, as i'm guessing not a lot of folks with the aftermarket cat-backs on their car have an automatic transmission.

 

Misfiring is always a lean burn condition. The rich mixture popping you are hearing is not a misfire, but a post engine combustion.