So Ive had my MCS a few days now. It's the wife's car, she is the one that drives it mostly. Twice now, she has called up me while driving to work saying that the DSC light is on. She said that she flips the toggle switch and it doesnt go off for her. Only when she turns the car off and turns it back on does it turn off and reset...like it's supposed to according to my findings.

Now, Ive taken the car out a few times myself and have put it through its paces... (aka, I beat the sh-t outta it) and have yet to have any lights or warnings flash on me. My wife doesnt not even remotely drive in the same manner as I do...she just simply drives it.

I had to replace the battery on it the day after we bought it since it had the orig one on there and it was dead by the time we got it home and cleaned it up. Its a duralast gold from autozone if that makes a difference ($135 later, thankfully I didnt have to pay for it).

Now, Ive read up on the whole DSC. I know how it works, what activates it, and the other issues people have had with it staying on.

So here are my questions that I didnt get answered in my search:

- Did changing the battery do something I am unaware of?

- Will an ECU reset help out with dumping whatever memory it has from the previous owner?

- Is there any diagnostic tool that I can buy or do myself to figure out if it truly is a faulty switch or actual prob that needs to be fixed before I would have to take it to a dealer?

- Should my wife just start driving her MCS like I do seeing how I dont get warning lights? (this one is a joke, but if you feel inclined to answer it, be my guest).

 

If I had to bet money a wheel speed sensor is dirty and needs to be cleaned/replaced....at this point it is just intermittent (could be a steering angle sensor I guess, but the wheel speed sensors are much more common for having issues).
I would strongly recommend you check with your local MINI club/Board to find a local independent MINI/MINI centric shop....most area's have one....and they will save you BIG $$$ compare to going to the dealer for 90% of the things you may ever need done.

 

Cool. For cleaning, what do you recommend? I think I read on it's the driver front that is the culprit typically?

If it does need to be replaced, could I do this myself or does it require specialty equipment/tools? I am mechanically inclined, I do 99.9% of the work on my own vehicles.

For the hell of it, I just went outside and reset the ECU. Figured it couldnt hurt anyhow seeing how we just bought the car and I know its probably never been done before.

 

Not sure how to tell which one is the culprit....you might need a tool for that...I think the Bentley manual calls for them to be cleaned when you do a brake job. A few folks who have been there, done that will likely chime in!!

 

Congrats on your new MINI ! How many miles on the odometer ?

1) Probably not.

2) If the battery was disconnected for longer than 30 mins the ECU probably reset itself already, so a manual reset at the ignition and odometer button is not necessary.

3) I had a trifecta of lights. All "yellow" lit - DSC/ABS and Ck engine. Only happend when my right front ABS sensor became wet: car wash would trigger it, driving through a puddle or on wet driving days....I would turn car off for a while, come back and at initial start up lights would stay out. Soon after driving 100 feet the lights would come on again and this would go on until the sensor eventually dried out. Came back first puddle I drive through or after washing the car....

I replaced ABS sensors front and back ( both were over $100 for the pair ) And that fixed it. btw; No codes came up on my scanguage II when I checked it.

4) driving habits will not make a difference if it's a bad ABS sensor. And be careful not to confuse it with the brake pad sensors. They are somtimes confused as one in the same but they are totally two different parts and do not perform the same function.

And while the DSC light is illuminated, the DSC system IS de-activated. Not a real potential problem unless driving on wet/snowy roads.

 

Thanks... 57k on it. Has the cold weather package (which is funny for a FL car) as well as the sport and premium packages minus the stripes and has the H/K system.

The battery was out for quite awhile. At least 4-5 hours while I waited for the battery to be shipped from across town. I still dumped the ECU today anyhow...figured might as well do it just so Im familiar with the method of doing it...quite easy, took all of 2 minutes if that.

From my wife's accounts, no other light has come on. Just the DSC alone. That was one of the first things I asked her if it was coupled with other warnings at the same time. She swears that she didnt accidently hit the toggle either when reaching for something else.

Interesting that you bring up the sensors being wet. It has rained the past 2 days here and the both times she called me was when she left and the car was wet from sitting outside. Though the difference is that the DSC light didnt show up until she was already cruising at speed down the highway a good 5-10 minutes after she had left...plenty of time for anything wet on the driveline/undercarraige to be basically dried off at 70-75mph.

Im in Central FL, so no worries on snow , but rain and wet conditions, yes.

Clear skies tonight, so I guess we'll see what happens on the trip to work tomorrow.

What is the recommendation on cleaning off the sensors? Few cans of brake cleaner?

 

Well...no DSC warning today. Im interested to try the wet sensor theory now with spraying down the wheels and taking it out for a drive.

 

Heck if nothing else, you get to take it out for a drive.

 

When the sensors became wet in my case, they didn't dry out from driving.

Took a day or so of good sunny weather and some dry weather driving for them to work properly.

 

Take the MINI to a self serve car wash and spray down the wheel areas really good. Then take her for a spin. If it's the ABS sensor, the yellow light will come on again.

Not sure why some MINI's throw a trifecta of lights while others only the DSC light. I have heard of both happening when the sensor fails. Could have something to do with the date of the software programming in the BCM.

Good luck.