So here I was, stopping by the local Whole Foods on the way home from work tonight in St. Louis. The temp outside is a whopping 6 degrees F. I come out of the store with my stuff and load up the MINI. I start 'er up and the dash lights up like a pinball machine. The "Service Engine Soon", the "EML" and the DSC disabled light are on. The MINI is idling pretty rough, so I decide to try and finesse the throttle a bit to get it running (it almost felt like it was flooded or something). Anyway, I find out that it must be in "Limp home mode" since it won't run more than 2K RPMs, even with the pedal floored.

I'm about 30 miles from home, on Friday night, in 6 degree weather with a car full of groceries that won't run more than about 10 mph. I try to shut it off and restart it a few times to see if things will clear up, but it wouldn't. So, I call my wife to come get me, and then I call the MINI Roadside assistance. They were really cool about it, and promised a tow truck in about 45 minutes or so.

The tow truck arrives about 45 minutes later (on time!). By this time my wife had shown up with all 3 kids in their jammies and I had shut the MINI off. The tow truck driver starts in telling me how hard the MINI is to tow since there's no place to hook on, and am I sure I want it towed, since GM probably won't cover it. I had to remind him that it was BMW not GM and yes they would cover it. Anyway, he asked for the keys and got in and started it up. Just like taking your kid to the doctor, it started up and ran OK. The SES light was still on, but the EML and DSC lights were off. He gets back out and tells me that for sure now they won't cover it since it's drivable. After listening to him, I decided to take my chances and drive it home with my wife following me in the van.

I made it home with the SES light on all the way -- it seems like it might be running a bit rough, but I might be imagining things.

Do you think that the low temps outside are to blame for what's going on? I'll definitely get it into the dealer on Monday morning, but I felt better about having it home in my garage over the weekend instead of being parked on the street in front of the dealer's service department over the weekend.

 

MM2 had a yukkie wake up one time last week - it was like 0F outside. He kicked and sputtered for a minute, but then cleared his throat and was back to normal. I've also heard of some '02's that rather dislike functioning in very-cold, though after they warm it's no biggie. Overall, I've very impressed with the MINI's cold-weather behavior.

You could've had a bit of frozen gas too, just a thought.

 

My 02 S started fine after sitting for 3 days in this cold

 

My MINI hasn't been too happy with these cold temps but it is usually fine if I let the car warm up for a few minutes.
And I used to work for a car dealership, and if you felt uncomfortable driving the car then they would have paid for the tow. Sounds like the tow truck driver was just being lazy.

 

You should be fine when you get to two-digit temperatures.

Like THIS:

My 02/02 MINI Cooper 5-speed started up, stalled the first time I let
out the clutch, and ran fine after that the whole way to the coffee shop.

So, I guess every MINI is different.

 

My MINI ran fine on a camping trip a few weekends ago where it was below zero all weekend, and 10 below one morning when I started it up. No problems. Well, except one problem, which was that the transmission (5-speed) sprung a leak and I lost fluid for the next week and then had to have the transmission replaced. Seems like too much of a coincidence to me that this happened after the coldest weekend of driving I've done, so that's why I'm ordering a new Cooper as soon as they switch to the Getrag for the Cooper.

 

Sorry to hear about your Cooper. Hope they fiox it soon. My MCS ran fine in the
2 degree weather we're having here in New Jersey.

RaceCarDriver

 

"You could've had a bit of frozen gas too, just a thought."

Yes, BigBrownDog, how much fuel was in the tank?

I was out yesterday too and my MINI was parked in a lot for about 3 hours in the evening. Started and ran OK. I've been keeping the tank above 1/2

 

I thought about the frozen gas / bad gas theory - it was just weird for me because when it started it "felt" like the engine was flooded. The drive-by-wire throttle was what really got to me, because it was obvious that I really had no control over the engine -- the ECU was going to do whatever it wanted. Kinda reminded me of that old TV show (Outer Limits?) "We control the vertical, we control the horizontal, we control the throttle."

I took it out today and it was running OK, after spending the night in my garage. The SES light is still on, though.

 

I was wondering if that temp gauge would dip below zero, now I know!


>>You should be fine when you get to two-digit temperatures.
>>
>>Like THIS:
>>
>>My 02/02 MINI Cooper 5-speed started up, stalled the first time I let
>>out the clutch, and ran fine after that the whole way to the coffee shop.
>>
>>So, I guess every MINI is different.
>>

 

Hey Trippy -

Howz that Whalen feel in the -25 degrees?


>>You should be fine when you get to two-digit temperatures.
>>
>>Like THIS:
>>
>>My 02/02 MINI Cooper 5-speed started up, stalled the first time I let
>>out the clutch, and ran fine after that the whole way to the coffee shop.
>>
>>So, I guess every MINI is different.
>>

 

With the exception of far more creaks and squeaks than normal, mine's been fine. We've had several below zero days here in NH. I just let it warm up for a few minutes before I drive it. You should hear the racket my old 193k mile toyota truck makes when it's 30 below and you start it! But it starts every time, so does the mini-so far.

 

My car ( MCS w/ April 2003 build) refused to start on the first try a few months ago but on the second try everything was fine. At the time it was maybe 30-40F, made me worry a lot.

In the last couple of weeks throughout the day it ranges from -15 to 10F. The morning that my car would absolutely would not start I feared I would have to jump it. Consequently, while looking in my owner's manual I saw under ignition - when having difficulty starting to depress the throttle about half way, but not for longer than 10 seconds, to help the issue. If this is in the owner's manual it sends a clear message to me that MINI knows there is a major fault at hand! Go and try, it's alive!

However, the next day it won't start until five to ten minutes of attempts, both morning and night. Needless to say this has formed to be the routine at least once a day for over the last week. Unfortunately, I have not had time to bring it in. I have found no relation with the amount of fuel in the tank. Drive on average at least a hundred miles a day, explains my understanding of no effect from fuel load. The car is parked in an unheated garage. Fear going back to lousy service at dealer ( International Autos in Milwaukee). Plus the last time they ... I'll save that for another thread. :evil: :evil: :evil:

Eventually, once the car has turned over it suffers from a yo-yo effect. Apply the throttle it accelerated, yet almost immediately after the electronics cut fuel and my car lurches. This occurs at both light and moderate throttle positions. Prior to the cold my car did not yo-yo, this disappears once the engine is entirely warm. Furthermore it also seems to run out of breath when the engine is warm above 3500 rpms. As for letting the car sit at idle to warm up I do not concur with the belief. The manual itself instructs against it.

Sorry about length, just have strong emotions.

 

vvv OMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH vvv

 

Cars are design to work -40C to +85C standard storage temperature,
so 6F shouldn't be that cold for the car. (-40C = -40F)....nor is it
for us chi-town people.

 

I can tell you that when I used to live in Chicago and it was minus 20 to 30 degrees and -80 with windchill it was pretty hard to start the car and pretty scary to get it going in the first few minutes. It seems that all of the fluids and lubricants are super chilled and hardly working until you can get the operating temperature up a bit. Steering and brakes were really poor. This was in my old Honda civic.

These days I am glad I no longer have to shovel out over 100 feet of driveway getting to and from my parking space outside.

Today it is clear, sunny and 80 in Hawaii. It's a tough life in paradise.

 

I haven't been in my MCS yet.... and noticed single digets and/or negative numbers.
We've been having an uncharacteristicly... KOLD... winter here in NY.

I've had no problems starting and/or driving my MCS ...so far :smile:
It's been running ....just fine

Peace,
D

 

funny you should mention windchill. not sure if ive seen specs that
calls out windchill.

80F and sunny? you're going to be a boiant floater brain in no time. :smile:

 

Hi Big Brown Dog,

Louie seems to be running just fine in our great St. Louis weather. I certainly would take yours in ASAP as what happened doesn't seem normal. I've also made sure to keep plenty of gas in Louie. The windchill last night was below zero, maybe you caught a big breeze over there on Brentwood! BTW, Whole Foods is my most favorite grocery store. Have you sampled the olive bar?

Hang in there,
Lois from St Lou

 

bigbrowndog - As an aside, the Mini does in fact have a tow hook. Those little half circle cutouts in the front and rear bumpers pop out and the tow hook (located in the tool kit under the boot mat, at least in my MC) simply screws in.

Don't ever let a tow truck driver hook chains to the undercarriage!

Drive Safe!

 

The tow hooks are standard with BMWs, and in the MC it can be found under the storage area in the boot, together with other tools.

Regarding cold temperatures affecting the MINI, I am surprised that nobody mentioned the use of an engine block heater. Does anyone use one of these, and do they help?

 

Hi Lois -

Yep, it was pretty cold over there. I haven't sampled the olive bar, but I did buy some Cilantro and Green Olive Salsa - it's pretty awesome and very different from the normal tomato stuff.

I hope I can get them to look at it on Monday -- I guess I'll call first thing and see what they have to say. I only work about 6 blocks from MINI of STL, so it's not a big deal for me to go there.

>>Hi Big Brown Dog,
>>
>>Louie seems to be running just fine in our great St. Louis weather. I certainly would take yours in ASAP as what happened doesn't seem normal. I've also made sure to keep plenty of gas in Louie. The windchill last night was below zero, maybe you caught a big breeze over there on Brentwood! BTW, Whole Foods is my most favorite grocery store. Have you sampled the olive bar?
>>
>>Hang in there,
>>Lois from St Lou

 

I win!



Note it's in Celcius!

I'm in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada

With the wind chill last week it was about -50 Celcius. Brr... Had to start my car every 4 hours at work and let it run so it didn't freeze solid. My friend left his 12 hours outside and it turned over once then quit. Battery couldn't handle it. BMW was so swamped it couldn't get to him for a week, so he got it boosted from some friends.

Mine is in my garage overnight, so it's never a problem starting.

 

Just a general note on this topic.

Wind Chill is only used when people and exposed skin are an issue. A vehicle could care less for this calculation. :smile:

 

>>Hey Trippy -
>>
>>Howz that Whalen feel in the -25 degrees?

Like this:


(After I brought it inside for a while.)