hello all

bit of a problem with my Mini; it's an '03 Cooper S, all stock except for the Mini Madness Stage 2 kit. It's got just 90,000km on it now. It is kept totally up to date service-wise at the local Mini dealer. Up until recently it has run like a top. Supercharger relief valve was replaced after failing a few months ago.

Few weeks back I was hit in the front right corner, low speed impact, just under $7k in damage. Hood replaced (oem), rad support also oem, bumper refinished, front right suspension replaced as well (used). All was well when I picked it up but a day and a half after it started hesitating under anything but very docile use of the accelerator. It's been back at the dealer for three days now and they can't find the problem, although it is still exhibiting the symptoms. Basically if you drive it like you stole it, the engine completely cuts out. Granny driving only.

Any thoughts? I told them to check the basics, like see if the air filter was blocked (they hadn't checked that yet...), see if anything was blocking the intake, or collapsing under high vacuum. I did put $20 of gas in it the day before it started acting up, so maybe fuel contamination also something to look at.

Anyways, any thoughts on this matter would be most appreciated. I figure it's some sort of bad electrical contact; a connector not completely together, a bad ground, harness getting pinched somewhere.

thanks!

greg v.

 

is it anything similar to when the DSC activates? Perhaps something is wrong with some of the sensors or wiring with the replacement suspension bits?

-Chase

 

Dumb question, but does it throw and codes?

 

Hearing "the hood got replaced" and the other parts, makes me tgink it is time to get your insurance adjuster involved....sounds like there was dammage done when the car was wacked that was more than cosmetic...
When you say the bypass valve (using a different term) was replaced, you make it pretty apparent that a mechanic is doing the work, not a diy....
And lets face it...
Guessing without touching is not the best way to fix it....
My guess....look around for a big boost or vacume leak....like maybe the intercooler got wacked by the hood in the crash...the boots on it may be off, or the ic itself might be cracked....or perhaps some of the vacume lines.
Good luck, but NOTHING beats hands on after an accident. Rather than normal stuff breaking/failing, things that NEVER fall sometimes get wacked, cracked, banged....and cause issues...and it needs a close look to find it!!
Good luck, hope you find it ASAP so you can return to motoring!!

 

Correct me if I am wrong Zippy, with any leaks like you are talking about should throw a CEL.

 

Should....but till the op replies, we don't know.
And "dealer" here appears to be a bodyshop or other 3rd party, giving metric info...so might not know minis very well....
Obviously, till the op says anything...we are just guessing...

 

Agreed.

 

Should, but not definitely. Try this: have an assistant start the car and then shut it down. With the hood open, listen for a sucking sound for about 1/2 second after the motor stops. If you hear it, find it with a piece of hose (use it like a stethoscope, one end to your ear, the other end searching around the engine for the sound). Obviously, be careful.

 

hi guys

thanks for all the responses!

vehicle is not throwing any codes.

Certified bodyshop (they do a lot of Minis) did the work, and they're usually pretty thorough. It was after I picked it up from them that the issues started, and as it happened I had already make an appointment at the local Mini dealer service dept. for them to have a look over the repair and fix some other non-related issues, so that's where it went.

When the engine cuts it cuts hard, i.e. no power at all, not like the reduced power when the DSC kicks in. As a side note I always have the DSC deactivated when I drive, I find it dangerous to have the car decide to reduce power on me when I typically need it the most.

I have kept my insurance co. fully appraised of the situation; I've made it very clear to all involved that whatever is going on here is a direct result of the accident, and that I'm not going to listen to any "coincidence" theories....

The dealer did find a lose gasket/boot on one side of the intercooler, but it still exhibits the problems after that was corrected. I mentioned that might be a good start point, i.e. go through the entire intake tract and see if anything is loose, broken, or if anything was sucked into it when that boot was loose.

Dealers are great at a lot of things, but I find thinking outside the box (or manual in this case) is sometimes a challenge for them.

thanks again!

greg v.

 

I was having similar issues to that when I replaced my supercharger...ended up being that my MAP sensor on the top of the engine was corroded. Popped it off and cleaned it up a bit and it is still working. about $100 to replace

Mike

 

thanks for the tip Mike; I mentioned it to the dealer and turns out they swapped it out earlier to see if that was the issue; they're now thinking it might be a bum supercharger bypass valve...

we'll see what turns up.

thanks!

greg v.

 

howdy all

picked it up on Saturday, drove it for 20 minutes with no issues, so yes it seems like it was the supercharger bypass; strange that it didn't feel the same as the first time it went, but I'm just happy it's fixed. It's now back at the body shop....

thanks again for all the input

cheers

greg v.