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My 04 Cooper is experiencing occasional idle drop, the engine momentarily drops to around 500 rpm and almost stalls but usually doesn't.
5 speed manual transmission. A couple times it has stalled when it happens while reversing into a parking spot or trying to take off in first.
Plugs less than 1 year, alternator about 6 months old.
It happens most often when I turn on the AC, then it happens about every 3-4 minutes.
Vacuum leak?
Pretty normal...
Stalling when taking off in 1st or reverse is a skill thing....
Dropping when the AC compressor kicks on is pretty typical...big added load, no throttle...takes a few seconds for the car to adjust.
If the car is VERY loud due to the fan cycling on...you have other issues...the cooling fan should be nearly silent....
No this is not normal behavioir, have owned the car two years and this started happening last 2 months. Happens with or without AC, only more frequently with AC.
This doesn't happen when I first turn the AC on, that is a different thing and I know that is normal. It happens more frequent when the AC is already on, usually will happen 5 mins after its on the first time.
And I have driven manual cars for 15 years, so I know how to reverse or take off. Just sometimes this idle drop happens to occur just as I'm about to take off and the car stalls. That's has only happened maybe twice. I think it's a vacuum leak, not sure what the common leak points are. I visually looked at the hoses I could see and flexed/touched them to look for cracks, found none. I'm replacing the exhaust right now and plan on looking for leaks with soapy water once the exhaust is back on
Last edited by airflite40; May 30, 2016 at 05:31 AM.
Maybe we miss understood the severity of your issues...
Question...what do you normally use for fuel? Car sounds like it's down on power a bit.
Running 87 or even sometimes 89 can burn the valves...making them soft, causing wear...lowering compression.
Always 93. It does sometimes feel more peppy than other times. Gas mileage is still pretty good, avg 25 mpg 100% stop and go city traffic. I can do a compression test, but the way it feels it tells me vacuum although the intermittent nature tells me something electrical.
Check the coil pack...it tends to corrode...the stock has iron plugs, plated with nickel....wires are very short...but the ends where they plug to the coil corrodes badly... dissimilar metals...polish it up.. some dielectric grease might help.
I sapped both out as a matter of principle...found one with brass terminals and thicker wires.
Dirty idle control valve?
The valve has to open more when the A/C kicks on, if it was dirty/obstructed or sticks you will not be getting the required air needed for a smooth idle.
OK, no ISC valve, got it.
Vac leak, fuel filter, dirty injectors, weak/poor crank or cam signal. (Air, fuel, spark in some combination). Idle problems suck.
This may actually be something that the stealership can pinpoint better with their scan tool.
If it's just a stumbling idle from time to time (warmed up, sitting at a stoplight after decelerating, etc), that has been a common issue with the R53. Happens to me as well. I did some research on it and nobody seemed to know what the problem was, but it didn't seem very serious. A quick blip of the pedal and all is good again.
If it's just a stumbling idle from time to time (warmed up, sitting at a stoplight after decelerating, etc), that has been a common issue with the R53. Happens to me as well. I did some research on it and nobody seemed to know what the problem was, but it didn't seem very serious. A quick blip of the pedal and all is good again.
If you figure it out, let us know.
My R53 started doing this a while back and it's been getting worse lately... stalls nearly every time when depressing the clutch after deceleration unless I blip the throttle. Also stalls randomly when sitting in traffic. I have automatic A/C, and it doesn't seem to matter whether is on or not. My AFR gauge reads really lean when it starts to stumble.
I think it might be a vacuum leak or a faulty MAP sensor, but haven't investigated any further as the car is now waiting for a new clutch...
The new coil seems to have done the trick. One of the coil terminals was a bit corroded. Wires look great. Car runs much stronger and no more idle issues. Thanks Zippy! Now on to the next issue, seem to have discovered it has a blown low speed fan resistor as the high speed fan is cycling on and off while the air is on.
Last edited by airflite40; May 31, 2016 at 05:31 AM.
The new coil seems to have done the trick. One of the coil terminals was a bit corroded. Wires look great. Car runs much stronger and no more idle issues. Thanks Zippy! Now on to the next issue, seem to have discovered it has a blown low speed fan resistor as the high speed fan is cycling on and off while the air is on.
The fan is going to cycle with the AC on, normal operation.
But if you've never replaced the low speed resistor chances are yes, the low speed fan doesn't work.
The new coil seems to have done the trick. One of the coil terminals was a bit corroded. Wires look great. Car runs much stronger and no more idle issues. Thanks Zippy! Now on to the next issue, seem to have discovered it has a blown low speed fan resistor as the high speed fan is cycling on and off while the air is on.
Originally Posted by nkfry
The fan is going to cycle with the AC on, normal operation.
But if you've never replaced the low speed resistor chances are yes, the low speed fan doesn't work.
The resistor kit is certainly one way to go...
A "commodity" exact fit fan Aka, rockauto.com fan was my solution...was temping to fix it..and no fix in a box/kit was available, so mine would have been a homebrew fix...now with a kit....proven to work...might change my thinking....
My logic..the fan gets beat to heck mile after mile with rain and crap...and if you fix a part, you are just getting the remaining life from it...and electrical parts do a finite life when you look a electric motors....and actually less labour to swap a fan...but fixing one if you are handy might be kinda fun....
One tip...
Get the fan fixed pretty fast....
Many folks that have a fan issue end up needing a ac compressor....running the ac with a bad fan seems to shorten their lives...
I had an idle stalling problem on my 06 that was fixed by replacing the purge valve (MINI/BMW calls it "fuel tank breather valve". http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=13_0977. It's a generic part used by multiple auto manufacturers and could be obtained very cheaply.
One tip...
Get the fan fixed pretty fast....
Many folks that have a fan issue end up needing a ac compressor....running the ac with a bad fan seems to shorten their lives...
This.
My ac went out last year. I would imagine my low speed fan probably wasn't working for a long time. I have an 02 so wasn't sure if replacing the resistor was possible so I just bought the whole thing on rockauto for about $70.
My a/c compressor died last summer and i replaced it. Has never been ice cold since. Only cold enough to make the cabin comfortable after about 2-3 minutes. Could this be because of my fan? How do I test? Thanks guys. Also I have the same problem originally discussed in this thread, but I have a tune up planned soon. I will post if that helps.
No, the fan does not cycle with AC on, it stays constantly on at low speed once the AC has reached operating pressure. If it cycles it is using the high speed only, which means the resistor is broken.
I've fixed the low speed resistor on mine twice now... the first resistor I got (green) was a cheap chinese one and it lasted about a year, so I put in a bit more expensive one (probably also made in china).
Now on to the next issue, seem to have discovered it has a blown low speed fan resistor as the high speed fan is cycling on and off while the air is on.
Never mind wiring in a new resistor... It's not too difficult a task to just replace the entire fan unit.
Pop it in, plug it in, everything works...
Don't go OEM, as it'll cost you upwards of $300.
Amazon has them pretty cheap (HERE) -- around $70.
