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2004 Cooper S JCW 187K miles would not start this morning. It coughed a few times and died and then would not fire. I tried to check for codes on my UltraGauge and it said the ignition must be on (when the ignition was on). The UG showed an error for engine temperature and the temp gage and gas gage were at zero. I put a charger on it and it showed 12.3 volts to begin with and began charging. I then tried engine start and it would crank but not fire. At one point the UG did show engine temp and I tried to check for codes and there were none set and P0132 pending. I erased codes (I thought) and tried to start it again and it cranked but did not fire. Then the UG showed engine temp 39 F, volts 14.04 (I had the charger on the battery), and pending code P0132 (“Oxygen Sensor Circuit High Voltage”) which would not erase. It would crank but not fire. Then the UG again showed err for engine temp.
I've been having trouble with rats and they ate half the wires on the bottom of my 98 Discovery's coil pack plus half the headlight and taillight wires, and I have found a few small acorns in the Mini's engine compartment but no nests nor signs of wire damage that I can see from above. Where is the O2 sensor on my mini? Might a disconnected O2 sensor cause the crank and no start? Are there other sensors that could cause a P0132 that I should check? Could it be just the ignition switch itself? I've not had any trouble with it before.
If its like the r50, there are 2 exhaust sensors, 1 pre and 1 post cat. The wiring runs under the coolant tank to the right side of the engine as you look at it. IIRC the wiring is generally quite hidden under the heat shields.
If its like the r50, there are 2 exhaust sensors, 1 pre and 1 post cat. The wiring runs under the coolant tank to the right side of the engine as you look at it. IIRC the wiring is generally quite hidden under the heat shields.
Sounds like it wouldn't be so vulnerable to rats from underneath then. Since I first posted this morning I tried my Schwaben/Foxwell BMW/Mini scanner and it could not communicate with the computer in OBDII mode, but in BMW/Mini mode and using the model 2003_09 and auto scan it came up with one specific ABC/DSC code, “Brake Light Switch 5E6E not present”. I did the erase codes, but that same brake light code still showed up when I again did “display DTC”. I tried a new session using model 2004_03 and auto scan and there were no faults so I did another new session with the 2003_09 model again and this time auto scan came up with no faults. I tried the S/F scanner on OBDII again and this time it got to ISO 9141-2 and just hung up there trying to communicate and never did. The charger had been on during this time and it had gone to Float mode so I disconnected it and turned the ignition on again and still had “err” on the UG temp, and the gas gauge was at empty with the empty light on along with the Batt, Oil, EMI, seatbelt, and Bonnet open lights on. The gas tank was filled 100 miles ago so I know it is not empty. I tried starting again and it started and ran for one second and died. Then it had the same crank and no fire. Could this be an immobilizer malfunction? I checked for any dampness in the carpet and it is dry as a bone.
I also disconnected the battery negative cable and connected the two cables together for 30 seconds and reconnected the negative cable; there was a pretty good spark when I re-connected it. The gas gauge still said empty and just to be sure I added maybe a gallon of gas until the filler overflowed so the tank is completely full. When I tried starting again it hit twice and then was back to crank and no fire. I am stumped. It is one of those "ran fine when parked" and now won't run at all and I can find nothing obvious anywhere in the engine from the top.
Last edited by philwarner; Mar 19, 2022 at 02:18 PM.
The @(&^%$ rats chewed the wiring to my fuel pump and I hope that is the whole cause of my no start and non-reading gas gauge. I'll follow up when I get the wiring repaired.
Does anyone know off hand if the fuel pump wiring can be released from the bottom to get more room to do wire repair? It is really tight there on top of the fuel tank. I wish the rats had chewed it closet to the plug; I am having to practically stand on my head in the back to even reach the wires in the harness under the back seat sheet metal.
Probably have to drop the tank, or add some wire in between the breaks to make it easier .
I opted for the top side fix and used crimp connectors to splice the wires. I prefer to solder connections, but it was just too tight to solder the wires so crimps will have to do. After reconnecting the three severed wires everything worked again and there were no warning lights and no OBDII codes and my Schwaben/Foxwell scanner could communicate again in both OBDII and in Mini mode and found no codes or faults. I wrapped ti all with electrical tape and covered it with a red plastic wire loom and wrapped the ends of it with electrical tape and then wrapped the whole thing with Mouse Blocker tape and tucked moth ***** under the wires. I hope that discourages the &$@($ rats for awhile. They've been terrible this spring.
It wouldn't let me upload photos here, but if anyone is interested I'll try again later
