Dealership called, keeping car over weekend, they do not know what the problem is...it was not "loose spark plugs".

 

It obviously wasn't loose plugs... You torque'd them. I have never seen a plug come loose and I just do mine snug. I hope they find out what's wrong. Good luck

Btw how did your plugs look? Especially plug 2?!?!

 

Normal coloration, brown, no evidence of fouling or breakage, they needed replacing though. Number 2 looked the same as the others. I was also getting 35-36 mpg. Little concerned that the scanner is not pinpointing the problem. I think it is a heat problem connected to when they 1st replaced the thermostat and water pump. Something is not kicking in after the car gets fully warmed up. Car runs awesome until it heats up. SO I get 30 minutes of full power then slowly lose power. It should be interesting what the final anlysis is. I am still laughing over the 1st alleged fix of tightening my "loose plugs".

They gave me a new 2011 mini with only a couple of hundred miles to drive until they fix so I am happy about that!

 

Service manager called, vehicle not fixed. No one in the shop can pinpoint why it keeps idling rough after warming up.They want to try cleaning the fuel injectors now. I told them go ahead. I am a little confused as these cars all have computer brains but mine is not telling them whats wrong? Now day seven that my car has been at the dealership. Not that I am whining, I am still driving the new 2011 mini as a loaner. This is my second mini but I am not sure if I will go for a third if they crap out after only 65k miles. I may have put a lot of miles on her but I had her serviced punctually and correctly.

 

Clean the injectors? BLAH! That's funny; and an old wive's tail on saying those are dirty.
Either the injectors work, or have failed. Especially with all the gasoline cleaners and quality control consumer fuel goes through.

I'm blown away that they haven't data-logged the car when it's chugging.
No doubt the ECU will show you how it performs; you (or the tech) just need to know how to interpret the output data.

- Erik

 

So your saying this is a ******** fix?

 

I'm saying either your dealer is pulling your chain and not giving you definitive answers...
Or the techs and service manager (*note just personal opinion) shouldn't deserve wearing an auto-tech certified badge.

- ERik

 

I am a little concerned after 7 days they cannot tell me whats wrong with my car. What do I do when they cannot fix it? Where do you take a mini when the dealership cannot fix it?

 

Contact Mini of America directly (written letter) for a lack of diagnosis and repair claim.

- Erik

 

No word today, I am assuming the $100 charge for cleaning the fuel injectors was unsuccesful. Erik do you have an address for Mini of America?

 

They have their toll free number: 1-866-275-6464
You may have to call and ask to see what department it goes to.

MINI USA's corporate office is in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey:
http://www.miniusanews.com/web/contact/contacts.php

- Erik

 

For what it's worth... you describe the classic symptoms for a failing high pressure fuel pump which the Mini has had lots of problems with. Did they rule this out?

One thing to remember: Fault codes are not a replacement for a mechanic's diagnosis; they should only be used as a "starting" point for possible repair.

 

I was told I do not have a high pressure fuel pump on my clubman?

 

If you have the justa-Clubman (with NO turbo), then you are correct.
There is no high pressure fuel pump on the standard naturally aspirated 1.6L engines.

- Erik

 

Has your dealer tried calling the techs in New Jersey at the corporate office? If they don't know how to fix/diagnose your issues, they should be in contact with them.

This happened with my issue with the cam shaft sensor, and the dealer that fixed my car was very upfront with me and told me they pulled the codes from my car and contacted the techs in Jersey. Sadly, I don't know the entire story, but I don't think the dealership that is servicing your vehicle knows what they are doing.

 

I am waiting to hear back, I turned my car in on the 28th of July. So far no diagnosis on why it is misfiring after warning up. They have given me a free rental the entire time. So far the only charge I have incurred was suppose to be the fuel injector cleaning, which I am assuming was unsuccesful. So I will give them a little more time, they might have already contacted the head office on thier own. I have a good history with the dealership. ( I own two mini's I bought from them) I do not want to sour that unless I absolutely have to.

 

Call from service rep, they don't know what is wrong, mincooper has been contacted.

 

First post here and have only had my '04 MCS for two weeks, but given my knowledge on past OBDII cars the problems you have lead me to believe it might just be something that is happening during the ECM "closed loop". What happens is your car (and I'm making an assumption that MINIs OBDII system works as others) starts off in "open loop" and doesn't use certain sensors until the engine is warmed up enough and then it goes into "closed loop".

Here is a basic rundown from another forum:
"when you start the car it is in open loop. for closed loop to occur you need to meet 3 criteria:

1. temperature (160F coolant)
2. time (anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute)
3. o2 sensor activity (o2 sensor produces voltage at 600F)

the car also enters open loop at WOT and ignores o2 sensor input, if it didnt the car would lean out as a result of the o2 sensor switching voltage and your car would fall on its face, not a good thing. WOT is usually considered 80% throttle or more."

The techs should be able to see this information on their scanner and be able to diagnose appropriately. I think they should also look at crank/cam sensors also as I have had this happen on my old '97 Z28 Camaro when it was hot, it would foul up the reading from the crank sensor.

Hope this helps somewhat and good luck!

 

I asked the service rep to have the techs check the cam sensor, not sure if they will but they are suppose to call me today. Now on day 14 with no clue as to why my car misfires after warming up.

 

Service Rep just called, they are not 100% percent sure but their tech says my #2 cylinder valve is leaking air into the cylinder? Supposedly, this is what is causing the misfire but they will not guarantee it will solve the problem. They want 1600 dollars to do the repair. Is this legitimate? By that I don't mean the cost but will that specific issue cause a misfire but only after the car warms up?

 

Did they say how? Cracked intake manifold gasket? Cracked / improperly seated manifold?

Have they completed a pressure check [checks for gasket / component leaks on the intake] and a combustion (cylinder pressure) check on the engine?

Does it seem logical to you?
I would say it doesn't make sense if they are only guessing and willing to give you an invoice that may not fix the situation.
They need to be more concrete on their findings or spend more time working on diagnosis.

- Erik

 

1. No, info on how air is getting in, I was told this is the only possible explanation left for the car misfiring. I asked if I paid for the cylinder rebuild woudl they guarantee it would be fixed...after long pause the answer was no.

2. I asked if the cylinder was pressure checked, told it was at 175 psi-normal for my car.

3. No, I had them give me my car back, they charged me $327.00 dollars for the fuel injection cleaning and the their other trouble shooting. They checked the plugs again, all coils, smoke test, and the compression test. 14 days in the shop with no definitive answer.

Drove car home today, at 30 miles started to misfire when slowing down, engine light flashed went off, no loss of power when I accelerated, another 30 miles to my business, car idling rough but no engine light. Turned it off for 20 minutes, started up no rough idling running smooth.

The service rep was real nice but the I don't think the techs know what they are doing. I will keep driving it until it breaks or someone gives me a clue to what its doing.

I still think its a sensor or heat related issue.

 

By any chance did the s.a. tell you if any fault codes are being stored?

I cannot be certain, but I am almost positive you are experiencing issues I experienced in early May with a faulty camshaft sensor and cable connector.

After reading this link below, it makes sense why they also changed the cable connector.

https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/d...6B,+2982,+2983

Here is the narrative from my invoice:

"During fault inspection found fault for cam intake sensor being shorted, ran through test plan found connector to be faulty. Replaced connector and sensor per si 12-01-10 tested system after repairs no other problem found."

Hope this helps, and keep us posted.

 

The only code they were getting was a misfire on cylinder 2.

 

If someone will give me a location of where it is I will have it replaced at a local shop where I live. BTW I told the service rep that it might be the cam sensor and she dismissed it. If it is anywhere near the water pump is it possible they accidently damaged it?