I hope there may be a few Mini service techs roaming around these forums, or at least a wise DIY'er or two.


My '08 Clubman has had the "check engine" light come on this morning - the one on the large speedo dial. The only Mini dealer local to me (50 miles away) wanted to charge me, just to hook the car up to their diagnostic machine, just to tell me what it might be! I thought it was probably just an O2 sensor, but I was sadly mistaken!


I drove to the local Advanced Auto store and had the code read. In this case... it was "codes"!! Three to be exact! The codes were:
1. PO300 - Random misfire
2. PO302 - Cylinder 1 misfire
3. PO301 - Cylinder 2 misfire


Here's the thing - The car isn't missing, and there doesn't "seem" to be any loss in power?! The last time I had a misfire on a car (in that case a Toyota Tacoma truck) there was an obvious miss! And that was only on ONE cylinder. There's no miss that I can tell with my Clubman!


I read a Facebook page, where the guy said he ran his Clubman almost dry of fuel. After getting fuel and running about a half tank of fuel through, the "check engine" light came on. He seems to think that running the fuel tank almost completely empty, it stirred up the sediment in the bottom of the fuel tank and may be causing the problem?! Well... I did the exact same thing about three days ago. Right before I FINALLY got off the interstate, where traffic was all but at a stop due to a crash, I was down to 1 mile left on that tank of gas. By the time I pulled into a gas station, there were NO numbers on the readout, just dashes!


Can ANYONE help me with advice, on this?! Is this something I need to get checked out ASAP? Is it something I can fix?!


Please accept my gratitude for your help in advance!

 

Try clearing the codes and see if they pop up again. I believe the codes don't just go away on these unless cleared, but I might be wrong.

 

You don't say if your car is a "S".

It very well could be because you almost ran it dry. If it is an "S" it could also be carbon buildup on the valves.

I agree with clearing the codes and see if they come back.

 

It's an S. Sorry. Now... how do I clear the codes?

 

Go back to Advanced Auto and use their scanner.

 

Thanks Gents! That sounds like a good plan! I just got back from Advanced Auto, using their scan tool to reset the codes. Don't want to put the proverbial "cart before the horse", but... so far - so good. The light's out. Car still runs fine. It's idling beautifully! I pray and hope this was the only issue!

 

I had the same codes cleared them twice each tine I went to accelerate it would misfire and code would come back.. I changed one of the coil pack and new plugs all around solved the issue

 

This answer is not from my Mini, BUT I had a supercharged Dodge. It would have random misfires due to inconsistent fuel octane and a "leaky" injector. Inconsistant spark or a bad wire would may also lead to the misfire.


Just something to consider.



I have a Justa, so I have not had this happen to me yet.