Jumping straight in. Had vacuum pump seize up putting engine in the blender. Engine changeout complete. Car starts, but starter will not disengage. unless fuse is pulled. Replaced starter, and same situation, starter doesn't disengage. Flywheel appears in good condition, as read in another thread. What are we missing here? Thanks

 

going on my old school starter days, the selenoid pushes gear out and starter motor pulls current through gear/flywheel so long as selenoid is out starter motor will run. So A) your solenoid is bad B) what ever controls it is bad C) your starter is not aligned propperly, needs shimmed ( this was common back in the day )

 

We are also seeing that the car will start without engaging the clutch. If you insert the key fob and hit the start button the car starts. Thinking now that it's possibly the start switch or clutch switch has malfunctioned. Thoughts?

 

WOW!!! Nothing?

 

I had a similar symptom this weekend when starting our car after head replacement.

When I first pressed the start button, the starter would spin but there was no firing as the fuel system was dry. I did notice that the starter kept spinning for several seconds until I pressed the start button again to stop it.

Old school starter knowledge: the solenoids would stick open or closed causing the starter to not engage the flywheel, or the starter being spun by the flywheel when the mtor started running. The whole system was operated as YOU held the key in the START position. Apply that logic to the new cars?

The START button on these cars sends a signal to fire up the starter/solenoid. It only takes one tap of the button, you don't have to hold it down. The next press of the button shuts everything off (starter, ignition).

There has to be a sensor telling the system that the engine is spinning and has started, go ahead and release the starter. Possibly a vacuum sensor down under the intake? Those hoses and connectors are tough to access, so that usually means they are more likely to suspect.

Be sure to post up your resolution.
Best of luck!

 

I'm pretty sure modern cars are programmed that if they don't see oil pressure within 2 secs or so to shut off fuel . So probably uses oil pressure to assume it's running, could be a lot of sensors as well.

 

Check for good ground straps. Starters pull lots of current to work correctly. Motor no

 

To all, thanks for the replies, my mechanic today, after hours of checking and rechecking, is turning is taking the car to another shop that specializes in mini and other euro's. I don't want this to be one of those threads that full of questions by the owner that never states what the solution comes down to. When i find out, ( and get over the joy of it) I'll definitely post the solution. Another question that's popped up, is there a solenoid relay between the switch and the starter ?

 

Update. My mechanic has put hours on this car. He has gone over all grounds and connectors. He says last night that the starter after the fuse was pulled and then replaced did not continue to be engaged. Said he would check the clutch sensor next. Is it possible after the engine replacement, that this could be a programming issue? Grasping at strws but can't hold on to any.

 

Good news from the mechanic today. The car is ready to be picked up. The car had to be taken to the mini dealer to be reprogrammed, that charge was $110. The dealership said it was possible that replacing the start pushbutton actual fixed the starter staying engaged, but really couldn't say for sure. He did say that doing diagnostics on these cars is tricky to say the least. The service department at the dealership said that my mechanic did a good job on the engine swap. So we'll see. Thanks again to all that posted in trying to help me out.