Got a question-

When I start my Mini, after sitting for 4 or more hours, the car idles rough. The Tachometer showes between 750 and 1250 rpms, and it bounces between those for 10-20 seconds. Does anyone elses do this, there are approx 1300 miles.

Thanks

 

Romi does that as well. I chalk it up to the computer systems getting everything under control.

 

Mine does something similar -- on a cold start the idle bounces around a bit at first. Which is a bit disconcerting because we got rid of our Honda because it had weird engine problems right after a warm (not hot or cold) restart that $2600 in repairs didn't fix.


Our MC is going in to have a center armrest installed some time so I'll ask about it then.

 

Has anybody talked to the dealer about this, figured out the "problem", etc?

My Cooper has done this since it had ~1,200 miles on it... maybe earlier and I just didn't notice. She's @ 1,800 now.

 

We bought our '08 S in September, and it started doing this at the beginning of December, and has done it on 4 separate days since then. It probably started with ~4500 miles on the car and it's up to around ~6500 now. Ours will sit there and do it for a couple seconds sometimes and then fix itself, other times it'll sit there and do it for several minutes. Stopping and restarting the car sometimes will work to fix it, other times not at all. Two of the times the car has thrown check engine codes at the same time, and another time the car actually went into limp mode.

I've had it to the dealer once, and they told me that there is water intrusion into the throttle which is freezing, and preventing the throttle from operating correctly (hence the fluctuating idle). They cleaned the throttle system out that time, since that's all that Mini authorized them to do, but the issue has again come back. They've told me that Mini is aware of the issue and is "working on it".

I've had a service advisor at another dealership tell me about another car that had this same sort of problem as well. This issue has obviously been going on since last winter, so Mini had better "work on it" more quickly, because if this continues on I'm going to continue to get more pissed off. My 4 month old car should not have idling problems (particularly from water intrusion into the throttle = bad) and should definitely not go into limp mode.

 

SEE ONE BILLION OTHER COLD START ISSUE THREADS FOR MORE DISCUSSION ON THIS, BUT LET ME SUM IT UP FOR YOU:

- IT HAPPENS IN COLD WEATHER
- MINI IS AWARE OF IT
- THERE IS AT THIS TIME NO SOLUTION.

I am sorry to be rude but show some respect and do a search.

 

They are within their right to post this as a new thread. This is not the MCS cold start issue noise you are referring to. Have some respect and pay attention to what they are saying.

 

1. At least 3 of the above vehicles are non-S Coopers... which are rarely represented and maybe even unaffected by the "MCS Cold Start Issue".

2. Only ONE of the posters above said ANYTHING about Cold Weather. I, at least, am talking about COLD STARTS... as in the car hasn't run for a while. In my case, it has NOTHING to do with "Cold Weather", unless of course 70-80 degrees is "cold weather".

3. The "MCS Cold Start" typically has symptoms of loud engine chatter, etc... which has yet to be mentioned in this thread.

4. I searched A LOT to find a description that fit MY PROBLEM. Why do you think I brought back a thread that was over a year old when there are SEVERAL recent ones on the "MCS Cold Start Issue"?

5. It's certainly possible that "Ru2n00n3er" has a different problem than the MC owners that posted here, but the OP's description hints at a notably different problem than the typical "MCS Cold Start Issue".

So, next time you feel like typing with the Caps Lock on, make sure you've done as much research as the people you're talking to with a condescending tone. Sorry to be rude.

 

I have a new 09 MC that I drive to work each day. It is garaged overnight. When I get in and start at 6:00am and drive to work everything is fine. The car sits for 10 hrs. while I work. When I go back out it starts up and then it will rev up a bit, then down, rev up, then down. Keeps doing it so I drive off. I have a manual and as I move the gears up and down it feels different then in the morning, kind of choppy or something. The car moves slower. I really have to step on the gas to get it going. I guess I better call the dealer.

 

Sounds similar, for sure... although I'm not sure I've noticed any "driveability" changes.

Any weird engine clattering?

Obviously, it's cold outside in CO when it's sitting outside for 10 hours, so it's something to consider... although mine sits outside in FL where it's NOT cold and it does something similar. Hmmm...

 

No weird noises at all. It's supposed to be a bit warmer next week so I'll see how it does, but it didn't do it when I first got it the middle of Dec. I just reached about 1300 miles.

 

Other than the possible driveability differences, that sounds quite similar to my problem.

Maybe one of the original posters will chime in...

 

i started my 2008 mcs in garage at -22f this monring. the engine malfuncation indicator with half symbol in yellow light with warning. it idled at 2,300 to 2,100 rpm to warm up. i turned it off after 5 minutes and restarted it again to warm up for another 5 minutes. i did try same three time.

final, engine malfuncation indicator with half symbol in yellow light changed to empty symbol. i kept restarted after 10 minutes warm and FINALLY engine malfuncation indicator went off after it idled below 2,000 rpm. am i suppose to take this mcs to the dealer for the service? or they can't do anthing about this dumb cold cause it.

i did e-mail it to dealer but he didn't reply it.

 

oops, i mistakely post twice.

 

This sounds as if it may be a different situation than the MC guys in this thread... maybe something a little more along the lines of the typical "MCS Cold (Weather) Start Issue". Have you searched those threads to see if anyone has had a similar issue? There is a lot of info there.

 

I too started my car in a very cold situation this morning, 7am and -2 degrees the car had sat outside at my work all night and the tach was vasilating between 750 and 1250 rpm and the engine light was on I let the car warm up and drove home with the light on later today I started my car and no light I am chalking this up to an extremely cold morning, what do others think?
By the way it ran rough the whole ride home ( all 2 miles)

2007 MC auto

 

Check out this thread. Any of this sound like your problem?
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-startup.html

 

I have a 2009 Clubman S with 1700 miles and I posted on the Clubman forum exactly the same problem as Deafbuzz; fluctuating RPMs and a yellow check engine symbol which was half shaded.

I have one thing to add though. I tried to drive my my car when the RPMs were fluctuating and the car had hardly any power and would not rev higher than 2000 RPM. After a very difficult quarter mile back home I turned the car off for about five minutes and restarted it. RPMs seemed fine by I then had an unshaded yellow check engine symbol. After sitting for about eight hours I restarted it. There was no check engine symbol and RPMs seemed fine. By the way, the temperature was about 15 degrees F when the problem occurred.

This is my second turbo MINI and my 2007 NEVER had this or any other problems. My confidence is severly shaken. When you spend $32,000 for a car it should at least be reliable.

 

So you guys know, the yellow check engine symbol that is half shaded means the car is in limp mode. Newer cars have this, if the computer recognizes that the car is having some sort of problem that will effect performance, it won't let you use much throttle at all or travel at to high of a speed.

The unshaded engine means you have a check engine code. Which you can have scanned for free at an Autozone/Advance Auto/etc.

 

typo. my bad, it was 1,300 to 1,100 rpm. but after warm up then it reduced to 900 rpm.

btw, last night it happened with same warning again at 16f. AND this morning it happend with same warning again at 10f. that is enough! i am going to make an appointment with service.

good thing he replied and would be happy to schedule the appointment.

 

The cold start CEL is a fairly prevalent issue in Canada. The Calgary Mini Club's biggest thread is on this issue if I recall correctly. It had to do with the throttel body collecting moisture and then freezing which prevents the engine from getting the right air/fuel ratio. Definitely different from the chain tensioner issue.

 

That's what the service advisor told me they believe is the issue as well.

 

07 MC auto, car runs a bit rough on cold starts. I had Motor City MINI check it out and they said everything is fine, but they did document it.

 

I am having the same half lit check engine light problem. I had the car in for service around the first of the year and they cleaned the condensation out, but two weeks later I had the same problem again when the temps dropped (and that time running the car for 20 minutes and restarting still did not clear up the problem). The solution was to wait for a warmer day!

The service manager did tell me when I was in that there was a permanent fix coming and the mechanics were getting trained as we spoke. He would call me when they had the fix... A month later and no call.

I searched the cold start database (North American Motoring > 2nd Generation MINIs > Stock Problems/Issues > Cold Start Issues Database)
and still did not see any mention of a permanent fix.

Guess I will call the service manager again.

 

don't bother to waste your time. i did take my car to dealer for service.

technician could not find any problem on my car. i asked him that technician would not find any problem on my car in their WARM garage. they need to diagnose and able to find the problem when it is real cold freeze like -22f.

he explained that mini company is aware of this cooper S with cold weather issue due to bad design. he can't do anything about it with my cooper S. he claimed cooper S has more issue with the cold weather than cooper without "S". i wonder if this is true that cooper handle cold weather better than cooper "S"?