Hi,

Bought an R56 Cooper (Not S) in November used, with 50k on it. Since the beginning of the month, its been stalling out upon start up/ while idle on the road.

Cold starts lately have been becoming more rough and shaky with the idle, while warm on the road, stopping at lights it will quickly idle till OFF.

I dont really know what could cause this, ive read a lot online about the R56 S having a bad fuel pump and a recall on that, but nothing about the stock hatchbacks. Any suggestions!!!!!! I want to see if this is fixable before throwing my paychecks to the MINI dealer!

thanks!

 

It could be the pump, but it could be something else as well. Carbon buildup on the valves (common issue) could cause that symptom. If that's the case, an intake cleaning job is in order.

Also, at 50K miles, you are due for new spark plugs (or is it 60K....I've forgotten which it is on the service schedule). I was having some rough idle issues earlier this fall and the spark plug change solved that. Not sure worn plugs would cause stalling, though. Since you are at or near the change interval, you might rule out the plugs by changing them out.

A friend of mine was having rough idle and some random stalling on his '12 MCS and it ended up being some sort of sensor (don't know which one).....so it could be a number of things. So....it's hard to say. Probably worth taking it in and having it looked at if you are comfortable paying the dealer for a diagnosis.

Good luck.

 

Check the easy things first. Clean air filter... How many miles have you added to the 50,000 since you have had the car?

 

Well I called Otto's MINI in Exton, PA to see if they can diagnose it..... At $130 an hour ( -_-) I also pulled my back seat out the other day, me an my father are going to look at/ change the fuel filter. My dads in firm belief it's the fuel filter due to this issue arising after I was nearly out of gas on an incline. He thinks a bunch of **** from my gas tank was sucked up into it. The guy at autozone (dumb to go there I know) told me I probably just have bad gas an to put fuel additive in it an it should be fine my next tank of gas, just to run it kinda rough an sometimes rock my car back an fourth before starting it (I probably look like an ******* doing this) nothing's changed though BUT I only work 4 miles from work so typically it takes me a few weeks to run empty. UGHHHHH annoying!!!

 

Short trips will increase carbon build up, start with the plugs, carbon cleaning, all less fails, coil packs...

Is it throwing any codes?

 

No codes....... I feel like an idiot now for gettin ready to say this....... So after being up all night stressed about what it COULD be, I came across some chicks blog. Same issues, same story. She mentioned going around corners an it making a rough noise. This morning I experienced it when turning down my hill to the main road....... Thennnn my oil light displayed an went away. 0_0 I'm an idiot. I quickly drove to the nearest gas station, pulled my
Dipstick out (nothing shown on it after several dips) bought 3 quarts of SAE30 dumped it it, let it run a minute, now she's back to normal. ( -_-)

I had my oil done at the dealership a few months ago, I drive about 10 miles maybe a day. WTF!

I'm mad THIS was the issue, I shouldn't be nearly out of oil! I didn't see a leak an I have no smoke/smell. Ill be doing my oil as soon as I leave work today.

 

I don't know about a Justa, but the R56S can burn up to 1qt per 1000 miles. I'm not saying that it should or that's normal, but I think a MINI dealership will tell you that 1qt per 1000 miles is within normal operating conditions, but IDK about being almost bone dry with your low daily miles...

My old northstar STS drank oil like it was going out of style so I was already trained to keep a qt in the car and check it every fill up.

When my 07 MCS had cold start problems it was a faulty electronic thermostat.

 

I have the same version of this car, same year. I notice I have had the exact same issues with my mini, even the oil consumption issue. Currently it starts sometimes with an erratic idle, and today the CHECK ENGINE light went on. It appears on the display, after playing with the system info screen, that is code CC-ID 031.

I definitely need to change the spark plugs and do a fuel cleaning now at 59,900 mi, but I wonder if it's more serious. It drives fine, although it tends to shake when I am stopping in traffic.

 

Honestly, I really think I know how to read the oil dipstick but my 2008 Justa will surprise me on how quick it can go through oil right after an oil change. Three times now this has happened, and then it takes many months for it to drop down a single quart after that initial top off. I am beginning to suspect the oil change guys are not filling it up properly.

and I confirm, these symptoms are exactly what happens when the engine is down more than a quart of oil.

 

^ should do the change yourself next time and see if it comes up

 

I can confirm that these are symptoms of low oil levels. I had normal behavior driving but at a stop light or when starting the engine it would chug a little and stall. Checked the dip stick after reading this thread and sure enough it was low. Only had been 5k miles since last oil change so I was surprised that it barely registered at the bottom of the stick. Now I know to check the oil level more often. For reference there is 88k miles on my 09 justa Cooper. I topped off the oil to the proper level on the stick and sure enough it started and ran with no issues or erratic idle. Now I know…