Hello everyone, I was hoping some of you could help me with this problem my MINI is having. Since last Wednesday my car has been doing this thing ONLY IN THE MORNING START UP where the RPM's dip below 1k and the car just sounds terrible and this can last from 10 seconds to 40 until the RPM's come back up to 1k and the car seems to be okay. Sometimes the car has even stalled on multiple occasions. I am in Arizona and just these past two weeks it has started to cool down from being 90 degrees to 69 degrees.The weather has cooled down about the same time the car has been having this issue; However, it sits in the garage and not outside. It is still 80 something to 70 something degrees in the garage so I don't think the cooler weather has anything to do with these morning starts.

Basically it dose this weird knock or misfire thing and when I leave it be for a few more seconds it corrects itself and seems to run fine and drives just like normal with no problems at all. So after is sits in the parking lot at work for a few hours, it starts up just fine. This only happens in the MORNINGS. Now lets be clear here the battery is only 5 months old and the spark plugs have been replaced and it was cleaned for carbon build up @ 45,000 and a new high pressure fuel pump @ 28,000 miles it is now at 71,000. From what I have read and seen on forums or YouTube people who have had a similar problem say it's the High Pressure Fuel Pump, and it seems like it the videos on YouTube.

I took the car into MINI on Monday morning @ 8:00AM and explained what was going on, of course they start it and say nothing happened... Okay no problem I know it's because it had already been driven earlier so they let it sit for a few hours. Right before I was about to leave they start it again around 2:00pm, still nothing. I walk down to MINI ( I work on the same dealer lot) and talked with the adviser, He suggested it wasn't the HPFP (which is covered under warranty for 10 years/120,000 miles BTW). He said there was no check engine light and the only code it was throwing was a "super knock" He proceeded to tell me it was either a bad batch of gas or carbon build up, which mind you last time I had carbon build up the CEL came on. I said "okay why don't you guys keep it over night and when you start it next morning I swear it will do it." The SA agreed and said that they would hook the computer up to it before they started it to get some codes right away.

Tuesday morning rolls around and as I go to the dealer at 8:00, I see the SA and he proceeds to tell me nothing had happened "it started up just fine" He said they added Octane to the gas tank just incase it was bad gas so I leave without my car and start the work day.
At 2:30pm to pick up the car and he still said that they started it again and nothing had happened... The SA tried to sell me on a $300 carbon cleaning and I declined. At this point I thought okay maybe it was a bad batch of gas(now fixed apparently). I drive home and then to school and the car seems totally fine and drives/starts normal. This morning I started the car and to no surprise it had the same problem again and was so bad I had to turn the car off then back on for it to fix itself. Now I am furious because I feel like they had lied to me just so they could sell me the damn $300 carbon cleaning and when that obviously turns out not to be the problem they would replace the HPFP.

I am a little annoyed right now, because I know it had to of done it, it has done it every morning. I posted a video below of what happens and showed it to the SA. I could be wrong but I don't think carbon build up would make it do that? and only in the mornings after the car has been sitting for awhile. click image for video, should work. What do you guys think? appreciate the input.

 

Ok, I couldn't read all of that. Honestly, it would be ALOT easier with some punctuation and paragraphs. From the part I read, this sounds like a classic high pressure fuel pump failure. If that's the case, the car will likely first start showing P30x cylinder misfire codes and then eventually 2880 for the high pressure system. Most dealerships will not replace the pump (even though it's an extended warranty item) until the 2880 code shows (which could be months). The tactic of offering valve cleaning is VERY typical, so I assume that's MINI USA policy. I just told them no, and waited for the high pressure code.

Good luck. Please use paragraphs for my sanity.

 

I couldnt completely read of all of that either but if it is not the fuel pump
perhaps its the timing chain. I believe they fixed it in the later n18 engines. Anyway a loose timing chain could cause misfires and certainly stalling it happened on mine. I cant give any specific codes though. You say it only happens in the morning when you start the car, before it is warmed up like later or toward the end of the day. If i remember correctly that was a symptom. Try this when your gas is low near the reserve try using regular ~89 octane. The ecu will see that octane level and pull timing. If it runs normally, it may very well be a stretched timing chain or starting to.

 

Ok. I can't get the video to play, but it might just be my internet. Sorry for the snark before. I read your whole post now, and I really, really think it's the fuel pump. If it's the fuel pump, the knock code is a symptom of the lack of fuel on start-up and not the problem. Here's an easy test:

When you go to start the car, try starting it with your foot down on the gas (not floored, but far enough to rev the engine significantly). When I did this, it wouldn't usually start on the first try, but on the second it would start, and as long as I let it rev (say 3,000-3,500 rpm) for 15 or 20 sec, it would start without problem.

I don't recommend doing this as general practice, obviously, but it calls for more fuel rail pressure, so the pump sends enough for the car to start.

It is possible for the dealer to test for HPFP problems, but in my experience it's almost impossible to talk them into doing it in the absence of the high pressure system code. The test is for (on a real cold start, like overnight) the fuel rail pressure requested by the computer and the fuel rail pressure provided.

The fact that the MINI USA approach to dealing with this very common problem is to try to make some extra money through valve cleaning and other measures is pretty infuriating.

Again, good luck. Let us know what the problem/solution is.

 

What mods have you done to engine/drivetrain/exhaust ?

 

Haha no problem. I think I was just so angry that I wanted to smash the letters on the keyboard and get everything out. Thank you for your reply though, I am going to try the thing you recommended this morning.

 

The only mods Iv'e done so far is 2nd cat and resonator delete.

 

my car does the same thing, as well as this lovely squeaking noise from the clutch at initial movement. they told me that they didn't notice anything wrong with the start up. really? the damn thing has stalled on me and does it every freaking morning but it's fine for you?

basically i'm waiting for the car to throw multiple codes and my clutch to explode, that seems to be what it takes to get a dealership to actually do anything (and what the tech told me is likely to happen to my clutch, as he knows what the issue is but can't do anything about it). if you find a cause please tell me, so i'm prepared when my car dies to yell at the dealer.

 

Had my High Pressure pump replaced this year.... same thing.... a couple incidents with rough running followed by long periods of AOK. When it finally failed it threw the HP code and would not run above an idle. Thought I wouild need a tow, however, after letting the car sit a while it actually re-started and ran AOK to get me home and to dealer. Dealer replaced it with no hassle - no problems since!