Coolant temperature sensor replaced. Should be good to go now.

 

Ahhh.. I got this yellow engine light this morning after a little over 3 years of relatively trouble free with 63K on 2010 MCa in so. cal. I tried to open the gas tank and fueled, but the light didn't go away. Last time I went to the dealer, they told me mine is out of warranty and would cost $190/hr to diagnose. I am at the place where I can't afford to shell out $400-500 now, but I don't want to spend 10 fold later. Should I go to a local independent shop or need to go to a dealer?

tia

 

Independent shop all the way, preferably a MINI shop.

 

Quick update. So last Friday after I posted and after work (after ~6hrs), I started the mini and the engine light disappeared. So I thought either putting some gas or opening the gas pump cap would've done the trick. So I didn't bother to go to a shop.
But this afternoon the engine light came back. I guess I really need to find a shop now. Any recommended near north orange county in CA?

Thanks.

 

Try MiniWorx, they have 2 locations. One in redondo beach and the other in Laguna beach. They are mini specialists and reasonably priced.

 

Good thread to read.

This yellow CEL happened to me yesterday. Then I lost acceleration power briefly and the engine seemed to rev. I have a 2012 All4 automatic with about 19k miles on her. Later the light went out. Always use high test (not that this seems to matter for the CEL) and always tighten my gas cap til it clicks. Here's hoping the issue just disappears into the ether.

Thank you all for your detailed and informative posts. Very helpful to have this kind of background info.

 

Issue: Very new owner of a 2007 Mini CooperS. Have been plagued with issues beginning on only the 3rd day of ownership. I live 2 hours from the closest Mini Service Department. Having issues so severe neither Mini Yaletown nor Mini Kelowna have ever seen before.

Alas tonight one more thing going wrong that I can't find definitive explanation for. A warning light came on. The ! (exclamation point) inside a triangle...located between the odometer and trip meter...and it won't turn off. I tried everything I could think of but no change. Can anyone help enlighten me as to what it means?? The more I research/read, the more confused I get because there is so much conflicting information out there.

I would appreciate any and all comments/help/suggestions... something...anything..? Since buying this vehicle I have spent hundreds...nope I'm into the thousandths...just travelling back and forth to have the car looked at in Yaletown and Kelowna.

Please help!!

Thanks in advance.

Cheers =)

 

I got a warning triangle between the odometer and trip meter once. In my case, I just needed to set the date and time. Yours may be a different problem, but it's worth checking.

 

This happened to me 3 weeks ago. I took my Mini to the dealer this Monday for service and they told me there was air trapped in the turbo vacuum lines causing the check engine/warning light to come on. The only way to fix this was to replace the lines. They had to order them and I'll have to go back this Thursday. It's a 2 hour job and costs about $400

 

My yellow cel light came on this week with reduced power. I have a 2011 CM with 41k miles. After reading over all these helpful posts, I figured it was my fuel pump. So after work that evening I topped off the gas and the light went off, power restored. I just got back from Tom Bush MINI in Jax, with a new high pressure fuel pump. My CM is quite a little tank, love it and all the great info I get here!!

 

So I'm on vacation for the holidays in Georgia. My '08 MCCS yellow check engine light comes on. I don't really notice a difference at first. I am cautious as I drive it back to the in-laws. Then I'm sent out for ice and realize she wants to hesitate when I'm accelerating. Anyone have some suggestions? From prior posts I think it could be either the fuel pump, gas cap gasket, or fuel injectors. I'm a bit worried

 

I had the CEL come on our '12 CMSALL4 earlier this month and then went back off after I made an appointment with MINI of Portland. I called the service dept. to see whether to cancel the appt. or not. They still wanted to check the car for codes - since I had a loaner arranged (new Paceman) it was a no brainer. Turns out that it was a bad spark plug. MINI of Portland changed out all the plugs and all is good again. The folks at MINI of Portland, OR are "top notch".

 

The exclamation point is just a general warning light. It could be there if your CEL is on or if your tire is low. There are endless possibilities as to what that could be for. I would suggest doing a check from your computer which you can access through your turn signal stick to see if there are any giveaways on there. Also make sure your clock is set and all your tires are inflated properly.

Best of luck!

 

Thanks for all the great info here.

My 2012 MC Coupe just had the light come on yesterday with the radiator fan running like crazy after I shut the car off. So I am assuming it is sensor or thermostat issue. Have an appointment for Tuesday at the local dealer.

 

I've been reading a lot of threads regarding reduced power. Many folks have been taking their cars to the dealer only to have them throw parts at the problem and to find the light back on five minutes down the road. When my light came on in my 09 JCW I tried to pull a code with my scanner only to find no codes. After calling the dealer and finding out that there is no less than 50 different things that can cause that message and I decided that the cost of repair at the dealer out of warranty would be a last resort. My Issue popped up right after a fill up. We always use high test gas but in this case I believe that we purchased sub par fuel. I'm not sure if the car has a octane sensor or not but when I ran that tank completely out and refilled with fresh 93 octane the light was out when I started the car at the station.
So, the moral of the story is- be patient! If you cant pull a code and the light is yellow and not red, it is ok to drive the car. Run the fuel out and refill with high quality gas with maybe a shot of lucus injector cleaner. Good Luck!!!

 

I have a 2008 Mini with 98K miles on it. The yellow engine light comes on occasionally, however, I have been experiencing bucking when accelerating. Sometimes so bad the light will come on then fade. I usually put it in sport to get it out of its own way. I have taken it to an auto shop, no codes were found.
I am guessing from this thread it has to do with the emissions??? She just past smog (don't know if that makes a difference).

 

Thank you for this post. I put midgrade fuel I/2 tank yesterday at a gas station I don't normally go to and 1 mile down road afterwards the cel came on and my car was hesitating when I accelerated. I then stopped at another station and put premium in to fill it up. The hesitation stopped for a short while but started again this morning. I started researching forums and saw your post so I put gas treatment and fuel sensor cleaner in the tank. So far the hesitation with acceleration has stopped. Keeping my fingers crossed that when I run this tank down and refill that problem will be solved. CEL light is still on as of now.

 

So guess what? MY light is due to supposedly a problem in the valve in the turbo unit. Cost to fix? $800! 1K miles out of warranty. Add $700 to redo the front brakes. A bit upset. Need to sink the $1.5K in and then figure out a way to unload this thing. Love the way it drives. One of the biggest financial mistakes I've ever made. Obviously, I can't afford to drive anything but a reliable Japanese car. Shouldn't have dreamed so big ;-)

 

you didn't mention exactly what work is involved with your front brakes, but assuming it's the usual pads and rotors, $700 is a very high price. It is an easy job that any competent mechanic should be able to easily do. I am going to guess that you got this price from your dealer. My experience, no matter what make car we are talking about, is that you can save a lot of money by avoiding car dealers for non-warranty work when you can. Sometimes you will need to go back to a dealer if specialized tools or knowledge is required, but for brakes on any mini no unusual tools or knowledge is required. As for the turbocharger repair, again, if that price is from a dealer, it's very likely that you could save a significant portion of the $800 by having the work done by good independent garage instead of paying dealer prices.

 

All oil and gas come from the place. If it says 89 Octane, then its just as good as another with the same rating. Its nonesense the dealer is saying its not using it as an excuse as to why the car does not run.

 

Whoever told you that is dead wrong! See toptiergas.com.

 

Hogan3 is correct. While with many cars you may not notice a difference, with our '13 CMSA4 if we stop using top tier gas we quickly start to get rough idling, and to fix the issue we often need to add a bottle or more of Techron in addition to switching back to Top Tier. Interestingly we never saw the idling issue with our 2012, but we did not have it that long. We do own another BMW product (an X5 50i) that seems to do fine without top tier, despite that BMW recommends top tier fuel.

 

If they are not the same octane rating, then they should not labelbis as such. False in labeling or advertising. If 89 is not good enough, then MINi should not stated it on the gas door as a minimum.

 

Octane is not the issue at all. You should read the Top Tier website that Hogan suggested. They do a pretty good job explaining the issue for us non-molecular scientists :-)

 

My mechanic gave me a choice of front non-OEM rotors & pads (used on BMWs) of under $400 or front OEM rotors & pads for under $500...this is everything including installation...you can find a shop that works on European Cars that is reasonable.