Grrrrrrr....



My first Engine malfunction light. . .at 2400 miles.
I drove over to the dealership to have them check codes, as I am leaving Saturday morning on a road trip over the mountains.

The code was for a fault in the valvetronic system. They could not tell me what caused the issue but, reset the fault and reset the parameters of the valvetronic system. If it happens again, I'm supposed to schedule an appointment for them to take a longer look into the issue.

Has anyone else had this problem? Did it turn into a bigger problem??

 

I've read a few people have the little electric valvetronic motor go bad. Maybe yours is dying. Don't worry too much as it is a warranty item.

 

Happened to a mate's CMAll4S. Took it in, they reset it and no problems since. Good news it it's a warranty item!

 

Well it made it through my 500 mile road trip today with no issues!

 

Congrats, Mile higher! Sadly mine is still in the shop :(

 

I got this error about a month ago. Called Mini and they wanted to tow the car. When the tow truck arrived the engine light was off. Mini couldnt find a problem, kept it over night could not reproduce the error. This past Saturday shifting from 5th to 6th engine light came with reduced power. Drove home, turned off then on still engine light. Started the car the next morning no engine light no problems driving. I only have 8000 miles on the car weird. Taking it in on Friday, hopefully some codes appear.

 

Same codes and they are replacing the valvetronic motor .....

 

Did they get yours fixed?

 

I am currently facing problems with the valvetronic which are:
Valvetronic high voltage, shortage to ground.

I recently replaced both valvetronic lift motors and both valvetronic sensors my battery is new and my alternator is a year old. I also recently replaced my DME and MPM. My Indy told me there is an SIB for a retrofit of some ground wires for the 2 valvetronic lift motors. I'm hoping maybe someone with more knowledge than me can shed some light on this problem and maybe other fixes. At this point I'm about ready to take a dreaded visit to the stealer. Any input would be appreciated...

 

Why would you go anywhere but a dealer? Isn't your CM still under warranty?

 

Same problem with my Coupe. Threw two codes so they reset it. Did it again and went into limp mode. The next day, it retained the codes but I had full function. The car has been at the dealer for four days now. They're checking the harness today.

 

They got the part in, installed, and its ready for pickup today. Hopefully thats the end of the problems.

 

I'm happy to say there have been no other issue with my valvetronic system since this post!

Now, the $7000 in hail damage is another story. . .

 

That's what I'm banking on. I've owned the car for 15 days and it's been in service for five of them. My dealership is awesome and this is certainly not their fault but I'm shocked that there aren't Service Bulletins on this yet to help them diagnose it quicker. There's a QC issue somewhere. Kinda want my car back. :(

Update: The harness wasn't the issue. Shocker. I know. So they reprogrammed the module. MINI has decided that it should be driven through more than the normal two drive cycles. I realize this hasn't solved any of the other valvetronic issues of which I am aware but nothing says congrats for spending $32K on a new car like not having it in your possession for at least 30 days. So now, we wait. I'm not sure if I should cancel my trip to MTTS or enjoy my morning at MINI HQ without my car. Because I have a feeling I won't be seeing my car for a very long time, based on the experiences of others. And it's pretty annoying to me that the Big Engineer Brains at MINI can't figure this out and streamline this solution a little. It's a little hard on the dealerships who are awesome. They shouldn't have to go through so much trouble. I feel so bad for them and it's not their fault this is happening.

 

Got my car back last night and it is working fine. No issues. My dealership was prompt and up front no issues. Reset the computer first time and then second time ordered the part. They overnighted the part and installed fairly quickly.

What worries me about mini is that 6 months into a new 30,000 car its been in the shop twice. Yes it was handled and taken care of quickly but it makes you wonder. On top of that it seems as more cars become more dependent on computers where does the fault lie. Is it normal computer sensor cliches that you say oh well to or is it bad hardwire/design? Only time will tell.

 

Same - Check Engine coming on ... towed to dealer yesterday and they still haven't called me. I called them late this afternoon and they said thay hadn't looked at it as "their system was 'down'" and since my car coming in wasn't on their schedule they'd "work it in". Runaround or just poor service? They gave me a loaner and seem to think that should keep me happy for a few days (going over the weekend now). I"m not happy. At All. Never had this problem with any other new/used cars I've bought ... either with the vehicle or service provider. Sorry for the rant - I'm a little upset.

 

Mine did have another issue with the valvetronic system after my last update in this thread. I took it in and they said there was a TSB for a fix. They reprogramed the computer and I haven't had any issues in about 5K miles.

...Yet

They did just find an oil leak last week though.

 

Which oil leak do you have?

 

Oil pump solenoid.