***NOTE*** The issue was a bad DME not sending the 5v pulse to the coils. Replaced DME with cloned DME. Afterwards Fuel Pressure Sensor was cooked. Replaced. 100% now!

Hi everyone. Long times listener first time caller.

My wife has a 2012 Mini Countryman S Manual. At 42K Miles I swapped out the clutch because of slipping and afterwards, I got a code for the temp sensor. The car ran fine but noticed some leaks from the thermostat housing. I replaced the thermostat housing with a new one that I had to purchase a set of adapter cables for. After I replaced it, I went to start the car and it immediately died. It has not started since. It turns over, but no start. I have run through all the connectors to ensure that everything is connected correctly and found no issues. I did not forget to connect the ground for the coil wires. I did not swap the crank sensor when I changed the clutch so I went ahead and did that, no change. The battery was bad so I swapped that out, no change. I am getting fuel pressure to the HPFP, but when I put the car in accessory or try to start, my fuel pressure to the rail is reading 0 on my OBD2 scanner. I also got a O2 sensor error (which I replaced), but now I got P2122 and P2127 errors. I did check the throttle body and it seems good. Compression is at 120 exactly across all four cylinders. Swapped spark plugs, no change.

I'm having a hard time figuring this out. I'm pretty sure I'm not getting spark. I tried an inline test light and the old ground the plug to see if I could see a spark but nothing on the old or new plugs. I went through all the fuses and relays and not one is burnt out. Again, I swapped out the crank sensor and nothing changed. The throttle/pedal sensor switch codes are there, but from what I read that would cause rough running but shouldn't prevent the car from starting. Would they prevent ignition spark? Any ideas on what to check next would be helpful. I've been searching and reading for the past two weeks and nothing has helped. Thank you.

 

Welcome aboard. Where are you located?

A friend of mine had something similar and to our surprise, he forgot to connect the ambient temperature sensor. It's behind the front bumper.

 

Austin, TX. That's interesting. I will double check, but I was pretty sure I got it. Either way, that would cause a no start? Crazy. I'll look this evening and see what I find.

Update: The sensor behind the bumper would have been disconnected when I replaced the clutch. The car drove 2000 miles since then. I haven't looked at it yet, however, since I didn't have a problem nor codes relating to this I would imagine that this would not be an issue.

 

Believe me brother, I was just as surprised. But in his case it solved the no start issue.

 

Do you have any codes for the chassis and communication type of errors?

 

The only other codes that came up intermittently were P169F & P110D. I believe these are tied to the position sensor.

 

Just an idea but I had an intermittent no start condition that was tied to the main R1 relay. It would just crank but nothing... Sometimes it was fine and start and other times throw all kinds of codes... Try swapping some of the main relays.

 

So I swapped R6 & R7 relays and no change. I swapped R1 & R2 relays and no change either. I also double checked all the connectors and the ambient air sensor connector and all were good. Before I did all that, I also disconnected the ECU connectors and the negative terminal and let them sit for about an hour before reconnecting them. I am still not starting up. I will double check the spark again, but I'd imagine that there's no change there.

If worse comes to worse I will have it towed to the dealer or another mechanic, but I still have today so I'm going to keep thinking here to see if there is anything I am missing.

 

Try to find a mechanic. I took mine into the dealer and they were useless. I got a page of codes from them and a misdiagnosis for $170 as well as a massive $ quote to replace things that weren't the root cause. I took it from them and luckily figured the no-start intermittent issue out myself.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. So I ran some other test. I have 12V at the green wire, the 15A fuse, and Pin 1 on the DME X60004 Connector. Right now I'm trying to use a wiring diagram to trace what would cause no spark. Specifially, if the TPS/Switch would cause the issue from the P2122 and P2127.

Also, got into the OBDII for codes and looked into pending codes. I found the following.

P11CE*
P11EE*
P110D*
P169F

*Related to throttle/pedal. Checking.

 

So after going through everything today I think it might be the crank sensor. No additional codes, great fuel pressure, good compression. The only thing missing is the spark. I took out the CPS and tested the 5V constant and it was good. I wanted to test the sensor resistance, but I am not getting any readings (open). I am looking for another multimeter to validate the reading since this is a sensor I just got last week from an online store. I'm weary of thinking that I got a bad part, but it wouldn't be the first time.

 

On N18 engines, the engine will still start even if you disconnect the crankshaft position sensor. In return, you will have a high rev and subsequent codes.

 

Crankshaft or camshaft? I know some will run with the cam sensors down, but doesn't ignition control run from the crank sensor? If that is the case, would you any other ideas on why the no spark?

 

Crankshaft for sure because when i did the N18 swap on an 08 R55, that sensor got the best of me..lol

Let me go over that thread because at some point in time, the car didnt want to start. I'm not sure if replacing the engine wiring harness helped but i know i kept swapping ECUs until it gave in.

 

Don't you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby.

 

Sorry i didnt mean to :(

I also remember my '11 CMS All4 dying amd not wanting to start becuase of fuel pressure sensor. You mentioned in your first post that you'd get 0psi when turning the ignition on?

 

I got it going. I picked the wrong sensor setting initially but then found the right one. Fuel pressure read good through the sensor.

 

Ok...i also just checked my CM. When you turn the ignition, it goes from 0 to 9 MPa. And them it idles at 8.1 MPa.

 

Goes to about 8psi. 16.3hg

 

So the final is a bad DME. Fried. Going through and finding a repair/flash service. Thanks everyone for the assistance.

P.S.

Same scenario. Slowly breaking at the end loop connector on the wire.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ease-help.html

 

Did you get a new DME?

 

If the ECU can still be communicated to, it is easy to clone. You just need to buy a used DME with the same part number. Cloning can be one on the bench i.e opening it. You can use FG galetto or Ktag to read write the eeprom.

let me know if you want to give it a shot

 

Luckily it does, so I sent it in for a repair through a company in Florida. Sent it off on Monday, 12 Aug. I will let everyone know what happens when I get it back.

 

So no dice. It’s fried. They offered the same thing that Mini2Be talked about, but for about $1200. Should I just go with that or could I flash a used one myself. I’m a Nissan guy and use to tool around with Nistune back in the day, but I don’t know much about the Mini stuff. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Replied to your PM.

1200 is too much. The service is about 350 and a used ecu can be anywhere from 100 to 300...