About 6 weeks ago, after I did a pulley install, my mini refused to start one morning, for about 10 minutes. When I say it didn't start, I don't mean it cranked without firing. I mean the enging would click once, as if a relay was activating, and not crank at all. After sitting there, scratching my head and fussing with things under the engine, it started and I went on my way. Leaving the bank about 20 minutes later, the same thing occured. It also occured a third time at the end of the day. Once I got home, I crawled under, unplugged the computer and airbox to inspect things, inspected for any burn wires or loose grounds, and found nothing. Put the car back together, and the problem went away.

Until yesterday.

The car refused to start again. But, I had a better idea now- instead of scratching my head, I went under the hood and unplugged the ECU for a few seconds. Car started right up after that. This happened twice more that day, and again today. Each time, the problem was fixed by unplugging the ECU, and plugging it back in after a few seconds.

Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

 

Is your battery getting a full charge? I had an issue where I had all sorts of electrical gremlins (including loosing brakes and power steering on the highway) after tightening the engine ground and getting ajumpthingshave been running smooth since.

 

Well the car is an 02, and has an oem battery. I'm not the original owner, so I guess I could use a new battery this winter.

 

On the passenger side under the hood there is a black ground strap that runs about the length of 6 inches. it attaches from the body of the car to the top motor mount on the passenger side. MAKE SURE the connections are tight. THIS IS THE GROUND CONNECTION for the starter. Seen it left just slightly loose causing this issue....Hope this helps.

 

So I replaced the battery, and the car seems to start now. Only time will tell if the problem never returns.

 

Well, come this morning, car wouldn't start again. Unplugged the ecu, and back again and it started. When I got to work, I shut it off and attempted to start it again immediately, and no luck there either. This is driving me nuts!

 

I had the EXACT same issue, happened this morning actually. I went out this morning, started up perfect, got to the bank, shut it off. no start upon my return, I got it popped started, and went home. That ground strap on the pass. side of the engine bay was loose. Tighted her up, no more problems. Check that strap, guess when I did my pulley it worked loose after I put it back.

 

I had the no-start problem a couple of months ago. Turn the key - nothing. Called for road service (AAA). The tow driver asked me what happened, then got in, pushed in the clutch, and let it roll back a couple of feet. The car started right up. Apparently there is some kind of clutch lockout microswitch or something that sometimes can stop in just the right way. He said it was a trick he had learned over the years. (Didn't charge me either !)

 

Check to make sure the ground on the pass side motor mount is tight and clean. This can make the same symptoms your describing.

 

Well, when I was doing work on the mini the other day at someone's house, they had noticed that my positive terminal in the engine bay, the one with the cable that goes down to the starter motor had a loose connection- i.e., the actual nut on the terminal was loose, and it may have been the casue of my problem. Tightened it up, and the car has been ok since then, but that was only last week. So we'll see.