That part number is the same I have listed for the intake manifold they replaced on my car in December. I was hoping for something different coming around, guess not yet eh?

 

ekg - did yours have the same hose addition and new valve cover installed?

 

I have the new manifold installed and my service invoice doesn't show those part #'s. It does have the hose additions and the valve cover though.

 

I am having the same "yellow half engine light came on (Full engine power no longer available)". It is a little doggy, but I do have power and the engine is running smooth.

But I live in southern Utah and it seldom even gets to freezing. My Mini is parked in an unheated, but attached garage.

Instead my light has come on twice - both times will accelerating uphill to get on the interstate, (after at least 20-30 miles of driving) once in regular mode and once in sport mode. The first time the light went off in a few miles (about 20), this last time it didn't go off and was still on this morning.

Will call Desert Mini of Vegas Monday - any ideas will be appreciated. I have read all 12 pages of posts on topic, it mostly seems to concern cold to very cold weather, except for a post from San Diego.

Thanks!

 

Just an update. The gf has been driving the car short distances daily in our sub zero weather since the FIX, and it has been fine. The car is parked outside, and the temperatures have varied from -27C to -14C through the weekend. The FIX I believe should be the same as Rysani's (fellow Edmontonian).

 

BlackinBlue, Thanks to you and all our Canadian brethren for posting and keeping us informed! Here in the NE US, I had a new intake manifold installed on or about 2/16 or 17 after 2 instances of half-solid CELs and no engine power. I'll post the invoice numbers later as I don't have them here at work. My question is where generally do I look to find the intake manifold and throttle body as depicted in your photos? Curious if I got the newest and latest. They told me mine was the first installed and had to wait to get it from Germany.

Many, many thanks for posting here and please let us know how it works out in the Alberta and Manitoba Provinces where your weather will remain colder than ours.

Thank you.

 

Same problem again. I got the half yellow engine warning with surging idle at startup at the end of work today. It was about 10 degrees F and very windy here in CT. I'm calling my MINI dealer tomorrow. The car has 2800 miles on it! I'm annoyed. It did it once but I wondered if it was because the gas tank wasn't full and I hadn't added dry gas. This time, however, full tank and dry gas. *sigh* I was able to get it to warm up and restarted and it was okay but it's not a good feeling to come out to a car that runs like that very late in a dark parking lot.

 

Had my Clubman hauled to Desert Mini in Las Vegas per their request. The SA asked where I bought my gas and I told him Costco, he strongly recommended to buy gas only from Tier One stations, due to their better cleaning additives.

He still hasn't run a scan or diagnosis yet, he is supposed to call back today, but they close in 30 minutes.

Anyone had issues with Costco gas (91 octane)? Or dirty injectors after only 2400 miles?

Chuck

 

Utahdawg,

I sometimes get gas at BJ's gas, which I assume is pretty similar to Costco. However, I also get gas at Mobil and Valero in between. I can't say that I only go to BJ's, therefore. However, the Service Advisor at my MINI dealer asked /suggested that the gas might be to blame the first time this issue arose. I find that hard to believe, especially since I had the tank topped off and I had dry gas in there. I've never had a problem using this gas with dry gas in my 21 year old Nissan. *shrug* I just left a message with the SA at my MINI dealer telling him I'd like the car checked. I also told him about this thread and about the Youtube video clip of the cold start issue. I sent him the link to it. I sure hope he takes it seriously. *fingers crossed*

 

I've tried to absorb the info in this thread but I'm confused and maybe someone could help. Here's my situation. New 09 MC. Has less than 200 miles on it. Day 1 got Yellow Engine Light when starting vehicle and had very much reduced power. Turned engine off, restarted and all was fine. It happenned again. Check Engine Light only comes on when starting. Never activates while driving. Turn off car...restart...sometimes takes 2 or 3 times restarting to get car to start with no Engine Light displaying.

Had car in for service and diagnostics showed "Communication Failure" happening multiple times. S/A said error messages cleared out, system checked out...and good to go. Problem happening again. So a service appointment scheduled for Friday.

I see this thread is mainly a MCS issue and not MC. I'm in New Jersey...so winter is winter. Any advice appreciated. Question.. When starting, if I get Check Engine Light...should I let car idle for a minute before shutting off and restarting? Or is it best to shut off immediately if Engine Light displays...and then restart car?

Thanks, Finner

 

^ Finner,

I can't answer all of your questions, but the SA I spoke to said he's seen this on both S and non-S model Coopers. Also, someone I work with who has a non-S has had it happen and mine is an S so there's the same problem with both models.

The first time it happened, I didn't really know what to do. Then I found this thread. This afternoon when it happened, I revved the engine (which, if left to idle on its own was fluctuating wildly...see the Youtube video someone posted a link to in an earlier page of this thread) until I felt the car was somewhat warm. Then I shut off and restarted. The yellow engine light on the tach went away as did the warning chime, but the small yellow engine icon remained on the speedometer. I drove for about 10 minutes (the car ran fine), pulled into a parking lot, shut off and restarted the car, and all warning lights were cleared.

I hope that helps! Please post and let us know how you make out with your service appointment. I'd be very curious to hear. It's hard for me to determine whether anyone has had success in solving the problem with the installation of the replacement manifold.

PS: I'm in Connecticut, so I suspect we're both experiencing similar winter conditions.

 

Thanks Bettehead! I'll post again. I'm uncomfortable with this situation as it's my daughters car. It's a car and things happen but a reasonable amount of reliability is expected.

Am I correct in understanding that in almost all cases, restarting will resolve if Engine Light comes on when first starting? Of course, sometimes maybe have to restart 2 or 3 times. Or have some MC's when starting...had light come on and restarting not resolve...requiring being towed. The way my daughter described it...with engine light on...car was like impossible to drive. But she stopped, restarted and was then okay.

...Finner

 

^ Finner,

I am also uncomfortable with this...especially because my 21 year old car NEVER did this! LOL! I got the "new" car to improve my reliability when coming out of work late, etc. *sigh*

Anyway, to your question: it's only happened to me twice. Earlier in this thread, you'll see my first post and my description of the symptoms. After that experience and reading this thread, I kept my gas tank topped off (premium, of course) with dry gas added. I was taking no chances. Today when I started, at first I saw just the yellow-outlined engine on the tach and speedometer (with warning chime noise) and then the tach display switched to the half-filled yellow engine icon. The engine was idling sporadically and acted as though it might stall (again, see the YouTube video that someone posted a link to. I think it's on page 6?). I gave it gas and revved it while in the parking lot for about 2 minutes. When I felt it was a bit warmed up, I stopped it and restarted. This time, I got the yellow outlined engine on the tach and speedometer but the one on the tach went off a moment later. The icon on the speedometer stayed on. I restarted two more times with the same result. I decided to drive toward home, since the car was idling better. The car seemed to drive and accelerate fine. I drove for about 10 minutes then pulled into a parking lot, shut the car off and restarted. This time, no warning icons at all. It was back to normal. It's very odd when it happens and it seems to "go" as quickly as it occurs.

I sure hope someone has some words of hope. LOL!! I'm really getting concerned. I've only had this car since November and I'm not exactly feeling confident about my purchase, even though I like the car overall. It has to first and foremost be reliable IMO.

 

Bettehead,

I'm not sure if my daughter is getting the same check engine indicators. I haven't seen it. I just know it's the check engine light at startup...sometimes. I think the full pic of the engine. Not sure about that though.

Anyway, I will give the dealer a reasonable number of attempts to fix it and then I will take appropriate action steps. My daughter only uses the car on Tuesdays for now. We picked it up last Tuesday and had CEL happen first day. Had it in for service on Saturday. And now today, (Tuesday) happening again. So it goes back in for Service on Friday.

Thanks much for your help. Good luck with yours. Let's keep eachother apprised. Thanks, Finner

 

Here's my info if it helps:

Got my car back on 2/21 (2d X in for same problem) and fix performed earlier that week. Statement by service references: PUMA 22096876 and Part # 11-61-7-595-078. Same as BIB's below.

23 deg. F 2 nights ago in the garage (should have left it out) - no problem.

7 deg. F last night when left outside - no problem.

I won't say the problem is fixed as it has happened twice on sporadic occasions and I wasn't driving it in the coldest temps this winter. But when it did happen before, it was probably 15 deg. F -- but very windy. Not much wind last night.

Probably my last oppt'y to test it in really cold weather here in the NE US. Warmer weather forecast. Hope this info helps. BIB, Rysani and Neo, Please keep us posted from the Canadian North. Thx, T

 

Hi All,

I've got a 2008 Cooper S Clubman with the same problem. I've run into the problem twice now. The first time I drove into the Mini dealer and they drained the water from the manifold & said that if it happened again that they would need to replace the manifold. It happened to me again on Monday and I called the Mini dealer & they booked an appointment for Thursday - I'm not sure what they plan to do.

Any advice of what questions I should ask when I drop the car off at the dealer??

Thanks.

 

bettehead, from what I've heard and pieced-together, your symptoms are pretty consistent with the "icy throttle body" that is very common, and which it would seem the MINI finally has a working solution, replacing the intake manifold with a new design that re-routes the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) directly into the intake manifold, not back through the throttle. MINI tried several other fixes, including a catch can and a re-shaped throttle body, each of which helped a bit statistically, but didn't solve the problem.

Anyway, from what I've heard, the computer gets "confused" by the ice obstructing the throttle motion on start-up, and the car runs lousy, and since the computer is "confused", continues to run lousy. But if the car is allowed to warm up a bit, melting the ice, and then re-started, the computer thinks everything is normal again, and the engines runs fine. So the immediate response needs to be: let the car warm up a bit, then restart. An annoyance, but at least you shouldn't be stranded/ shouldn't need a tow-truck, as long as you've got 15 minutes to let the thing warm up a bit and melt some ice.

As for the check engine lights, your behavior is consistent with mine. Between the manual and other online info, what I gather is that the tachometer light is the "immediate" problem light, indicating that a problem is on-going. The smaller, yellow 'outline' engine over on the speedometer is a more generic light indicating that a 'check engine' condition has occurred. It is programmed to stay lit up even after the original problem is gone, and will continue to light up for 3 restarts after the original problem is no longer occurring. When this light is lit up, but there is no indicator over in the tachometer display, the car thinks everything is normal, and driving should be just like usual. Presumably, this speedometer indicator is to remind you that you had a problem; or more specifically, that there are stored error codes in the engine computer that the dealer can read out and diagnose what had happened. Even after the 3 successful restarts and the speedometer light is no longer lit, the codes are still stored, so your dealer can confirm what was the cause of the original problem. From what I gather, the error codes that indicate "Throttle Frozen" are 2B2B, 2B32 and 2B31.

Good luck!

 

HUGE thanks to all of you for your replies.

A special thanks to you, rjb5. I booked a service app't on Mon 3/16; that's the soonest I can get there (it's my spring break so I have no classes). My MINI Service Advisor wasn't sure if any codes would be stored, so your info is quite helpful, rjb5. I am also relieved to hear that there is actually a solution to all of this. I am more than a little disappointed that I have a brand new car that acts this way in the cold, whereas my 21 year old car doesn't and never did.

I should also add that this phenomenon seems to occur with my MINI only below 20 degrees F. This morning, it was about 23 degrees F and the car started and ran fine.

I'll keep you posted on the progress with my MINI and I'd appreciate it if all those experiencing the same problem would post as well. I'm very interested to hear how MINI resolves this issue.

Again, many, many thanks.

 

As I wrote yesterday, I have occasionally got the check Engine Light at startup since taking delivery of MC a week ago. Happened yesterday, but not today.

When car was in for service to investigate, they told me the same error code occured each time "Communication Failure". I didn't ask about any number code. I have an appointment again on Friday. So I have two questions:

1. Is "Communication Failure" a common code for the problem?
2. Is the Intake Manifold replacement and new design that reroutes EGR for both MCS and MC? Or is that just a MCS fix.

Thanks, Finner

 

There are lots of possible reasons for a check engine light. If it were the ice jammed throttle body, there would be stored codes that pinpoint a jammed throttle body. Since your codes are not that, your problem is not the ice jammed throttle body.

 

Snid,

Thanks for the followup. I'm trying to figure out my little problem. Actually my daughters problem. My problem seems to be less an issue compared to many on this thread..so she's lucky. When CEL illuminates, it's only when starting, never comes on while driving. And it only happens sporadically. Usually just turning the engine off and restarting resolves. Sometimes takes two times, sometimes 3 times of turning off engine and restarting.

I tried to search for Communication Error info on this site but was not getting any result.

Again, Thanks for your feedback.
...Finner

 

The jammed throttle body folks are actually slightly lucky in that there's a definitive fault code for it.

Since one of the symptoms of the jammed throttle body is a misfire, I was expecting to get the standard line of "code was random misfire, cleared code, checked compression, everything's ok, no action taken" that you usually get with a random misfire code. Since the computer actually knew that it was a jammed throttle body, there was a much better diagnosis of the problem.

 

You're all being silly about this. I brought mine in to the dealer last week and they figured the problem out in less than an hour. It was the gas!!! And of course, it required a service which is not covered by the warranty, but only costs $175. So a cheap $175 fuel injector cleaning will do the trick!

I hope you sensed my sarcasm. I was so pissed. This happened to me twice. They said that no fault codes were stored so that usually means its the gas. too much ethanol in the gas, which i'm a little skeptical about. when they called me, they said the tested the gas and it had 18% ethanol and the mini engine doesnt run well with more than 10%. When i picked up the car the paperwork said that it had 20% ethanol. what a crock. i think that since its getting warmer, they dont want to bother with it, cause its not going to happen again until next winter.

 

I'd be surprised if my occasional problem is the gas. I only have 200 miles on the car. I'm on the first tank..from the dealer. I haven't had the CEL when starting since Tuesday. And every time it happened it was at startup...then would turn engine off...restart and be fine. (Sometimes took 3 start attempts).
Anyway, it shouldn't happen at all.

 

It seems alot of the recent posts seem to be digressing from the original throttle body problem. As noted recently, our MCSa had the latest fix installed, and all has been well (knock on wood). That said, whether it's the gas or other symptoms, it might be advisable to just get the latest part update put in for the winter weather conditions. At least that way you can potentially eliminate one of the problems (frozen throttle body). Aside from that, I wish a speedy fix for everyone.