As I walk past the car, I hear a clicking from inside somewhere. I open the door and hear a clicking and see the speedometer and gauges moving up and down. I turned the key to accessory mode and then off again and it stopped. I was able to start the car so the battery was not dead (yet). It has not started again. Is this symptom of a short somewhere?

 

>>As I walk past the car, I hear a clicking from inside somewhere. I open the door and hear a clicking and see the speedometer and gauges moving up and down. I turned the key to accessory mode and then off again and it stopped. I was able to start the car so the battery was not dead (yet). It has not started again. Is this symptom of a short somewhere?

I had that happen on my car (Dec 02 build 03 MCS), and when the tach needle was clickking is was actually trying to dip below zero. I only noticed this once.
I had to get a new speedo cluster since the temp gauge was faulty, and have not noticed the clicking since. I don't know what the underlying problem is. I'd keep an eye on it and mention it to the dealer on your next visit.
M.

 

I disconnected my speedometer cluster and my tachometer cluster
to tear them apart (because I can't leave anything alone) and the type
of motors they use on the needles needs to reset themselves to zero
if the power is removed.

They do this by trying to move to a position "less-than-zero", and they
bang their heads on a plastic hard-stop inside the meters when the power
is re-applied.

Mine did it for a few seconds, and have never done it again.

So, I'd look at the battery connections to make sure they are tight.

It's probably something more serious than that since battery connection
tend to be pretty good especially in a new car, but it's worth a look.

If it does it again, it's a trip to the dealer for you.

 

Okay, I was never going to say anything about it, so thanks for bringing it up.
Last month mine did this too. I got in the car one morning and saw the speedo bouncing from 0 to about 10mph!. The car had been off for about 12 hours.

 

>>
>>Okay, I was never going to say anything about it, so thanks for bringing it up.
>>Last month mine did this too. I got in the car one morning and saw the speedo bouncing from 0 to about 10mph!. The car had been off for about 12 hours.

Nothing else odd since then?

 

>>>>
>>>>Okay, I was never going to say anything about it, so thanks for bringing it up.
>>>>Last month mine did this too. I got in the car one morning and saw the speedo bouncing from 0 to about 10mph!. The car had been off for about 12 hours.
>>
>>Nothing else odd since then?

Nothing. It has never happened again. Hmmmm. Actually, this is the same time my cold start stall started. I can't see how they would be related, but it's quite a coincidence.

 

Bisch,

What's your build date? My MCS is 6/13/03.

 

Built 05/03.

 

*BUMP*

I was playing in my car this afternoon--keys weren't in the ignition and the car had been off for about 3 hours--and left the door open for the brief period I was in the car. All was well. About 2 seconds later, I do the same thing--hop in and leave the door open, keys in the backseat with me. I hear a clicking... look around... speedo needle was going bonkers: bouncing quite quickly between 0 and maybe 5MPH. Still in the car, I close the door. It stops. Open the door again and it does the same thing. Close it and it stops...

Did anyone ever find out what was causing this? I guess I'll take it in for service soon because... my wipers are also nutty, switching speeds at random and giving several swipes when I depress the wand for a single swipe. They only do it sometimes. In addition, I've noticed that my ASC "off" light has come on randomly while driving or at startup, and it stays lit--despite my continuous flicking of the toggle--until I shut off the car and start it up again.

WTF?

 

Omtoast -

I actually called my dealer about those very symptoms last week. Opened the door to get in and noticed the speedo and fuel gauge needles bouncing without the key in the ignition. It stopped once the door was closed and started again when the door was opened, all without the key in the ignition. It stopped with the key in but the door open. Hasn't done it since but I think my MINI had a seizure from reading the newspaper I left in car overnight.

I'm going to check the battery terminals per a prior suggestion, but if anyone has an inkling as to what's going on, your help is greatly appreciated. The dealer had no idea what I was talking about but told me to kep an eye on it (obviously).

Mine is a January 2003 build with absolutely no prior problems or glitches for nearly 15K miles so I guess I was due.

Very weird.

 

Next time it does it, leave the door open and turn off the
interipr overhead lights.

Maybe the battery is just barely at normal voltage and the
extra amp draw from the interior lights is causing the voltage
to the insturment cluster to dip below the minimum voltage
to keep things happy.

If it stops bouncing when you tunr off the interior lights, that
would be additional evidence pointing this way.

If you happen to have a volt meter, measure the battery voltage
while it's bouncing and let us know.

 

^^ Trippy... I'll try that this morning if we have a repeat occurrance. No volt meter here, though. Perhaps someone else... Buehler.... Buehler.... Buehler...

 

So, did anyone ever figure out what was causing this????? Two days ago I was getting ready to head for work, hopped in the MINI (MCS, early '04 build), and was faced with a 'clicking-bouncing-speedo'. Just like most have described it, the needle looked like it was trying to go below zero and was bouncing off the pin-stop. As soon as I put the key into the 'on' position it stopped and hasn't occurred again in the past couple of days. I am definitely bringing this up to the service department, but also find that NAM usually provides more insight than the MINI service department.
Thanks!!!!