Okay, 03 MC, manual trans, has been running great. The other day, drove it about 10 miles, parked it on a level driveway, 1/8 tank of gas. 15 min later, got in, cranked the engine...and no starty! Wife came and towed me home after repeated attempts to start with only occasional coughs and sputters.
Here's the weird part- on the way home I tried to "bump start" it, 3rd gear about 30ish mph. It started and kept running...put it in neutral and revved it, let it idle while my wife towed me along...then, when we dropped below 30 mph, it died. We did this over and over, and as long as we kept above 30, it would run. Drop to 29 and it quits.
Got home, did the usual tests, triple checked fuses and relays, no OBDII codes, fuel pressure at 50 psi, will fire a few times with a shot of starting fluid. Put a stethoscope on the injectors and hear no "clicking". I have the characteristic "bong" that tells me the immobilizer recognizes my key. Any thoughts, gearheads? Thanks!

 

Are you still at 1/8 tank ?

 

Nope...first order of bidness was to put a few more gallons in it. It's now above 1/4 tank. I was thinking crank pos sensor or cam pos sensor or throttle pos or... but again, no codes.

 

Please share when you learn what's up....

Matt

 

Wonder if you are have a cat issue ?

Somtimes this is what happens when ceramic parts inside the cat break apart....or become really clogged up.

 

weird. in nuetral? so the drive train is out? so only thing tellin ecu car is moving are the wheel speed sensors? and something off output on tranny? you checked function of main ign/fuel relay? it kills injectors if it fails; this would explain why starter fluid works but not why it'll run over 30 mph. possible ecu? you can have computer checked at dealer .

 

Ah, yes, the dealer. Naturally hoping to avoid that. Had a no-start problem once before that arrived just as mysteriously, and the dealer told me that the immobilizer and ECU had "gone out of alignment." I asked them how that happens and they shrugged their shoulders, hooked it up to their (costly) computer and realigned them. Now I'm afraid it has happened again...if no one knows why it happens, how am I ever to prevent it? How could I ever trust the car again?

 

guess you could do a reset . used to be a how-to on here . or do a search on reset . more involved than just disconnecting bat.

 

Going to try the reset...why not? One more tidbit: the fuel pump continues to run while cranking, which indicates that a crankshaft and/or camshaft signal is reaching the ECU. Sigh.

 

Definitely weird... time to call Click-n-Clack.

Maybe your Mini has the itch for the salt flats. Many of those cars no workie below thwirtie... they have to be pushed to a certain speed.

 

Well, reset netted me nuttin'. It's beginning to look suspiciously like the mystery "alignment". Time to trailer it 50 miles to the dealer. Yippee. Anyone want to buy a (frequently) reliable MINI?

 

HAHA....good luck selling that!! You dont have that big of a market as I think a lot of us already own one of those! I know I sure do

Steve

 

Did you check to see if the plugs have any sparks?

The ECU itself could be the problem.

I had an '81 Audi 4000 that had a mysterious ignition problem. After the engine is warmed up, the current to the spark plugs would disappear. Let it cool down and everything is fine again.

Good thing I paid only $1700 for the car and got over 200k out of it.

 

No offense to the rest of you, but my love affair with MINIs has come to an end.

 

Well, here's the deal (kind of): after towing to the dealer, the EWS (immobilizer) was realigned with the DME (ECU) and the car starts. However, no one seems able to explain why it goes out of alignment, and thus cannot predict when it will go out again. That's REALLY handy. Does ANYONE have a tip on this? I read on some BMW link that the EWS III had a software glitch that required an upgrade, but the MINI dealer doesn't appear to know about this. C'mon folks! I know there are real gearheads out there! Prove to me that this isn't just a forum for people who want to brag about their checkered decals!!

 

When your MC was at the dealership did the dealership's scan tool show
an EWS fault code? I think that a generic OBDII fault code reader would not be able to read manufacturer specific fault codes for the EWS. I bought "Carsoft" diagnostic software for both BMW and Mini that has worked well so far but I haven't yet encountered any EWS problems.

 

No mention of a fault code. Just realignment and bingo! Is it possible to buy a DME/ECU that has the EWS "written out"? I can't keep the car in this condition and can't sell it in good conscience.

 

RPM motorsport of Canada can sell me a reprogrammed EWS aligned with my DME for around $ 200. Has anyone had this done?

 

I would call a different dealership and ask them..It seems every MINI dealership is completely different..or that's how it has been with me for different problems. I've called as many as 5 different dealerships for someone to answer my question or just get better service.

 

RPM says that the EWS starts to lose its coding after a while. They will replace it with a new EWS aligned with my keys and DME.
The tech at the dealership really had no explanation for the EWS going out of alignment. He conjectured that the absence of a signal from the (now non-existant) CVT could be a factor, but it was just a guess. This same system and problem crops up on BMW forums...the fix is a new EWS and reflashed DME.

 

Did RPM indicate that a fault code is present when the Mini's EWS starts to lose its coding? Other cars diagnostic systems like VW and Audi will indicate a fault code for a variety of immobilizer(EWS) problems.

 

I will ask them, (although they're probably sick of all my questions). The OBDII turned up nothing...and there is nothing on the repair order to indicate any DME codes found. According to a BMW forum, "the DME fault code is 209 (decimal) or d1 (hex)= EWS/DME alignment. EWS module must be replaced with EWS 3d module software version 6.0, (part # 61 35 4 101 593). Code the EWS using DIS V16.0 or later".