I have a 2005 Mini Cooper (non S)

One morning on my way to work my SES light came on and my outside air temp display read -40. I called the dealer and they said the sensor was either bad or a rodent had chewed the wires. I don't know where the sensor or the wires are located, I've searched and can't find it. Does anyone know it's location? The dealer said it would be like $150 labor and $50 for the sensor. I hope I could do it myself? Does anyone know how difficult this would be? Thanks

 

The temperature sensor is attached to the lower grill (black plastic mesh) on the front bumper. You can see it through the grill if you shine a flashlight left of center (drivers side). It is easy to remove the bumper to replace the sensor.

However if the SES light came on at the same time, you probably have a more complicated issue that might not have anything to do with the sensor itself. You need to have them read the fault code for the SES.

 

OK, thanks for the information. I will have to get the codes read. Do I have to take it to the dealer to get my codes read, or can any OBDII do it? Such as from autozone/advance/oreillys?

 

I believe that any OBDII reader will work, but I'm not an expert in this area and someone else will have to confirm.

 

yes most any OBDII will read codes even if the light is off it will read stored codes.

 

Well I took it to Advance Auto and the guy there told me that I would have to take it to the dealer. It took him a while to find the plug in, which finally he determined was on the fuse box under the dash on the driver's side. Is this correct? He told me that it was a Mini specific plug and he couldn't fit it. I am wondering if he knew what he was talking about or just assumed all that because he had trouble locating it and fitting it. Thanks again for the input guys!

 

No that's not correct. The OBDII plug is a federal standard and all cars after 1996 have the same plug. Go to a different Autozone or Advance. But you do probaly have a code for the outside temp sensor failure. Repair the outside temp sensor and if that is the code you can clear it.

 

It is not on the fuse box. He must have been looking at something else. The OBDII connector is at the upper left in the drivers footwell, at the bottom of the dash facing downward. If you reach in and feel around or look with a flashlight, you'll find the small rectangular cover. It is a standard OBDII connector.

 

Ok, great. That's what I was thinking the problem was. I haven't had time to get under there and see what everything looks like but i have had time to inquire on the web. I will be back at the cooper on Saturday and then I will go get the codes read. I just wanted to make sure i knew enough about it to get it done when I was in front of it. Thanks for the help. I'll let you know what comes of it all. Thanks.

 

If you have a scangage, I believe you can use that to clear the codes yourself.

 

The OBD11 connector is located in the footwell on the underside of the steering columb facing downwards on my 2003 cooper,your model should be the same but i'm not shure.I have this same problem and have changed the sensor my codes are clear and all i get are squigles or a blank display for outside temp.I'd like to hear what you find.

 

I have a question re: external temp gauge. The last two mornings after leaving my garage w/in 1/4 mile of my house, I hear a single beep and my external temp gauge flashes. It looks like it is reading correct temp, but continues to flash for a few seconds and then reverts to speedo setting which is where it was before the warning. If I cycle thru settings and return to temp, it is still flashing. Yesterday afternoon when driving home from work, I cycled thru and it seemed to be working fine (not flashing, just a normal reading).

Indication that the sensor is going? or something else? Thanks.

--travis

 

It's is a warning to let you know of temps where roadways could develope ice.

It can happen while driving too....sorta alarming the first time you hear it, but that's what it supposed to do....get your attention

Your all set Travis.

 

Yea.....the display is a bit unerving as it will flash and beep when it gets to 37. It wll also flash each time you cycle to the temp display if it is at 37 or lower.

 

anyone ever re wire the sensor and plug it into their airbox to read iat's?

 

Yep, showed the same temp (ambient) while moving and it recovers real quick from heat soak.

 

However, the info from this sensor is also used for your engine....so I would not make that a permanent placement.....

At one time, I had an house style outdoor electronic wireless temp guage and mounted the sending unit inside my Alta air box to check different air boxes and how well they recovered. Just used 3m tape and attached it to the inside of the Alta cover....and put this part of the set up below my toggle bay.

 

cool

 

Does anyone know what this air temp sensor looks like??

It shows that my sensor is not working and I've changed the Factory OEM bumper to the Factory Sports bumper..but I never saw a sensor connected to the bumper or the grille...

Please help!!

 

I need help finding my sensor too and probably a part number for the sensor. I can't seem to find one online but its probably cause I don't know exactly what I'm looking for...

 

part number: 65 81 6 905 133

 

I just had the same thing happen. Outside temp read -40, a few miles later, the "service engine soon" light came on.

Of course, this happened on a Sunday... today. It's been raining a lot the last few days and I didn't drive at all on Saturday. So, I'm wondering if maybe the sensor got soaked with water

So, what did you end up doing to resolve this issue?

 

well, I may have found my issue. I inspected the wiring and found that something made a snack out of two wires. Both wires are blue, one with a red stripe and one with a brown stripe. I'll try and re-splice or just take it to the dealer