Morning all,
I need to ask a question about the engine light. Has anyone had their engine light come on and stay on??? I fill my car up maybe every week and a half with mid grade fuel. I have about 4400 miles on the mini and am proud to say I am currently getting 42 MPG. I am very carefull not to speed or drive like a crazy woman. 42 MPG is great because I work 47 miles from home. Anyway, Yesterday the engine light flashed on the digital dial and lit up on the center dash in an organgie yellow and stayed on. Then an exlamation point inside an orangie triangle is at end of my miles dirven... I called Mini service department and told them I was worried and was asked by the service advisor to check the gas cap... I did check the gas cap once I arrived home and it seemed tight - I even took the gas cap out and put it back in making sure it clicked. I am very careful with the gas cap on cars because my Murrano does the same thing only that's a trip to the dealer to clear it. Something about a vaccum not being able to be created after refueling the Murrano...anyway... So I really twist the gas cap to make sure I get it locked in place. The "service advisor" told me I could drive the car, and the light might just go off on it's own. My Mini is under warranty, but I just don't want to screw the Mini up. I did make an appointment to take the car to the dealer "Open Road", in Memphis, but that's not until the 20th of March and I live maybe 2-3 hours from the dealer. Oh...and I went through the info thingy on the dash and ran a check and it tells me everything is OK....Any thoughts??????

 

you can take it to a local parts store and have them check the code Oreilly's and Autozone can do that for free.

 

If it's still under warranty, make the dealer fix whatever the problem is for free. The engine light can me a wide array of problems, but it is usually OK to continue driving the car for ahwile. BTW, you should be using premium, not mid-grade fuel per the manual. It's OK to use mid or regular in an emergency, but not for an extended period.

 

wmcilwain,
In my manual it says I can use 89 which is mid grade here. I wish I had it in my office and I would tell you which manual and what page I saw that on. My husband said the same thing to me so I showed him the manual as well. It said use premium on the convertible - which doesn't make sense to me. It's the thinner of the mauals that shows what each code is and has the instructions on setting your preferences on the car. I think it was on page 101 maybe...

 

Does you gas cap click when you tighten it? Did the car do anything when the light came on? It might not be the gas cap...

 

First thing the "Service Advisor" said was to check my gas cap. I filled up last Wed. so that means I had been driving on that tank of gas for 3 days and the gas cap does click when I twist it after I fill up. Nothing happened at all... I was leaving work driving about 30 MPH and the warning noise and the engine light came on. The car has been perfect and my gas mileage is GREAT! Currently getting 43 miles to the gallon.

Thanks,

 

Premium is ONLY RECOMMENDED not REQUIRED.

I actually run 87 all the time and have zero problems. And the car also runs "much better" and gets better gas mileage on the 87 than it does on the 89, 91, or 93.

As for the OP's Problem. There are more than 50 different things that can cause that particular light to come on. Having the code read at a parts store would give us more information as to what the real cause for the light is. As stated Autozone and a few others will read the codes for free.

 

It's probably not your gas cap then. If the light is yellow you can still drive with it on but you should get the code checked out soon. Just do what everyone else has said and take it to an Auto Zone or something and have them read the codes.

 

I have an appointment at the dealers this Saturday Morn. I actually made the appointment when th engine light came on. Guess we shall see... Need my tires rotated anyway and I want them to show me how to change the preferences too... I've tried and guess I am just not fast enough.

Thanks everyone.
LaDonna

 

My CEL is still on for the past 8 months already and until now, the dealer here in the Philippines is not able to provide a solution for me. They are telling me that US model imported here are not suitable for Philippine road use since the local units here have a "low quality fuel package" Kindly update us the situation of your car.

 

My light came on and it was due to the high pressure fuel pump beginning to fail. Make sure the dealership does a thorough check. It could be something minor, or it could be an indication of something major that's about to go wrong.