So lately, the car won't start until after 4 or more tries. With the clutch in and when I turn the key, all the electronics come up and you can hear the the starter or whatever it is just whirring away. Is it a bad starter motor? Battery and alternator is less then a year old.

 

I could be way off, but I have problems like this whenever I have poor gas in my R53. There used to be a local gas station near me that whenever I'd fill up there my MINI would take a few tries to get started. When I figured out the connection I stopped filling up there.

Later I found out from the delivery guy, that the station hadn't ordered premium in over a year. Needless to say I never filled up there again, and the station is no longer anyway.

 

When you say "you can hear the the starter or whatever it is just whirring away", is that with the key in the start position or the run position? If the key is in the start position and it is making a different sound than the normal "engine turning over" sound, then it is very likely it is the starter going bad where the gear is not engaging the flywheel/flexplate, possibly a damaged gear on the starter, or a damaged flywheel/flexplate. But it depends on what you mean by "you can hear the the starter or whatever it is just whirring away".

 

You hear the starter whirr...but does the engine turn over?
if it whirs, but no turnover, could be a bad stater...or even missing teeth on the flywheel..
If it cranks and turns over...could be anything...all the usual suspects...

 

It's when the key is in the run position. It just whirs away.

 

So does the car turn OVER?!
This question is BASIC.
Does the pistons move...does the engine move??
And "run Position"...sure you don't mean "start"?

 

if you just hear the starter "whir" with not engine movement, the teeth on the starter might be chewed up, the mechanism the pushed the little toothed wheel out from the starter to have the teeth on the starter engage the starters could be dead...or even a "dead spot" on the flywheel with missing teeth.
Old school solution is to hit the starter with a hammer..might unstick it a time or two...give you a chance to drive it to get it fixed....
if you are missing theeth on the flywheel...roll the car...pop in in gear...and this will turn the motor just a tiny bit..enough to get to a good tooth for the starter...or just push it really fast for a push start.

 

Sorry, I didn't see your post. No it doesn't turnover while it's whirring away. It turns over after 3 or 4 tries. I tried to take a video today but for some reason it started right away from a cold start and I notice also the whirring usually only happens on a cold start.

Basically when I insert the key and turn the key, it just keeps whirring away until I turn it back to the start position.

 

Can I just clarify... it "whirrrs" in the start position, and stops when you go back to run?. Otherwise you've got a serious electrical issue.

 

Probably the easiest solution would be take it to the dealer. They'll be much more likely to diagnose what's supposed to happen when the key is in the start or run position.

 

It whirs when I'm holding it down in the run position to start the car.

 

Sounds like the starter bendix and/or solenoid are bad. If I understand correctly, when you have the key in the start position you hear nothing but a whir. If you release the key and retry several times it usually "catches" and then turns the engine over. Is this what happens?

 

Yup...most likely issue is a bad starter....
simplest thing is swap it out...
think of the starter as a motor with a little geared arm attatched to it...you sctivate it, the little arm sticks out, and the gear meashes to the gear on the flywheel, and turns it....when the starter disengages, the arm retracts....and the motor stops....
sounds like the motor is fine but the bendix/solinoid that moves the little geared arm is bad...standard fix is new starter...
imo swap it out prettt fast....
if it does it repeadly, the onld school trick is to wack it with s hammer...might unstick it for one or two more starts to get to tge shop....not really a big job...and considering that fact you live on the city, and do lots of short trips, not totally unexpected imo...not geat to have it happen, but could be worse!!

 

Since you are "holding it" i think you mean start...in the run spot the key just stis there...

 

Huh... interesting stuff guys. Thanks for your input. Here's a video to see if it helps with your diagnoses. Starter motors are cheap. I hope it's that. But is it labor intensive?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXdlD...aWrvWO6TnaMY1g


Btw that first rev on a cold start always an absolute thrill to listen to.

 

I think your starter is slipping. It doesn't sound engaged on the first crank.

 

I notice usually I hear a click when I push my clutch pedal all the way to the bottom. That click seems to be gone now.

If it's just a starter is it labor intensive? The part itself doesn't seem too expensive.

 

I am having a very similar issue. When I put my key in and try to start the car all I get is a whirring sound, this will continue until I back the key up one position.

So I ordered a starter(rockauto) and received one that wouldn't fit. Ended up getting another one from pepboys and it fits like a glove. Just still does the exact same thing.

 

Did you ever figure this out?

 

No I never figured this out, but it's starting to do it again, and for some reason it happens much more often in the cold. I suspect it could also be a bad flywheel where the teeth is worn and not engaging the bad starter. If I have to fix both of these parts, then I'm just going to sell the car. I have a list of other things I need to fix on the MINI and it's starting to be a pain in the ****ing ***.

-Starter and possibly flywheel
-New suspension
-New steering rack
-New transmission mount
-New motor mount
-New front disc rotors
-New window motors

 

A little late, but I wanted to update everyone on this thread. It turns out it was a bad starter. A new starter fixed the issue. However, I am getting a slight grinding noise occasionally in 1st gear during the clutch to transmission engagement. I wonder if this is due to wear and tear on the flywheel. Note to others: Get that starter swapped right away before it eats away your flywheel!