Had to have it towed from my store to Orlando MINI. Got in to leave work today and turned the key to get... nothing. Lights all come on, volt meter shows good charge on the battery, but nothing happens when I advance the key to start. No current draw, no change in the indicator lamps, nada. Silence. I can hear the neutral safety switch cycling on the clutch pedal and the fuel pump runs for a second to pressurize the line, and thats it.

Tried it many many times, banged on the column a few times for short check (aka frustration relief), cycled the key lock several times as well as the gear shift and emergency brake. Even rolled the car a few feet, no change. Second key worked no better than the first.

It had done the same thing twice over the past week, but started after a few key tries, not this time.

She is kaput. Warranty road service picked her up for the 50 mile trip to Orlando, and hopefully someone there can figure out whats wrong. I figure it is either the ECU or a loose ignition switch wire, nothing else makes much sense. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is fixed tomorrow, as I have an autocross Sunday...

 

Sorry to hear of it. Having been there I can appreciate the angst of seeing the AutoX date approaching and having a car to drive.

Practicing for the dragon?

Jeff

 

hopefully they can find the code for your problem right away and find a fix.
Worst is to have an intermittent problem.
Sorry to hear about your problem and good luck with your autocross.

 

Hope the fix is quick, easy and complete. Best of luck at autocross.

_________________
Poco Loco: 04 LY/B, Works MCS, S2933

 

I'm guessing the coded-key reader wires came loose.

Of the body-computer is upset at you.

 

Of course when the dealership went out to the car this morning it started right up for them... I love elctrical gremlins. I described the problem, as well as similiar problems others have seen from posts on Mini2, and explained that it likely is a loose wire in the ignition switch. I also carefully explained that I would not accept a car that is likely to strand me somewhere, so a fix is required.

Good experiences with Downtown Mini so far, hopefully this one will continue that trend.