Yesterday morning as I got onto the highway my mcs began to misfire at about 6500 rpm. the service engine soon light lit up so I pulled of as soon as I could. I opened the hood and checked spark plug wires and any connectors that were easy to see and did not see anything wrong. I have the shark installed, 17% pulley and alta exhaust. After five minutes I started it back up and it was running fine but the light is still on. I do not want to take it to the dealer if I do not have to, they already told me that if I was to install the pulley I would void the warranty. I never told them I have done anything and untill something is really wrong I would rather they did not know. Ps has anyone changed the pulley back to stock before?

 

The same thing happened to my 04 MCS a couple of weeks ago while my brother-in-law was driving. We were BSing and I wasn't paying much attention really to what he was doing but I think he over-revved it pretty good. It sounded like it was running on 2 cylinders and the SES light came on so we pulled over, popped the bonnet, and could find nothing wrong. Turned the engine off and restarted it and it ran fine but the SES light remained on. Took it to my dealer where they reset the light and said it had recorded a brief "engine misfire event" but that it was no longer present. I told them exactly what I suspected had happened, but they said there was no indication of a significant over-rev. They gave me no problem with the mods to my car, including the 19% pulley. In fact the guys at my dealer were really cool about it all and were really checking it out. Have motored about 1500 miles since including 2 autocrosses with no recurrance or other problems. :smile:

 

Same symptoms for us this morning. We have a new (used) Mini that we picked up yesterday... ran great yesterday. My 17-year-old son wanted to try it out so I went with him and when he tried to start the engine, it didn't start (he had given it no gas. He tried again and it didn't start. Then I suggested he give it a little gas and it started, but was really rough. The Service Engline Light came on and has stayed on since. The car was soon running fine though.

The other and perhaps related problem is that we had not read the owner's manual before filling the gas with regular. Does it really need the higher octane (more expensive!) gas? Did we just think we were going to save because of better gas mileage only to find we can't use regular?

Anyone have any comments, suggestions, or answers?

 

>>Same symptoms for us this morning. We have a new (used) Mini that we picked up yesterday... ran great yesterday. My 17-year-old son wanted to try it out so I went with him and when he tried to start the engine, it didn't start (he had given it no gas. He tried again and it didn't start. Then I suggested he give it a little gas and it started, but was really rough. The Service Engline Light came on and has stayed on since. The car was soon running fine though.
>>
>>The other and perhaps related problem is that we had not read the owner's manual before filling the gas with regular. Does it really need the higher octane (more expensive!) gas? Did we just think we were going to save because of better gas mileage only to find we can't use regular?
>>
>>Anyone have any comments, suggestions, or answers?

MINIs require gasoline of at least 91 octane. the requirement is clearly printed in your Owner's Manual and behind the chrome gas cap lid. You may use fuel lower than 91 octane in extreme situations but don't make a habit of it. I onlu use either Exxon/Mobil or Chevron Supreme 93 octane gas (I am in Florida).

This is a $20K+ auto....why use cheap gas? Does $.10-.15 cents per gallon make that much of a difference in your bank account? I am sure they don't so stick to Premium Gas from now on...think of it as insurance to protect your vehicle.

Congrats on your car!

 

The MINI was never intended to be an economy car, it is a sports car(sssh, dont tell the insurance companies!). You can find other small cars that get much better gas mileage for less money. The Cooper gets pretty good mpg, but that is not its forte. What you gain in mpg you lose in buying 91+ octane, but OH what fun that extra dime a gallon gets you!

 

Thanks, Lesson learned about the gas octane. How about the admonition on the sticker on the windshield that says not to use a cell phone inside the vehicle? Any comments on that?

 

My undersstanding is <91 octane won't hurt anything because the electronic stuff adjusts timing etc. to prevent damaging predetonation. Performance suffers due to these adjustments for the lower octane. I think.

 

>>Thanks, Lesson learned about the gas octane. How about the admonition on the sticker on the windshield that says not to use a cell phone inside the vehicle? Any comments on that?

No problems with that. I use a Motorola V60i cell phone since I bought the car with no issues whatsoever. That sticker is intended to serve as a warning for people that like to "bastardize" the electrics/electronics of the car..its like saying "I told you so".

Besides, you should not be using a cell phone while driving is unsafe!!!

 

>>My undersstanding is <91 octane won't hurt anything because the electronic stuff adjusts timing etc. to prevent damaging predetonation. Performance suffers due to these adjustments for the lower octane. I think.


The MINI has an electronic anti-knocking device when using lower octane than recommended fuel but that doesn't mean its right to make it a habit of it. The car was designed for high octane fuel, so stick to it.

 

Hi had the exact same symptoms happen once after high revs coming off exit ramp. Car ran like it was on 2 cylinders. I pulled over as some as safely possible and shut off car. It restarted fine. After 3-4 restarts that day, the SES light went away on it's own.

I always run high octane, I'm sure it is not related to that.

I wouldn't worry too much unless it happens again and more frequently.

 

>>Yesterday morning as I got onto the highway my mcs began to misfire at about 6500 rpm. the service engine soon light lit up so I pulled of as soon as I could. I opened the hood and checked spark plug wires and any connectors that were easy to see and did not see anything wrong. I have the shark installed, 17% pulley and alta exhaust. After five minutes I started it back up and it was running fine but the light is still on. I do not want to take it to the dealer if I do not have to, they already told me that if I was to install the pulley I would void the warranty. I never told them I have done anything and untill something is really wrong I would rather they did not know. Ps has anyone changed the pulley back to stock before?
>>
Graniteman74,

Aloha and welcome to NAM.
How long have you had your pulley and how long for your shark? Are any of these fairly new like in the last few days or weeks? If so that could be a problem. Do you have any ignition upgrades? Such as wires, plugs, coil, or plasma booster? If so then return the ignition system to stock if you have the parts to do so.

What you are trying to do is assuming that your problem is not a simple over reving of the engine past 6800 rpm and a tripping of the ECU to send you into temporary limp mode or failsail mode then something is going on. If you had a simple over rev problem then park the car, let it sit and then restart and drive normally, most of the time you can get the MINI to reset itself and run OK but don't overrev the engine.

If the check engine light comes on and you are not doing anything other than normal driving and the same limp like performance comes back then you have something more. If you have a checker auto parts store nearby you can call them and ask if they will read the computer fault code for your check engine light. They do this service for free in my area by appointment- just call. Then you will know what fault code you are dealing with. Perhaps a misfire of a cylinder, bad plug, bad wire, bad coil, etc.

Although regular gas is not good it isn't the big problem here. Premium is the way to go but I have used all grades of gas in my MCS with no ill effects for starting or driving that were detectable.

If you do take the MINI to the dealership make sure that you remove the shark program and return it to stock as well as for the ignition system. You can't do much with the other mods. Why did this happen? If the shark is new then an interaction between your ECU program, pulley upgrade and the ignition system at high rev tripped something that would otherwise not be happening without the combination of upgrades. Something wasn't working right- I suspect it is an ignition component.

Another idea is to return the ECU to stock by removing the Shark program and run the car to check for the dash light and the symptoms. If they recur then check the interaction of the pulley with the ignition system. Make sure that all of the spark plugs and seated and tightened right- some get loose. Wires are tight, etc. If you have the plasma booster then disconnect all three wires that attach to the coil ignition harness. Leave the ground wire.

Good luck and try to get the fault code if you can. If you are near Randy Webb or Eric Savage they can read the codes using a laptop computer and OBDII port cable and software.

 

I have this problem on a regular basis. It most often occurs when it is damp outside. Both the dealership and Mini have tried to diagnose this problems. The error code always comes back as "Misfire in one or more cylinders". A pretty vague code. I always use 93 octane gas, and I have the Pilo intake and Alta 15% pulley. The car has been in the shop 8 times for the problem with no resolution. They have probably spent about half the value of the car on parts and service. Needless to say with both the dealership and Mini unable to correct the problem and not even knowing if they could fix the problem, I have pursued a buy-back with them. They have bought back the car, but are still stumped with the problem. There was at least one other car at the dealership with this problem over the last 6 months. I am curious to find out if this is a more widespread problem.

 

Didn't mean to imply making a habit of it is the thing to do, sorry.

 

The MINI engine has a rev limiter, so - while possible - it is really hard to truly over-rev the engine. On my stock engine, if I run up to the redline, the engine will cut out (at the redline), but then run fine as soon as I let off the gas, without SES or any other problem. This bascially means the only way to over-rev the engine is to force too high rpms by dropping it into a lower gear when near max rpms.
However, I have read reports here on NAM by some that hitting the rev limiter will set off the SES on engines that have ECU mods.
This is something I would take up with the manufacturer of your ECU mod (Shark), since on stock engines with stock ECU this will not happen.
Cheers,
M.

 

Lemme just add my 'Me Too' here. I've had this problem for as long as I've had my car. It happens every so often and freaks me out, but the dealerships (emphasis on the plural, there) have been unable to help. Nicole at Bob Smith MINI in California mentioned fixing something similar on another car, but I have been unable to leave my car for any extended period of time to find out.

And yet, I STILL love this car! Amazing!

Erik

PS - While I'm modded now, I had NO mods when the problem started, so it can happen on a totally stock MCS.

 

I had this happen to me on monday this week.... SES light came on after a very rough startup and stalling event. Felt like water in the fuel or clogged fuel filter... SES light stayed on about 30 miles and went off, after starting and stopping 3 times.

Got it in the dealership yesterday and they said it was a faulty engine harness, that there is a bulletin out about it, and will replace it as soon as the new one comes in.

Service guy said it was safe to drive but I did notice it doing it running really rough again today, though no SES light.

 

Guys, please read this thread, it will be worth it

Thought I would chip in here because I have had trouble with this as well but have worked out a semi-solution after 6 months...

If you are running over 32psi in the INTAKE MANIFOLD (which is achievable with the 17 and 19% pulleys and the 15% on a real cold day) then what you are doing is damaging the TMAP sensor itself in the inlet maniold. This sensor is only like $40 and I have had to replace mine twice already.

Most people running smaller pulleys will attest that in cold weather and at WOT, it is possible to trip the ASC light so that the traction control system turns itself off; basically the car is telling you that the air pressure in the intake manifold has exceeded the factory-set upper parameter. It is my theory that regular exposure to high inlet manifold pressures damages the TMAP sensor, which is simply a pressure differential unit anyway with a relatively sensitive diaphragm.

Where am I going with this you all ask? Can someone shut this rambling 'Brit' up??!

Well, when the TMAP sensor is on the way out, the car runs like crap, no question. It stalls, idles roughly, has odd misfire sensations, odd throttle inputs, you name it. Because the MINI uses a fly-by-wire throttle system, it is VITAL that the TMAP sensor is working correctly. I have noticed a drop in performance and driveability thanks to this little sensor when it's on the way out.

Moral of the story?

If you run a smaller pulley and regulary WOT the car (I tend to drive like a loon and will redline it daily, hence why I am doing a new upper engine build as we speak ) you will damage the TMAP sensor. How quickly will depend on how 'aggressive' you drive the car. I also do 25K a year, so that may explain my current engine predicament.

Do yourself a favour and get a replacement and see how your car then runs before jumping to any foregone and expensive conclusions. It is often a sensor problem before anything truly serious in cars this young.

Here is the part number even to helpout: 12 14 0 872 679

Hope that I have helped some people. I am working on a permament fix as we speak as well

Take care,

Henry

 

Henry,

Good call on the cause. I wish I was running that kind of manifold pressure, but my dear Bertram isn't even 15% pulley'd yet!

Erik