Hey all, sorry if this is in the wrong spot, if so please forgive me and move it to where it belongs.

I've been having issues where on cold days in the morning and late at night, the car will crank and try to start, but never gets to that point. After about 3-5 attempts it will eventually start.

Once I get it started it, I can turn the car off and restart with no problems. So I took it into Baltimore Mini and had a diagnostics check ran on the car and they claimed we had a faulty fuel pump. So I had the pump replaced which cost me roughly 600 dollars.

Took it home that night, the next morning, the same thing happened, car wouldn't start and acted as if I never had the pump replaced. I'm at a loss here, has anyone else had similar issues that may be able to throw some wisdom my way so I'm not replacing my entire engine due to Mini's faulty diagnostics.


Much appreciated!

 

try this...
before you start it next time...that you expect a HARD start...
turn the key to the ON position...let it sit for 5-6 seconds, THEN Crank...
You MIGHT be loosing the PRIME/PSI in the fuel rail...and it takes a few tries to start....
Since it happens when cold....you might want to test the battery (free at many places)...maybe it cranks ok...but not fast enough to start...and cranking it just adds fuel to the cylinder....and it starts on the next try...just a guess... but TWO free things you can do!!

 

+1 for what Zippy said...

I take it you are parking the car outside on the street or driveway, is it at an incline when parked (the front end higher than the back)?

Just for fun, park it the other way round, and see if that relieves the cold starting issue.
(Sometimes with some older MINIs, when parked slightly uphill when the car is off, fuel will back feed from gravity and it takes a few cranks to refill the fuel rail).

Good luck...

Motor on!

 

After calling a few Mini Dealerships in a couple different states. I go a hold of Autos Mini In PA and they told me to have 4 things checked.

1. Air Intake Sensor
2. Coolant Sensor
3. Spark Plugs
4. Fuel Pressure.

I just had the fuel pump replaced as well as the fuel relay so I would assume the fuel pressure is OK. But I'm going to start with these 4 things first to see if any of these are the issue.



Yes, we've tried this already. I live on a flat road, but our drive way does have an incline so we've tried parking the car on flat road, facing down hill and facing uphill and results are the same. No start in cold weather below say 40 degrees.

I can put my key in the ignition and hear the fuel pump prime as normal. So I know that's working fine. So, I'm going to try the 4 things above I mentioned and will post an update when I get the results. That way others that may have this issue will have something to go on.

Thanks for the replies guys. Will keep you all up to date.

 

With the four things you have listed, I would start with the Spark Plugs... I would pull the plugs, then inspect, clean, and check gap. Then check to see if that takes care of it....

Motor on!

 

Well here's my update. After spending nearly 1200.00 replacing the fuel pump and multiple diagnostics. The car was still not starting in cold weather.

After the Mini dealership too the car back in for about the 4th time, they rechecked the fuel pump and noticed they didn't replace the fuel pump relay. After paying 22.00 for the relay, they put that in for free and that fixed my problem.

So now I'm wondering if the pump was bad at all. I have a feeling I spent all that money when a 20.00 fix was all I needed. So much for specialists huh....lol

 

Don't ask yourself that question: it'll only make you mad. I'm glad you got it fixed, but sorry it was such a nasty bill. Don't forget that there are many, very good independent shops that do careful diagnostics and repairs at a fraction of the cost of a dealer.