2008 Std Cooper got soaked in the rain, 4 inches deep in the footwell and it behaved strangely for a couple weeks - windshield wipers would not shut off even when the car is not running, and a few other odd things. Finally dried out and worked fine for two weeks until - yep, left the sunroof open again. Now it won't start at all, turns over. Noticed the red light on the pod behind the steering wheel is on all the time, that is the alarm isn't it?

The service lift symbol is lit, brake symbol is lit. Any suggestions? I think I have the alarm code to enter somewhere but as the radio LED's faded out a long time ago I cannot see anything that might be displayed.

Or should I just tow it to an independent mechanic and let them sort it out? before the water the car ran just fine.

Thanks for any ideas you might share.

 

When water gets in and you have about 4" of it, 3 to 7 modules are possibly effected. did the water reach the bottom of the seats?
to at least get the car started, you need to inspect/replace the fuse box (JBE) on the right side (passenger kick panel). the module on the left is the FRM module. the car can still start without it.

to save money, buy the K+Dcan cable and bmw software like INPA, WinKfp, NCSexpert, and if you can get ISTA/D that would be great for diagnostics.

I revived two flooded minis...with 0 life in them...

 

The water did not reach the bottom of the seats, it stayed in the footwells so it didn't make it to either the fuse box or the FRM. I suspect it soaked the wires running under the carpet.

Found the connector cheap on Amazon,
It looks like the NCSexert is cheap, so I can buy it
http://ncs-expert.com/

I used a similar program written for Range Rovers and I can see a number of posts on this forum about it so I have some reading to do.

Does my theory about the alarm being set off hold any water? Will the NCSexert app let me enter my alarm code instead of using the radio dash which faded beyond use?

 

remember that the carpet might have soaked the water and what's left was after saturation. so, it might have reached 6 or 8 inches initially then the carper soaked. the point is, inspect those two modules first. NCSexpert is not enought, you need the other two software.

 

It wasn't in a flood, I got out there to shut the sunroof when I realized it had been raining. Having trouble finding WinKfp download, but I got the other INPA, NCSexpert.

 

There are guys selling it on ebay.

by the way, the immobilizer is located under the dashboard. almost impossible for water to get there.

 

I guess I was thinking a wire going to the immobilizer got shorted. That red light on the pod behind the steering wheel is not supposed to be on all the time? Its not blinking, it is on steady.

 

check the fuse box!

 

The fuse box was not wet, I pulled out a dozen or so fuses and they looked new - that is, not oxidized or blown. Not sure what else to look at in it.

 

if you're sure it was dry then i done think there's anything else to do with it...next, does the key fob behave oddly? can you open and close the doors using it? did you disconnect the battery for a little bit and reconnect to "reset" the system?

 

I disconnected the battery for 24 hours while charging it, no difference. The doors unlock. When it was still drying a few odd things would happen, chiefly the windshield wipers would not stop. Now, with the key in, the windshield wipers will not work at all. All the lights work, and as I said, the "lift" symbol and brake light are now on when the key is in. It turns over but not even a hint of starting.

 

when you open the doors or even unlock by key, do you hear the fuel pump priming? when you insert the key and push to start, do you hear the fuse box clicking?

 

I don't hear the fuel pump going when I unlock the door or open it. I have heard the fuel pump before, its a very clear noise when the gas cap is open.

I do hear the fusebox clicking when I turn it over.

 

Can you see if you could connect the OBD and get a reading even if thete is no cel.

 

I have a ODB reader from PepBoys, which works because I just cleared the codes on my buddys truck. On mine it powers up, but when told to read it comes back with NO LINK
with or without the key in

is this significant?

I gotta go out for an hour or so, appreciate your advice

 

when you have a no link, it can be bad...my Countryman had an electrical issue when i bought it from the auction...I ended up replacing the ECU, Fuse box, and CAS among other things.

check my thread here
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-flooded.html

 

What a mess, this kind of problems will send my Mini to the scrap heap.

I do believe the ABS is messed up, that happened just prior to the rain storm.

hmm, since I have no link, that cable I ordered won't work either.

 

It can be fixed...replace the ecu first. Find one with a matching part number....there is a guy up in IL who does cloning for a good price. Once you get connectivity, then you can trouble sboot the codes, if any, one by one.

If you dont want to deal with it, ship it to me and i get it done for you...

My posts speak for themselves. :-)

 

I will gather some costs, part numbers, but it is getting close to the junkpile for me,... I went down this road with another BMW nightmare - a Range Rover,...

 

Well, I left the battery out for two months, charged it and put it back in. Still won't start but I pushed the READ button on the ODB scanner as the car is cranking and got it read. Wouldn't clear the codes unless I cranked it again because it said "No Link".
Anyway, codes were:

P110F - Ambient Temperature Sensor Faulty CAN Signal

P1409 - Fuel Level 1 CAN Error

P1433 - Fuel Level 2 CAN Error

P1551 - ? Is it Camshaft Position Actuator 'A' Control Open Circuit Bank 1 or
P1551 - Engine OFF Timer Time out or
P1551 - Engine Shutdown Time: Timed out or invalidity value

?

I did replace the water pump two years ago and never felt good about the way the wires were wrapped back up over the cam sensor - should I look there? I now have the connector and software mentioned upthread and am trying to figure out how to use it.

 

Replace the fuse box. There are two plugs the bottom of that fuse box that connect the CAS to the DME.
worth spending a 100 to try.

 

hey buddy...any updates for us?

 

This whole process has been so frustrating that I pushed the car into a cornfield and ignored it for a year. Anyway, now when I connect a normal ODB reader into it I can see a return value. That part has started working. So, I got the NCS expert out, with the nice cable and it won't run on Windows 10.

Back to the cornfield....

 

I am not a complete idiot with computers, finally got the virtual Xp running in Windows 10, and I cannot get the instructions right for NCSExpert installing the damm apps. I don't know which ones to install, they are all in German and I have tried 6 different ones. And when I run it the server doesn't see my battery is ON like it does in Windows 10 install.

All I want to do is find out why it won't start. Would the scan tool be a better choice than this confusing stuff?

 

you sure can use a bmw/mini OBD reader, but for NCS i think you have to map the port in the VM. I'm running my SW on win8 and have no issues. first make sure the computer can see your cable and it is installed properly. Then you have to assign the cable to port 1. i think youtube has some vids on how to set it up.