2005 R50 Speedo resting position moves
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2005 R50 Speedo resting position moves
Hey there,
im new to the Mini world and live in Australia. I have a little R50 hatch, 1.6 manual. It’s a great little car, loving it. Weird thing starting happening with the speedo though. When car is off and has been for a few minutes if you open door and then close it again the speedo seems to try and recalibrate itself and the resting position changes - usually goes up 5-7km. Do it a few times and the new resting position will go as high as 30km. Open the bonnet, then close it again and you can sometimes make it go back to zero again. Whatever the resting position is, the speedo works fine from that point - so weird!?! No engine or other fault lights on. Anyone have an experience like this before???
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Good question. It’s got the speedo and tachomabove steering wheel, oil pressure and temp, radiator temp and fuel gauge in the middle of the dash. It’s the needle on the speedo that changes
How old is your battery? MINI’s often exhibit strange electrical gremlins with old batteries even though the car starts fine. Also, maybe you can try resetting the modules by disconnecting the battery for a while.
Does you car have a sunroof? The drain tubes often pop loose and water drips on the BCM causing a lot of electrical problems.
Some MINI trivia, Australian MINI’s don’t have a center speedo. It has to be in front of the driver per their DOT so they have giant tachs instead.
Does you car have a sunroof? The drain tubes often pop loose and water drips on the BCM causing a lot of electrical problems.
Some MINI trivia, Australian MINI’s don’t have a center speedo. It has to be in front of the driver per their DOT so they have giant tachs instead.
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How old is your battery? MINI’s often exhibit strange electrical gremlins with old batteries even though the car starts fine. Also, maybe you can try resetting the modules by disconnecting the battery for a while.
Does you car have a sunroof? The drain tubes often pop loose and water drips on the BCM causing a lot of electrical problems.
Some MINI trivia, Australian MINI’s don’t have a center speedo. It has to be in front of the driver per their DOT so they have giant tachs instead.
Does you car have a sunroof? The drain tubes often pop loose and water drips on the BCM causing a lot of electrical problems.
Some MINI trivia, Australian MINI’s don’t have a center speedo. It has to be in front of the driver per their DOT so they have giant tachs instead.
ive disconnected the battery several times. It goes back to zero for a moment but doesn’t stay there.
No sunroof
OVERDRIVE
Joined: Mar 2013
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From: Fuquay Varina, NC
If it moves after you have reconnected the battery than I would think there is some type of signal being sent to make it move.
But then you do live downunder with the wheel to the right and the toilet flushing counterclockwise.
But then you do live downunder with the wheel to the right and the toilet flushing counterclockwise.
OVERDRIVE
Joined: Mar 2013
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From: Fuquay Varina, NC
First, that is a very nice clean MINI.
Try removing the following interior fuses (no specific order) one at a time and then open the door to see if the needle moves; F3 - Digital Clock/Power Mirrors, F37 - Central Locking, F35 - Mirror adjustment, F19 - Power Windows and F14 - interior lights. On a Corvette I had the plug pins connecting the door wire harness on each side would vibrate over time and work loose, caused all sorts of issues.
Thinking that some wires have been stripped in the past and something is touching that sends a signal back to the speedo.
Try removing the following interior fuses (no specific order) one at a time and then open the door to see if the needle moves; F3 - Digital Clock/Power Mirrors, F37 - Central Locking, F35 - Mirror adjustment, F19 - Power Windows and F14 - interior lights. On a Corvette I had the plug pins connecting the door wire harness on each side would vibrate over time and work loose, caused all sorts of issues.
Thinking that some wires have been stripped in the past and something is touching that sends a signal back to the speedo.
OVERDRIVE
Joined: May 2005
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From: San Francisco
I no longer have my R52 to check, but my recollection is that it's normal for some electronics including the gauges to get some power when you open the door, and the electronics has some different states depending whether the car is unlocked and how long it's been sitting idle. My guess is that the gauge receives a brief power-up that causes the needle to jump up, but some stickiness prevents it from naturally dropping back to zero while unpowered.
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First, that is a very nice clean MINI.
Try removing the following interior fuses (no specific order) one at a time and then open the door to see if the needle moves; F3 - Digital Clock/Power Mirrors, F37 - Central Locking, F35 - Mirror adjustment, F19 - Power Windows and F14 - interior lights. On a Corvette I had the plug pins connecting the door wire harness on each side would vibrate over time and work loose, caused all sorts of issues.
Thinking that some wires have been stripped in the past and something is touching that sends a signal back to the speedo.
Try removing the following interior fuses (no specific order) one at a time and then open the door to see if the needle moves; F3 - Digital Clock/Power Mirrors, F37 - Central Locking, F35 - Mirror adjustment, F19 - Power Windows and F14 - interior lights. On a Corvette I had the plug pins connecting the door wire harness on each side would vibrate over time and work loose, caused all sorts of issues.
Thinking that some wires have been stripped in the past and something is touching that sends a signal back to the speedo.
1. I removed all fuses, one at a time, left it sit for 5 minutes and then opened the door. The speedo still moved up each time - boo :(
2. At the third last fuse on your list, the speedo hit 30kms and it wouldn’t go up after that - false hope! After letting it sit again for 15 minutes I disconnected the bonnet latch switch and it sent it back to zero. I then finished the last 2 fuses with no change. Boo again :(
3. So, it’s not related to the fuses circuits as you suggested - though your list made good sense and I got excited for a moment there
. Any other suggestions?4. Interesting to me the it’s the bonnet latch that makes it return to zero, only after an extended time - longer than it takes to make the speedo move up. It’s closer to 10-15 minutes instead of 5. And it returns to zero when the switch is disconnected....
5. I also found out accidentally, although it’s already unlocked, if I got unlock again before opening the door it won’t change the speedo setting. It’s only impacted when unlocked and left for 3-5 minutes...
Open to any other suggestions.... really appreciate the help
Last edited by Snapperduck; Apr 15, 2018 at 12:18 AM.
OVERDRIVE
Joined: Mar 2013
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From: Fuquay Varina, NC
The FAQ section does have information on all the fuse circuits, check out item # 23 in the below thread. I am still thinking some cross induction. I would pull each fuse and see what occurs, nothing to lose other than your mind . . . . .
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nd-wiring.html
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nd-wiring.html
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From: soggy pnw
I think it is unlikely messing with the fuses will change anything. The problem is likely poor contact at a connector where the speedometer signals travel. Have to try to bang on the dash near the speedometer?
The speedometer and tachometer are stepper motors driven by a microprocessor.
Has the speedo been mess with by someone, like change the gauge dial or LED colour?
The speedometer and tachometer are stepper motors driven by a microprocessor.
Has the speedo been mess with by someone, like change the gauge dial or LED colour?
OVERDRIVE
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 5,489
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From: Fuquay Varina, NC
Yep, lost your mind. It may be a resistance/ohm issue and not voltage. Where is your "bonnet" open warning light, in the big center dial, or in the speedo/tech dials? As the bonnet disconnect resets the speedo there may be some cross connection somewhere or even a circuit board that got wet and corrosion is causing the bleed over.
I would also remove the trim shroud that is below the steering wheel, it is on hinges (I put an allen head wrench in a vice grip, insert the allen head into the gap between the shroud and the upper dash trim and then rotate 90% so you can pull it back that in turn will pull the shroud toward you thereby unclipping it). See if there are any wires going up into the speedo/tach area that are not in the harness.
I would also remove the trim shroud that is below the steering wheel, it is on hinges (I put an allen head wrench in a vice grip, insert the allen head into the gap between the shroud and the upper dash trim and then rotate 90% so you can pull it back that in turn will pull the shroud toward you thereby unclipping it). See if there are any wires going up into the speedo/tach area that are not in the harness.
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I think it is unlikely messing with the fuses will change anything. The problem is likely poor contact at a connector where the speedometer signals travel. Have to try to bang on the dash near the speedometer?
The speedometer and tachometer are stepper motors driven by a microprocessor.
Has the speedo been mess with by someone, like change the gauge dial or LED colour?
The speedometer and tachometer are stepper motors driven by a microprocessor.
Has the speedo been mess with by someone, like change the gauge dial or LED colour?
Thread Starter
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1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 11
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I think it is unlikely messing with the fuses will change anything. The problem is likely poor contact at a connector where the speedometer signals travel. Have to try to bang on the dash near the speedometer?
The speedometer and tachometer are stepper motors driven by a microprocessor.
Has the speedo been mess with by someone, like change the gauge dial or LED colour?
The speedometer and tachometer are stepper motors driven by a microprocessor.
Has the speedo been mess with by someone, like change the gauge dial or LED colour?
6th Gear - NAM Hall of Fame
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From: soggy pnw
^
A bit of long shot. Check to see if the ODB connector has something plugged in. Though I suspect the CAN bus between the ECU and COMBI module are not directly exposed to the ODB port.
This is not going to help you much, but just FYI. When you open the door even without inserting the ignition key the speedo module is powered on. This is to allow one to check the odometer mileage without the need to insert the key. Just strangely for what ever reason the stepper motor got some brief pulse(s) of sort causing it to step away from 0. If the speedo work reliably when the engine is running, that will suggest strongly the problem is not intermittent electrical contact problem.
A bit of long shot. Check to see if the ODB connector has something plugged in. Though I suspect the CAN bus between the ECU and COMBI module are not directly exposed to the ODB port.
This is not going to help you much, but just FYI. When you open the door even without inserting the ignition key the speedo module is powered on. This is to allow one to check the odometer mileage without the need to insert the key. Just strangely for what ever reason the stepper motor got some brief pulse(s) of sort causing it to step away from 0. If the speedo work reliably when the engine is running, that will suggest strongly the problem is not intermittent electrical contact problem.
Last edited by pnwR53S; Apr 16, 2018 at 10:24 AM.
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