My SERVICE ENGINE SOON light has been coming on intermittantly for the past two weeks. The Owner's Manual says it has something to do with the emissions equipment. The car seems to be running just as fine as always.

Because I've been very busy and since my dealer is over 100 miles away I've been reluctant to take it in so far. Does anyone know for sure whether this will do any serious harm to anything if I don't get it attended to for perhaps a month or so ?

Thanks,
Joe

 

Joe,
Are there any modifications done to your engine? Furthermore, does it drive seemingly normally? If the SES light is coming on and turning off intermittently (I'm guessing every 5 ignition cycles or so) then there may be a borderline issue, but not severe enough to keep the SES on. It would be best to find someone with an OBDII scanner to read the stored and/or pending codes to give you a better idea what the car is doing.

Regards,
Ryan

 

I do not know yet if this operates the same way with the mini cooper I just ordered. With my acura RSX the engine warning lights comes on if the gas tank cover is not tightened enough. So I make sure I turn it 3 or 4 times. When I first got my RSX I did not know I had to do this and the light came on and stayed on so I took it to the dealer and they fixed it. It happened again once and I tightened the cap even more and in a few days the light went off and it had never come back on in 3 years.

 

Go to an Autozone or some other store where they will read out the codes for you for free. Then you can figure out what to do

 

Thanks to all for the helpful comments.

Ryan: To answer your question, the engine has had no mods other than the dealer-installed-when-new JCW kit. The car now has about 14,500 miles and only began exhibiting this intermittant behavior during the last two weeks.

There seems to be a slight correlation between the light tending to stay on when the weather is dry and tending to stay off when it is raining and/or being very misty (something to do with the humidity in the air ???).

Joe

 

Joe, follow asodestrom's advise. I had the SES light come on, went to my favorite mechanic and had him dump the OBDII codes. I had a cylinder 1 misfire. That was the only code stored and had no pending codes. Asked him to clear it and the SES light has not come on again.

Autozone will either tell you what the code is, if it non-specific to BMW/MINI. Post the code here and I am sure that some will look it up in their MINI shop manual.

 

By definition, the "Service engine soon" light is not the service engine NOW light. "Soon" does not mean immediately, and that particular light is not meant to indicate a serious problem. If something is sending info to the computer that makes it think you should get an oil change or something checked, its worth figuring out what it is. No one seems to totally understand the algorithm used to determine service intervals, but with a JCW kit there may be issues with oil temperature, or pressure. Putting out more horsepower, and rotating the turbo faster does effect oil life.

 

Like joe said...theoretically its only an orange light which means caution....its the red ones you should worry about :smile:

Sometimes when it comes on for me...just disconnecting the battery for a while helps

 

The service engine soon light has nothing to do with changing the oil or the super charger rotating too fast. It is primarily emissions related. If then gas cap were left loose, the Mini is equipped with another light to inform you of this. When this light comes on, the car will, in many cases remain in open loop and some sensor information will be negated, this is called limp mode. The car is usually allowed to run in a rich condition at this time. Continuing to drive the car in a rich condition will cause high carbon monoxide levels, this will cause the catalytic converter to be over worked and you should smell a sulfur order. Continuous use can cause a rich misfire, this causes high hydrocarbon levels. High hydrocarbon levels can destroy the catalytic converter and or certainly reduce its lifespan. The car’s on board computer will cause the service engine soon light to blink when the threat to the catalytic converter is high. A blinking service engine soon light is your service engine NOW light.
The car is under warranty, call the dealer, tell them the light is on and they will squeeze you in.
IF YOU HAVE MODIFIED YOUR CAR, it is best to read the codes first. Some large discount auto parts stores do this for free. This way there will be no surprises at the dealer, if they see a modification they tend to freak. Normal modifications if done correctly will not cause the service engine soon light to come on.


Dave