Hello,

I have an 07 Mini Cooper with around 125 thousand kilometres on it. I’m located in Alberta, Canada and we’re currently going through an unbearable cold stretch with temperatures of in between -30 and -40 degrees celusis. I have no block heater or anything of that sort to warm the car before starting and as a result I’ve been parking in the garage which is closer to -5. Although I mistakenly parked outside yesterday during the day for about 7 hours which proved to be a bad idea. The car wouldn’t start with the temperature being around -35. It turns over but doesn’t fire. Battery is good as I just got it replaced a couple weeks ago. There are no known isssues that could be causing it to struggle so I believe it’s doing this solely due to the cold. I have also tried boosting it but no surprise that doesn’t help. I’ve left it overnight but it isn’t at home and I would like to avoid towing it if possible. Cold snap isn’t supposed to end for a while and I’d like to get it moved. I’ll likely resort to towing it but if anyone has suggestions on how to get some heat in the engine to give it a fighting chance it would be much appreciated. Also important to note is that it’s parked nowhere near an outlet and plugging some sort of warmer in is not an option.

I apologize if this is posted in the wrong area. I am new to the site. Thanks for your patience.

 

could you try starting fluid/spray aka quick start. there could be something frozen that prevents it from running. just a thought!

 

Yep, that or fuel line is frozen from slight water and condensation in the fuel or HPFP. At those temps have to have a block heater or park it inside. I had a brand new MINI and at neg 22 degree F it was hard to start and took a couple time then fired up.

You might want to get a some portable heat pads or maybe some of those hot hand pads and set them near the fuel line and HPFP, let it set for a while and go back and remove and try again.

 

Forced air kerosene heater takes my garbage from low teens to 50’s in about 20 minutes and even higher it i keep her going. Just search forced air diesel or kerosene heater on Amazon.

 

Sometimes towing is best option. If you get it to the shop in current non-running condition, they can fix the problem so you can trust it.

If you just get it going without resolution, it will fail again.

The last thing you want to do is get frost bite while working on it outside.

 

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it.

So I decided to wait for a tow truck but because of the long cold spell they were all backed up and I’ve been waiting until today for them to help me out. Although it finally got warmer out so I figured I should try starting the Mini again. After close to five tries it slowly and I mean slowly chugged to life. It sounded very unhappy and I wasn’t quite sure if it was actually even running but sure enough after getting out and listening it was. It was holding really consistent RPMs but despite this it sounded like an old diesel pickup and it’s never done that before. After letting it run for a bit I drove away and all seemed normal. It ran very smoothly too. My only concern is that the check engine light is on and it wasn’t prior to this situation arising. I’m not too sure what specifically could be causing this. Any ideas? The only time the light has come on is when I got the battery replaced a few weeks ago I had it done by a roadside assistance company and not the mechanic I usually go to. The check engine light came on the day after but then went away a few days later and has been gone until today. Maybe related to this incident if it’s not the cold spell?

 

Well, an auto parts store will read the code for you but won't erase it. So you will have to buy a scan tool or go to a shop to get the CEL to turn off (after you fix what is wrong).

You saved money avoiding the tow, so maybe the shop will now be in-budget.

BTW, I have had several cars in which the oxygen sensor failed during extreme cold start up. Just a theory here.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. After being stuck outside I parked it in the garage and was able to park it in a heated parkade during the day for the two following days. The first morning after getting it home it struggled a little to start but after that it seemed fine and has been starting and running well since. A few days later the check engine light went away all on its own and I’m just going to keep an eye on it for now. I will also note that the weather has been warmer than usual for the most part. Thanks everyone for the previous replies.