I need someone to advise me on aciton to take.
My Tire pressure indicator light on the speedometer remains on along with the Triangle at the lower center of the speedometer. These two light remain on all the time. I have checked the tire pressure in all my 17" run flat tires and they are all the same. I have performed the procedures in the users manaual to balance the tire pressure. This is not the first time this has happened, however in the other cases the lights went out within a few hours.

What is going on and what action should I take.

Thanks

mini4usa@aol.com

 

Do you have an S, or the non-supercharged Cooper?

Do you have ASC or DSC?

Have you had your service department upgrade your engine management computer?

(I ask this last question since my indicator lights...tire pressure, DSC, etc. went wacky for a while after I had the software upgraded on my MCS...but they shortly got back to normal. In your case, perhaps resetting the computer via a software change -- if applicable -- MAY take care of your problem)

Have you talked to your service dept. about this issue?

 

The tire pressure light can be reset by holding the button 'neath the parking brake for 5 sec. (dealer told me; don't know if its in the manual-I haven't read the manual all the way through yet). If you haven't you could try that, and see if it returns.

 

Yeah, definitely try resetting it. It worked for me when mine went on (legitimately.) Note that I don't think it resets right away. I seem to recall driving a bit before it went out (this is after fixing the problem tire.)

Note, too, that I had the symptoms you describe one time after driving one wheel over a speed bump (the other went around) about 10 ft. right after start-up. Must have confused the computer or something.

Jeff

 

The tire pressure light went on for me too (freaked me out!)- stayed on even after re-starting the car, but the next day it was gone. Not sure if it is related, but it happened after I had my tires rotated and balanced. I didn't re-set the button, it just went away on it's own.

If you've already tried the reset button, call your service department and ask for help. If the tire pressure is fine in all tires, I wouldn't worry about it as an immediate need for service (especially if the service center is far from you). Let us know how it turns out!

 

Just had the same problem. I took it to the dealer, and he said sometimes something can get caught up in the sensor and causes the lights to go on...If your tire pressure is low, your DSC light automatically comes on. He reset the monitor under the parking brake, put it into first and drove a few feet. The second time he did it the lights went out.

 

Actually, the more ominous thing about this comes in the original post when mini4usa said that the "yellow triangle" at the bottom of the speedo was also always lit. I think this means that the problem isn't confined to tire pressure. There's something wrong with the wheel rotation sensors (or the system that's reading them and reporting on them).

I wish the poster would come back with more info...doesn't it just drive you crazy when you try to solve one of these puzzles without futher input??

 

I just had the same problem two days ago and posted it in the Mechanical Issues section. Both the Tire Pressure Light and the DSC light were continously lit on my dash. The manual states that if the lights are on but not blinking, there is a defect in the system. I turned on/off the car several times and checked the tire pressure, but it did not reset.

I called the dealer and he told me to check the pressure again and stated that tires must be within one psi of each other. Once the pressure is where it should be for all four tires, drive it for 10 miles to reset the computer (sounds like a german car home remedy to me). Anyway, when I got ready to do this yesterday, the lights mysteriously turned off. The car is possessed and will have quirks like all other german cars.



_________________


02 mini cooper s, pure silver, black top and bonnet stripes, prem and sport packages, 17" wheels

 

I have a Cooper S with all options except navigation and sunroof. Have not checked with dealer service (have found them lacking in the past). Have read the user manual and it indicates that there is something wrong with the tire sensor system. I will have the dealer check when I go for oil change in two weeks.

I believe the tire check system to be inherently defective because it acts up often.

 

My tire pressure indicator also triggered for the first time (probably that Michigan pot-hole I drove through). After checking the tire pressure within all 4 tires (they were all within 2-3 psi) I followed the reset process in the manual.

I found it required two cycles to reset:
1. Tire pressure indicator on
2. Turn off ignition, turn key to position 2 and hold reset button for ~5 seconds, then start car and drive for a few minutes
3. Turn off ignition, then restart and indicators went away.

As far as the previous post that mentioned that MINI service indicated that the tires need to be within 1 psi for the tire pressure sensor to work correctly, then I better start carrying a 200 lb dummy the passenger seat to keep everyting perfectly level!

 

Wow.. I'm glad I found this thread. This same thing happened to me last night. the Flat tire monitor light, and DSC light both came on. I tried hitting the button, as I recalled, being told that if the light came on, that it could be reset by hitting the button, but it didnt go off. And I thought it was odd that the DSC light was on as well. I checked the tire pressure, and they all checked out ok. I thought there had to be a somewhat significant loss in tire pressure in order to set off the flat tire monitor, but one psi? It was kinda dark when I checked the pressure, but I suppose that one of them could be off, so I plan on rechecking them. I think the manual says that the flat tire monitor light is supposed to blink, and sound a gong, when it detects a flat. If it stays on, then it may be a malfunction in the system and to have it checked by your service advisor. But, I am a bit relieved having read this thread.

 

Saw the posts on tire pressure & DSC lights coming on together. Same thing happened to me a couple of times & I had the dealer check it out. It was Fault 43 -- Internal Steering Angle Sensor. Got it replaced this week. Drove fine in the meantime, so no great worry but it obviously can be a actual problem not a fluke.

The steering angle sensor works with the DSC and ABS systems telling them which way I'm trying to turn so they can do the four wheel (stop/slow which ones) equation properly. (This is as best as I understood it.)

_________________
NekoWoman

 

Thanks for the Info NekoWoman!

 

Okay, if the tire pressure light stays ON, get your MINI checked out! Especially if the problem persists after shutting off and re-starting the car. If it stays lit and doesn't blink, it is a malfunction.

On another note, the tire pressure monitor system is overly sensitive! I hope by sharing my story it will save someone else the same headache:

On the way to a concert last Friday night I hit a bad pothole in the 710 S freeway and heard the ding (sounds just like the ding in an airplane when they turn on/off the fasten seatbelt light!!!) then the tire pressure light started blinking. So, we began to freak out since we were still 30 miles from the concert and it's another 70 miles home from there. After trying several gas stations looking for a tire pressure guage we found one, a CHEAP, BAD one. It gave me bonkers readings for the same tire: 18, 32, 60... That was no help! So we took a chance after the concert and drove all the way home, keeping it under 60 mph (which is really hard to do without getting shot at in SoCal).

The next morning I borrowed a car and went out to buy a REAL tire pressure guage with a release button and all for $10 at AutoZone. When I tested all 4 tires on my MINI I discovered they were all within 1 psi (all a little low, but still the same). While I was VERY glad and relieved to find out I did not need to shell out the cash for a new runflat tire this holiday season when I need every extra cent, I was perturbed by the false alarm.

The moral of this story is INVEST IN A QUALITY TIRE PRESSURE GUAGE AND KEEP IT IN YOUR MINI AT ALL TIMES!!!

 

You can always use the presure guage on the air machine. You don't have to put quarters in to get a presure reading, only if you want air, ant they seem pretty accurate.

here's a LINK to my experiences getting a runflat patched.

(Sorry a bit off topic from original post!)

 

"It was Fault 43 -- Internal Steering Angle Sensor.[/b] Got it replaced this week. " _________________
NekoWoman

Hey, thanks for the actual, factual information. I had the tire-sensor-dsc-light experience myself yesterday. Will quote the "Fault 43 " lingo when I run it to the dealer for 10K service. Otherwise, no problems at all.

 

I would like to second the advice that it can come on from one side of car going over a speed bump and the other, not. I was driving around town the other day when I had to go over one of those steel plates that are put in place as a temp cover on road construction. I usually avoid them like the plague, but didn't see it till the last second. I swerved, but only my driver's side wheels avoided it. The other side got the harsh bump. After that the tire light came on, blinking. I figured it was from the steel road plate. So as I kept driving, I held down the tire button. The light then stopped blinking and remained lit. I then pressed and held the button again. Poof! It went away. Checked my air later and all was fine.

R

 

Just this morning, my tire pressure and DSC lights came on simultaneously. No blinking, no audible alarm. I think this was due to driving 3 wheels on ice and one on pavement...but I checked tire pressures, and all are correct. So I know it's not from an actual loss of pressure.

I've tried the reset procedure in the manual, and have cycled the car on/off several (3?) times. I've driven about 10 miles since the light first came on and I tried the first reset. The lights are still on.

This happened once before after I had my software upgraded, but the lights went off (and I think there were more lit than just the pressure and DSC) after a couple of miles/minutes. Not this time...

Anyone have any idea when or if these things will go off? I'd hate to have to waste 2/3 of a day going to service just to have them "reset" the computer... On the other hand, I can't stand looking at the lights. :???: Help??

 

I'm not sure I know how the moniter works, but if it compares wheel rpms there is
something else to check. I checked circumferences on my tires (Pirelli Euforis) and found a 1/4" variance from largest to smallest (76 15/16" to 76 11/16&quot. Is that enough to fool the system? In comparison, I just bought a set of Kumho ecsta MXs
mounted on Kosei 17 x 7.5 wheels from the Tire Rack for open track use and the
circumferences were within 1/32 of each other! Even with the variation I don't have any monitor problems though so maybe I've answered my own question.

 

Reading all this, I think it would be very useful to go out and buy a cheap digital air pressure guage to keep in my glove compartment.
There's steel plates all over streets in Los Angeles, and I'm bound to get many more false alarms.