OK, so I have done a search, but have not come up with quite what happened to my friend and her 05 MCSC.

My friend Bluebelle has a MCSC and has absolutely LOVED it until something extremely alarming happened. She was driving along the Deagan Expressway in the Bronx, NYC, when suddenly, the MINI stopped responding to the accelerator. She pulled from the left lane into the right as the car slowed. THERE IS NO SHOULDER ON THIS ROAD. This is why this became so alarming. She got out of the car (taking her life in her hands to get out and out of the line of busy traffic) and climbed onto the concrete wall to the right of the highway. It was the only place to go to get off the road, and left the MINI in the right lane with its flashers on. Many lunatic drivers had to swerve past it to avoid it.
She immediately did what most of us would do, and called MINI Roadside assistance. She spoke to a girl located in Florida, who was only able to tell her that MINI Roadside Assistance could not resue her from there, and advised her to call 911!!!!!! She knew that this was not a good idea, as it was not a 911 sort of emergency, and that she could be fined for calling 911 under such circumstances. So, considering the dangerous situation, she decided to call her Mercedes dealer, who IMMEDIATELY knew what to do. The MINI Roadside Assistance people should KNOW WHAT TO DO too.
Apparantly around many large cities in this country, the only service that may recover vehicles from the roadways are from the City itself. The Mercedes guy KNEW THIS and called the city recovery service and quickly one was sent out and the MINI was towed out of this horrible area and situation, fortunately unscathed!!
It was taken to the MINI dealer and they discovered that the Supercharger bypass valve had failed, which caused the engine not to respond to the accelerator pedal.
THE WORST PART OF THIS is that the dealer said that he has had about FIVE instances of this problem on 2005 MINIs. This is rather alarming in itself, without it happening on such a frightening road. I now know NEVER to drive on a busy highway where there is no shoulder!!!!!!!!!! Just in case!!!!

I have learned tonight that perhaps, had my friend floored the accelerator pedal, she could have got the car to move and therefore get off that scarey highway.

Any other experiences like this???? Also with MINI Roadside Assistance Respondants being uninformed?????

 

The bypass valve part number or design has not changed since 2002.

Sorry to hear of this failure, but it also sounds more like a scare tactic than anything. What exactly failed on the bypass valve? The bypass valve defaults to being closed (thus facilitating power production) if the vacuum line is cut/removed).

 

Hmmm, I really am not sure what failed - I was just told that the problem was the Supercharger bypass valve that caused the car to stop responding to the accelerator.
I am glad to hear that there is not something new on the 05 and that it isn't necessarily a particular problem for the 05 as the dealer lead my friend to believe. :smile:

I will have to find out more!!!

Thanks for your reply Ryephile.

 

I had this happen to me twice last week. Luckily I was in a parking lot leaving work. I turned off the ignition and restarted the car and it ran fine until 4 days later when it happened again. The dealer replaced the bypass valve.

 

Are you running an 05?

 

The drama. Don't be ridiculous, calling 911 was an excellent suggestion. You yourself called it a "dangerous situation". 911 is FOR dangerous situations. It makes perfect logical sense to advise someone in that situation to treat it like an emergency. Duh.

 

The bypass valve is a passive, mechanical device that defaults to being closed. Restarting the car made no difference in its' functionality. I'm not sure what your vehicles' actual problem was, but it wasn't the bypass valve. For what it's worth, according to the dealership it's called a "shut-off valve".

Having worked so intimately with the bypass valve in the MCS, I know the quirks and functionality of it. I don't see how, even if one failed, would it cause the car to be unable to at least go into a proverbial mechanical limp mode and get out of it's own way. You can tie the bypass valve open and the car still has some power.

 

I was just at the dealer yesterday and there was an 05 MINI stuck in their parking lot which wouldnt respond to pedal pressure

 

What was the issue?

 

It almost sounds like the wiring harness to the throttle body wasn't secure, and/or other electrical issues therein. WTF?


Marty

 

Actually, although it was a dangerous situation, remember, this problem happened in the Bronx NY, and the emergency services DO NOT consider broken down vehicles worthy of dialling 911!!!!

 

Broken down, no. Broken down in the roadway (no shoulder)? I'd hope that would be an emergency even in the Bronx!

 

So, perhaps the dealer has not given us all the details of what the problem was. The lady driving the car is adamant that there was no power whatsoever. From what most of you describe, if it was just a malfunctioning Supercharger bypass valve, she would have been able to limp off the expressway.

Will have to find out more. Thanks for all your comments.

 

By the time i was leaving, they still hadn't had a chance to diagnose it. They were just trying to get it out of the parking lot lane. They were able to get the car started...but they couldnt get it to go anywhere.

 

This sounds the same as the one I was discussing. She said that the engine would run ok, but it just would not respond AT ALL to the accelerator.

 

Sounds like a faulty throttle body, not bypass valve. Since the throttle body is not directly connected to the accelerator pedal, if the TB motor fails to work, you're not going anywhere.

 

My vote is for the throttle body as well. If the problem re-surfaces in a short time, that should confirm that it is not the bypass valve.

 

Hmmm, gonna have to question the dealership about this!!

Thanks guys.

 

I am currently going though the same problem. However, mine is caused by the wiring harness (I think!)... some of the terminals have come loose... I really hope the throttle body motor is still working ok

 

Are you having a problem with the original wiring harness or an add-on?

 

:smile: ]

 

 

 

 

My car just did the same thing this morning. I was trying to accelerate and my poor Mini just fell on her face. She wouldn't go faster than 40mph. But at least she got me to the service center. I've only had her for a month. Sucks that she's broken already. We'll see what they say.

Good luck with yours.



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