Mine used to do this, the dealership replaced the serpentine belt becuase mine was all cracked up and it hasnt done it since.

 

Well, my 03 MCS started doing this later after Jan tuned it and I had no idea what the issue was but I shortly realized that it had to do with the cold rather than the tune. It seems that the combo of the car sitting for around an hour and temps under 65 degrees or so would make my car run weird after start up.

The car would start fine and then as I would try to drive away, the engine would stay running but I would lose ALL or most power from the engine. It wouldnt die but even throttle inputs wouldnt do anything. It would do this for several short bursts and never again until it would have a good chance to sit. Also, (I do have a cam but I'm not sure if it is the cause) at idle, such as at a stop light, the rpms can fluctuate and at some points they will drop so low as to almost stall the engine if I dont give it more gas. At this time, however, the engine IS responsive to throttle input.

The closest comparison I can make is when I was coming home from work tonight (30 degrees out) on my 49cc 2 stroke scooter. When I start the scooter in the cold it takes a couple tries, one with gas and then it starts when there is gas in the engine from turning over but with no further throttle input. When I accelerate, the scooter does the exact same thing and bogs down with little or no power a couple of times and then I dont have the problem any longer. This leads me to believe that the engine is getting either too much or too little gas or that it is getting too little air.

Just some observations...

 

Pat Cooper

I realize this is a few years down the line, but did you ever get anything worth while from Mini USA?

Thanks!!!

 

Of all the things I've tried and discounted, blaming it on ethanol fuel, the day of the week, dirty injectors, bad karma, etc., only one thing seems to work. And I got the tip from this thread:
Key-on for about 3-seconds BEFORE starting. Let the fuel pump run until it's quiet and then crank to start. Knock on wood, this seems to have eliminated the cold start problem with 10 Ball...

-B

 

mine just stumbles at the morning but i know its because its cold so ill just leave the engine running for about a minute and there problem fixed no more issues while driving.

 

Any fix to this probelm?. Problem is i live in UP, Michigan and nearest dealer is 250 miles. It is 10,500 miles on board never had a problem and computer shows that it needs service after 7000 miles.

 

my car is stalling before it never did and its not even cold or that cold, i dont know if this has anything to do but my oil temp is cold most of the time

 

Did you try my suggestion [in post # 604]? I didn't come up with this, but it works in my case... B

 

yes it works

thank youu

 

Hey Muy, thanks a lot for your suggestion. I do that all the time.
It does work to some extent. starting was never a problem with my mini but staying live wthout underpowered/choking behaviour/stalling at signal until the engine warms up was the problem.
The engine does start even at -6 F but stalls after 30-40 seconds and i have to start again and does stay alive thereafter with a kind of choking or surviving on the last breath, behaves like it is running with one cylinder for next 1/8th of mile and then it is back to fun all the way once the engine is warm.
Except for this issue it has been great car so far.

 

Anything new related to the double crank to start? I know there was some debate if this is related but it seemed to be discussed. My 06 is doing this fairly regularly. Not starting first crank and then starting just fine second. No stumble issues. And leaving key on for a time does not eliminate the need for a second crank most times.

 

Does this happen only when the engine is cold; if so it needs more fuel. The engine coolant temperature sensor is responsible for delivering more fuel when the engine block is cold. Assuming you don't have a fuel delivery concern. use a laser pyrometer to confirm the ECT is correct by comparing the ECT as read from the scan tool to an actual reading off the thermostat housing; I would expect them to be within 5-10 degrees f of each other

 

No. Not only. I have seen it happen when it was run and then shut off and left for an hour. So engine still warm but not hot. Have had it happen when cold but it seems rather random and, if I am not mistaken, more when hot or warm. Almost like old timey vapor lock in a way. I know thats not possible with this sort of fuel system but reminds me of that.

I do not crank it long though. When it does not roar to life with a 3-5 second crank. I stop, reset key and then retry and it cranks immediately second time. I have tried waiting on first key turn and have had it start with no second try. But a few times it fails to eliminate it.

 

And so now, today at least, it refuses to do it. Started fine cold, started up again warm, then again hot then again warm... No sign of the problem but, being aware of it even more today, I did let it sit a few more seconds in position 2 before attempting.

 

I have a MCS '08, and for the first time on tuesday 26th I had trouble with my start up. First start up the car sputtered and was ready to stall. I reved the engine up thinking due to it being -11 without the windchill it was just the cold. I turned the car off and restarted, same problem arose. I back the car out of the driveway and the car would not not accelerate. I could not shift out of 2nd gear.
I took the car into the dealership (everything was under warranty luckly and the dealer is 2 mins away from my house). Problem is basic, expensive repair if you have to pay, but basic. The mild weather to freezing cold back to mild then freezing created condensation that froze within the intake manifold. This along with any build up of "gunk" prevented proper mix of air and gas. So in the end the fuel hose was cleaned, and the intake manifold was replaced.
I gotta say, I've read a lot of posts on here dating back to '03, you would think Mini would take procautions on their recent models to prevent this kind of problem.

 

i just started getting this issue on my 12/02 build 03 MCS

i'll try the suggested key method in a few hours

-DR

 

--Had some rough idle after a start. The engine would sputter and stumble as if it were about to die then the ECU increases idle agressively and warms it up properly. A little spooky because it never did this in the nearly 4 years I've had the MINI.

Read on the forums here that they suspect some gasoline summer formulas to be the cause. I did buy from Shell recently after they started advertising their new nitrogen enriched gas. At the last refill I bought at Mobil instead and the rough idle at start is all but gone.

This is in Burlington, Vermont.

Perhaps our MINI's don't like the summer nitrogen formula from Shell? Our injectors and fuel pumps have been known to be pretty picky regarding the quality of the fuel we put in so it doesn't surprise me.

~p

 

I have a cool observation: My car is tuned to run 93 octane. When I run 93, the car feels sluggish and the engine barely wants to run when I first start it up and then goes fine. Also, some starts are also a little jerky and the engine wants to run a little better but not great. I recently put 100 Octane Low Lead AV GAS in the car while over in Weston and the car ran PERFECT. Zero problems. Problem solved. Do you think that the ethanol in the gas now has something to do with this?

 

My specs...
2006 MINI Cooper S
Stock, 29,000 mi
JCW intake


I just had this happen last tank from the same my Mobil 93 octane source in Milton, VT I've used for the last three years which has been really good. I filled it up on 5/17/09. Just ran chuggy, lumpy at start and would almost die but eventually chug back and be fine after starting. Normal driving seemed less responsive on engine throttle blipping too on this tank full. Documented MPGs were same at 29. So, right after I noticed this I dumped in a pint of Amsoil Performance Injection Cleaner (PI) in hopes this would clear it up. Didn't feel any difference, but I did notice excessive soot on the beer can tips So maybe it did? (NOTE: since new I've always turned the key, waited ~3 sec for the fuel pump to go silent before cranking).

I chalked this tank up to a bad batch with a possibility of the ethanol content being higher than advertised and or new summer mix of fuel.

On Monday 6/8/09 (still with a 1/4 tank of not good petrol), I filled up at the Dam Store next to Lake Arrowhead in Milton keeping my fingers crossed. "No ethanol in out Dam Gas" as they say... Runs like a top, fired right up this morning and throttle response has significantly improved in ONE DAY. As the ECU learns I'm sure this tank will only get better.

FYI... During the Green Mountain Chapter BMWCCA live tech talk with Mike Miller two weeks ago, (he's the BMWCCA Roundel official tech advisor) owners of several shops in VT got into a BIG discussion on how many fuel pumps they have been replacing on BMWs (and other German cars - no MINIs yet though) with the new ethanol flavored fuels. With submerged pumps, seems the impellers are expanding and locking up the pumps... No more ethanol for me.

 

Had similar issues with my 07 MC S in extreme cold weather. Recently took it to Knauz mini, chicago and they have identified the problem code as
SIM 6100811( some thing written as Misture adaptation too lean), SIM 2516565 (some problem with adjusting interlock cable) and perfomed update as per SIM120507 and SIM 240108 respectively.
Have to wait and see till next winter to see if this has really solved the problem.

 

The fix in post 604 seems to be working on my GF's '03 MCS too! Thanks!

 

i had this dilema, not sure its the same one but i was stalling out restart was fine, that worked for like a week then the check engine light was on, into mini it went AGAIN !!!!!

high pressure pump replaced car is fine for now !!!

 

Well at least I'm not alone! Too bad there isnt an answer though....

 

Well I feel a little better now that I've gone to look for "the fix" and have found 623 posts of workarounds... I thought that my car was starting funny because I was too lazy to look up why

But yeah for what it's worth, 04 (09/03 build) MCS started and ran fine every time when I bought it in January, as soon as spring hit 90% of the time it will die immediately after starting. Restart and runs perfect. I usually get 93 at the same gas station, which gets their gas from Gulf, I think.

My short list of what I think it could be:

Fuel pressure related: my subaru used to crank for a couple of seconds if it had sat because it had a weak check valve in the fuel pump so after sitting all of the fuel pressure was gone. Maybe the mini just reacts differently to the same problem.

Software: ECU is doing something funky during it's starting algorithm.

I think that the fuel pressure fits the bill the best, except sooooo many people claimed their problems started after a reflash.

 

To determine if the fuel pressure is causing the problem simply turn the key on and wait 4 seconds before starting the car, if it starts OK the check valve is bad and the pump will have to be replaced. You have the ability to get the answer within a few seconds........