Let me start off with saying I know NOTHING about cars. I had to have a gas attendant help put air in my tires the other day. In any event, I recently bought a 2004 MCS. Everything was fine until one day I was at stop light and my car started sputtering as though it were about to stall. I gave it a little gas, not knowing if it was going to stall or not, and it was fine after that. I thought it may have been a fluke but it happened again a couple of days later. And again after that. This last time I decided not to give it gas and see if it would stall and it didn't. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

Yes

If you search in the beneath the bonnet forum you will probably find a lot of information.

My 03 MC does this in very humid weather. Never stalls, just threatens too.

 

Occasionally it will do that. Seems to be dependant on where I buy gas. Nothing to make me worry or take it in for a check up.

 

Mine does that sometimes from a cold start, especially when the A/C is on. It's pretty shameful for production vehicle stock ECU tuning to do that IMHO.

 

My '03 MCS used to do that... then I got my ECU flashed with GIAC software. No more idling problems and the cars runs much more smoothly. Plus, you get a couple more horses. Highly recommended!!!

- - Michael

 

I thought I was crazy, I posted about this the other day in a post entitled my car is grumpy. You're right that it never does actually stall, but it also makes you look stupid when someone else is in the car and you can't explain why your car feels like its stalling when you're not doing anything wrong. I too notice it happens when its humid out.

My car the other day started exhibiting this trait in second gear also, when slowing for a turn with the clutch in and the car in second, it would shake. I'm bringing my car in on next Friday for service, hopefully they can look into it.

 

Try having the dealer install the latest version of MINI's ECU software... Might help.

 

Please let me knwo what you find out!

 

Dealer told me today that it was "normal". He said Mini is working on it and the only current "fix" is to put some regular gas in it for a while.

I guess British cars really have'nt come very far since my mom's Spitfire of 30 years ago.

 

Went to the dealer on Friday, they could not reproduce the rough idle/near stall becuase it was not humid out. But they did say that they have seen alot of it lately. Their recomendation? Drop down to the next highest Octane for me thats 93-->89. so far its been a week without problems in humidty, and the performance hasnt been any differnt. I can't speak for gas milage right now cuz im in the city but i'll find out on my drive from boston to hartford on thursday

 

What a bunch of BS. I'm so tired of dealers calling this "normal" (i.e., common), as if that were some sort of excuse for brand new cars behaving this way. And "MINI is working on it?" Yeah, right. I don't think so. I know nothing about engine management software, but no way does an obvious problem like this take 2+ years to fix for a company that actually cares about its customers.

My '03 used to do this, and it did actually stall, once. Knock on wood, the '05 has been free of this problem.

This is ridiculous that people are dropping to 89 octane in an attempt to solve this problem. What a sham. Get off your collective ***, MINI, and fix the problem!!!

 

At the suggestion of several people I did drop a level in the gas I am giving Lola and she seems be fine now. I will definitely mention it to the dealership when I take her in for her next oil changes. The list of concerns are growing. Now if only I could figure out why I am putting air in my tires every week

 

Possibly because your air pressure gauge is faulty? Throw away the pencil-type air pressure gauge and be sure to use a precision, high-quality one. Check your air pressure when the tires are cold. Inflate with nitrogen if you have the option--nitrogen doesn't contain as much moisture as regular air, and doesn't have the tendency to expand/contract with heat. Also, Nitrogen doesn't have the tendency to leak out as air does over time.

 

We picked up ours about a week ago and it just started doing this the other day. It seems as though when the A/C kicks on for the first time, the engine doesn't speed up to help it. It will drop down to about 800 rpm and sputter for 5 seconds or so and then speed back up and be fine.

Guess the new software in the '05's didn't fix this yet!!! :(

 

I do not have a sputter in mine, but a miss all over the rpm range. Weather does not seem to be a factor. Any clues on what might be causing this? Thanks.

 

I was told by a MINI tech that the car is doing self-diagnostics when the car is sputtering. He admits it's not normal, and says MINI is working on it, (translation, there's no fix at this time...two months ago, approx.)

Can't vouch for the accuracy, but here's his explanation:

From time to time, the car performs self-diagnostics. It's supposed to do it while the car is cruising at a "normal speed". He claims that the sputtering would not be noticeable then. His guess is that since most people drive their cars more spiritedly than MINI is estimating, the computer often can't perform the test (which, if I recall, involves changing the vacuum characteristics) in the ideal range. So it chooses to perform it at idle, when it ends up being very noticeable.

So blah, blah, blah. Whatever. Regardless of the accuracy of that explanation, it's annoying.

IKTDHBIAIG

(I know this doesn't help, but it's all I've got.)

 

Arg, xcaligali! I think you jinxed me!

I've been motoring along just fine for the passed few months, and this morning, about 2 blocks from work, I go to start from a red light, and instead of the RPM gauge going up, it goes down, and starts sputtering, with the lowest ticks on the tach causing the engine oil light to come on. Pushed the clutch back in, and it cleared up, but seemed a little sluggish.

Thou haft spread the hex of the sput sput!!

/runaway

 

I thought I would chime in. I've had this problem with my '04 MCS since I bought the car last April. When I took it for my first oil change, I explained the problem to the tech at Sterling, and he said the new software would fix it. It did fix it, for about a week. Then it was back. All I know is that it's been happening A LOT to me lately, to the point to make me really nervous about stalling out or dying on me. I also noticed that it's worse with different kinds of gas. I also rev it a little bit when it threatens to stall. I've been commuting through some scary neighborhoods lately (the ones always on the news) and don't want to be stuck there with a dead mini!

 

Sadly it is normal. It shouldn't be normal. It should be fixed. After multi ECU updates it is not fixed. Maybe someday we'll all get some good quality, "bug free" software. Doubtful though. MINI's remedy is a all new engine.

 

Indeed. My 03 MSC does it, especially with the A/C on and the engine at full temp. Not only is it not normal, it is a potential hazard. And with the A/C on, the engine is a pure dog. It is something Mini has known about forever but doesn't seem to want to fix it.

 

Well I bit the bullet and despite the normality of the sputtering I made an appointment with Mini of Sterling. Unfortunately my appointment is not until September but I will let you know what I find out

 

I've got an '05 MCS with Mini of Sterling's SX220 package tied to a 6-speed shifter. I get a little hitch in acceleration, too, which seems like either a drop of bad gasoline or an electrical hiccup.
I've read the comments about moving to 89 octane gas and I'll try that.
Has anyone tried "dry gas" or whatever the brand names are for liquids put into the fuel tank to remove moisture? I've used that successfully on old clunkers in the past but never on an engine as sophisticated as a supercharged Cooper.
Suggestions?
John (BOCOOP on UNC plates)

 

I went for a good coupla months on my '05 S without any sort of sputtering or rough idle but that was about it. For that last two or three months now I have noticed fairly consistently that the car will threaten to (but never actually) stall. Conditions have included everything from hot and humid to cold and dry with no effect. While I notice this happening occaisionally during a drive when i stop for a light this is rare. More commonly it occurs right after a cold start or within the first few miles if i come to a complete stop. So far no effect on pulling away from a light or accellerating at any speed in any gear. The key seems to be the A/C, cold start with a/c on = sputter, cold start with a/c off = no sputter. I haven't brought this to my dealer's attention yet but there are a huge number of threads discussing this topic if you do a quick search. meantime, try starting your car with the a/c off and turn it back on once you're underway. its a pain yes, it shouldn't be that way, and mini really needs to fix this problem, but overall it doesn't seem to affect the driveability or reliabilty of the car. Unless it actually STALLS i wouldn't worry about it.

 

 

After the car stalled I was able to restart the car and drive to my residence (10 minutes away). After parking the car in my garage, I called for service and was able to drive out of my garage to a flat bed tow truck provided by Sterling. The car was towed to Sterling and I'm still waiting - a week - for diagnosis of the problem. Will there ever be a diagnosis and will I ever get my MINI cooper back?