I've been wrapped up in Volvo restoration the past couple months, so I haven't been around here but I'm now having some MINI problems. I thought I'd post this as a way to a) vent and b) either get some advice or help someone else with the same problem.

Late fall last year my cruise control started working intermittently. I was also having an intermittent problem with my brake lights stayinig on. For a few weeks it would be fine and then for a day or several days in a row, when I would try to turn it on, the light would flash three times and go off. I lived with it for a while because it was really intermittent and I don't use the cruise control frequently.

Finally, I decided to get it taken care of. The dealership told me that the brake light problem was a brake light switch down near the brake pedal. Didn't surprise me since I had had the same problem with my '97 BMW. They also claimed that switch was causing the cruise control not to engage. I figured they knew the car and trusted their answer. Result: Brake lights worked fine but when I pulled out of their lot the cruise control once again wouldn't work. Drove right back and had to schedule another appointment to get the cruise control switch itself replaced (this place apparently stocks nothing).

Next trip up (another wasted Saturday morning) they replaced the switch, test drove it and said it was fine. I happily hopped in the car and drove off. Once again, as soon as I pulled out of their parking lot and tried the cruise control, it would not engage. Granted, this is an intermittent problem, which I know is a nightmare to diagnose, but this was getting annoying. Turned around and went back. Finally they decided it might be wise to schedule a loaner for me so they could spend a day or so with the car.

Next trip up, I get my loaner and two days later head back up to pick up my car. This time they spent time on the phone with MINIUSA's tech people and they determined that the problem was some sort of electronics in the tach, so now my car has a brand new tachometer. This time I drove off the lot and the cruise control worked. I was ecstatic.

All was well for about 3 weeks. 2 weeks ago, I went to turn the cruise control on and now the light flashed two times before turning off. I called for another appointment and I'm dropping the car off this afternoon. Of course, as of this morning the cruise control is currently working, but it's still going in to the dealership.

I'm hoping that I will have a resolution this week and that this will be my last trip up to get this looked at (60 miles one way). The thing that bugs me is that initially the light flashed three times and turned off, and now it flashes twice and turns off. To me, that should be some kind of "code" that should tell them what the problem is. Sigh...

I'll follow up with another post after I see what they replace this time.

 

Well, as the 49th person to view this thread, I suppose I can at least be the first to say "Wow, that sucks!" Beyond that, though, all I can say is good luck. First I've heard of this problem.

 

^^^^^pretty much the same as chrisneal, after a few hours every once in a while my curise control wants to go faster and will accelarate on its own, but that is nowhere near as frustrating as this. Hopefully it gets fixed this time.

 

I haven't had any problems with the cruise on my MINI but have had similar problems with other cars. More often than not, the problem is usually related to a faulty brake switch; with a brake switch "ON" the cruise will not engage. Good luck!

 

Thanks. They've already replaced my brake switch once so I'd like to hope that's one thing we can scratch off the list of possible causes.

The only good news is that they gave me a MCSC loaner and we are supposed to have sunny and warm weather the next couple days.

 

I had a problem with a cruise control that intermittently failed to function on an Audi I owned once. The problem turned out to be a bad ground in a tail light, leaking current to the brake light circuit, which the cruise control interpreted as the brakes coming on, so the cruise would shut off. Will the cruise control operate at night? (that is, when the tail lights are on?) Does the cruise control go off when you operate the turn signals, or one of the turn signals?

Many intermittent and odd electrical problems are caused by bad grounds. The Audi was fixed permanently by adding my own ground to the offending tail light. (Well, THAT problem was fixed, but that's another story.)

Don D

 

On the days/nights when the cruise control does work, it works as if there was never a problem. The problem is that on some days the system won't even turn on. The failures are completely random. Sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. Sometimes, on dry days, sometimes in snow or rain. Sometimes on cold days and sometimes on warm days. It's been maddening.

I got some "good" news from the dealership yesterday afternoon. The cruise control finally decided NOT to work while the car is up at the dealership so now at least they can hopefully track down the problem. Keeping my fingers crossed and enjoying the vert for yet another beautiful day here in NJ.

 

Good luck, those on again off agian problems can be very tough to track down. Glad mine hasn't picked up this particular Gremlin yet!

 

Please post what they find, as I'm very interested...it could be a faulty DME, but that's like a last resort

 

Got a call again yesterday afternoon. They replaced the ECU and were going to have their head tech drive the car home last night to make sure everything is working. I'm picking Nittany up this afternoon after work. HOPEFULLY this finally resolves the problem, but I won't know for sure until I drive the car for a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

 

The nightmare continues. Went to pick the car up this afternoon and the cruise control already wasn't working before I left the dealer's lot. Went back in and told them. I now have my loaner back again and they're keeping the car 'til who knows when at this point. This time around they had replaced the ECU, DME, and the brake light switch (again) and everything was working fine during their test drives. The only positive thing here is that it failed to work before I even left the dealership so I was spared having to schedule another appointment and drive back up there again.

 

The dealership had two MINIUSA people in this week trying to figure out what was wrong. They decided that it was a rotational sensor associated with the DSC. It's job is to kick off the cruise control if it determines the car is skidding. The sensor was apparently not functioning. It was replaced and they test drove the car for about 85 miles in total and reported all was well. Went to pick the car up yesterday afternoon. Hopped in and... the cruise control WOULD NOT TURN ON!!! This is now trip #6 to pick up the car only to find the cruise not working before I leave the lot.

I'm told that there is a large MINIUSA convention in FL next week so none of the corporate types will be around to look at my car. I brought it home with me and a new appointment will be scheduled the following week. Thankfully this time they said they'd have someone drive a loaner down to me and pick my car up so I don't have to waste the 4 hours roundtrip to head up there again.