Has anybody had this problem? Car won't start- cranks, but acts like getting no fuel. Upon investigation, fuel pump fuse is blown. Try again, same thing. Fuse blows right away.

I suspect either a wiring short in supply to fuel pump or bad pump. Anyone have a fuel pump fail like this?

Thanks!

 

No problems here

If possible disconnect the harness from the pump and see if the fuse still blows -- if it does then the problem is in the harness - if not then it is in the pump.


Good luck

 

Pull up the rear seat and unplug the fuel pump and try the fuse trick again. If it doesn't blow you've got your man.

 

i have replaced a couple of pumps for failure. but none blew the fuse. do disconnect it and see what happens.

 

Thanks for all the replies- I disconnected the pump, then no more fuses blown- so I ordered the pump, got it the next day, put it in (easy as pie) and the car works. Yeah, with the blowing fuses, I feared that the pump failure was less likely than a wiring problem, and I did not look forward to tracing down a short.

Thanks again!

 

Awesome thread...Thank you NAM community...

 

To revive a not so old thread...

Here is my saga... Tuesday 4/24, got gas at a station I do not normally get gas at, a combo gas station car wash under the Texaco brand. Instructed the attendent to fill up with premium and do a regular wash. I then drove the car from the SF Valley to Cerritos and then home to Palmdale (approx 150 mile trip). No issues. Got in the car the next morning to go to work, crank, almost start then nothing but cranking. Felt like fuel starvation. Called MINI roadside, flatbed showed up 20 minutes later for the 60 mile trip to the dealer. Dealer researches the issue, finds the blown fuse after replacing the pump, all is good. I drive the car home on Friday (4/27) afternoon. Saturday morning, what do you know????? Same thing!

Called MINI roadside again, towed car again and, not believing in coincidences, I tell my SA to replace the pump and to keep the car for a few days to see if this happens again. Sure enough as I was getting set to drive down to retreive the car on Friday (5/4), the car has a hard start and does it again, this time at the dealership.

So, now I sit here waiting to see what happens with the car.

My question is this to all of you out there... has anyone has issues that are similar to these as a result of bad gas? My SA tells me the the diaphram of the first pump was torn/deteriorated, likely as a result of gas with too much ethanol. I regularly get gas at name brand stations (76, Chevron, Shell, and Mobil) though I do occasionally fall prey to the price guys out there like Costco.

FYI... It is yet to be determined who is paying for this incident, me or MINI...

Thoughts?

 

The failure of the fuel pump sounds like how yours went- except replacing the fuse never revived it. I was too busy to do a post-mortem on the fuel pump, so I don't know if the diaphragm failed like yours.

All I know is that we get gas at the same stations with both of our cars (Honda+mini) and I have never had fuel system issues with my Honda, nor with the Subaru before that. Having had reliable Japanese cars all my driving life, owning a mini is an exercise in patience... But it's worth it for the fun.

 

back from the dead! so i found this thread via googling. just ran into a similar problem today. engine would turn over but the engine wouldn't sustain idle. would go up to 1k then die to a stall. at one point it held 500rpm or so before it died out.

got it towed to mini and the SA called me back a moment ago and told me it looks like it's the fuel pump. they want ~800 cdn for the job done. now someone said it was easy, and i took a look at my bentley's and it looks fairly straight forward, though i don't have any of the "bmw special tools".

would it be stupid of me to try to do this myself? how did you guys do it?

thanks,

jason.

 

The fix was pretty easy- followed the instructions in my Bentley book [ removed rear seat, removed the cover that allows access to the top of the tank and pump, disconnected the wiring connector, the part that says you need a special tool is a ring that is similar in function to the ring on a mason jar, it has raised "teeth" that you might be able to get a tool to engage- I think I may have used one of those oil filter removal tools that is a rubber strap that has a handle that acts as a sort of wrench- and once you're into the tank, it's simply disconnecting and reconnecting a hose and electrical connector]. I think the part was about $215 USD, but that was 3 years ago. So far, all of the things I've had to fix myself on this car have been pretty easy- with the manual - and the car seems pretty well engineered as far as ease of removing and replacing simple parts.

Of course, mine is an '03, so I don't know if yours is the new generation if things are the same. Also, if you're at all uncomfortable dealing with a tank of gasoline, maybe letting them do it would be safer. My car was out of warranty and about 150 miles from the closest dealer. I made sure to disconnect the battery before the repair, and was very careful, but it's still not without risk.