Got caught up in some dirt/gravel, what-not on the pavement when leaving the neighborhood tonight. The resulting loss of traction occasionaly blinks the DSC light and then all is well. Tonight I got the DSC, ABS and Tire Pressure lights all on steady with no apparent way to reset them. Hoping its a common fuse or some other simple fix but I won't have time to dig around until I get back home on Thursday. Meantime, any ideas? TIA

 

This happened to me recently
A wire going to the wheel spin sensor was rubbed and failed. Replaced it and al the lights are now off. 10 minute diagnosis and treatment at the dealer. I would check the tire pressures before driving too much however, just to make sure.
Good luck

 

Thanks. Luckily, Rodan has an appointment next week for his last visit before the warranty runs out.

 

While I was driving with the DSC off, a similar thing happened to me twice yesterday while on gravel. Both times the tire pressure light came on and stayed on. After letting the car site on asphalt for a few minutes off and then restarting it was gone. No problems, weird but im not too concerned.

 

Yeah, I tried that right off. Unfortunately in my case shutting the whole car down and "re-booting" didn't help. When I get home Thursday, I plan to get the car up on the jack stands and take a look around. Thanks for posting. Isns't NAM great!

 

Hey this is a kind of old thread but this exact set of lights came up for me today driving to work: tire pressure, ABS, and traction control. I shut the car off every time it happened and it came back twice more on the way to work, not immediately, and I can't tell if there was an event that triggered it.

"A wire going to the wheel spin sensor was rubbed and failed. Replaced it and al the lights are now off. "

I'm out of warranty - can anyone shed some light on where this wire is and how to replace it? Anyone else have any ideas about how to treat this? Thanks in advance....

Dave

 

I just got a call back from the local MINI dealer... I described the 3 lights at once and they told me it was probably a failed wheel speed sensor... installed cost to replace off the top of his head was $400.

Say it ain't so.

 

We see enough speed sensors fail lately I've been stocking them. They are pretty easy to replace.

http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...2&cat=0&page=1

 

Watch for the transaxle to go out or the cv joint (not sure if its the same thing). Same thing happened to me. I lost my axle about a month later and then again 2 weeks after that. :-( My poor car was in the shop for almost a month.

 

Hey Way, I just had these 3 lights turn on. I literally just changed my brake pads out 2 days ago and yesterday the light came on. Do you think it might be possible that the brake dust is from the new brakes breaking in that might be causing it? I just shelled out $130 for new pads for my MINI and really hope to not have to spend another $100 for this sensor! And if there's any pics of it on the car where it's located, I would really like a pic of it. I saw a diagram but let's be honest, it doesn't always look the same when you look at the real thing! Hope someone can help me out here!!!

 

Maybe Way can shed some light on this...I have had the same three lights that have been on for months. I have replaced the rear speed sensors with no change. The car has been connected to a computer scanner and comes back with internal error. Do you think the ABS computer is shot?
Also...forgot to add...this is an 02 R50 with a Getrag 6 speed swap, R53 axles, lightened flywheel.

 

Anyone made any progress on this? All 3 lights just came on in my '03 MCS, which is waaay out of warranty.

 

The last time my lights came on it was because first I was about to lose my transaxle. The second time was because I lost my transaxle. Best thing to do is to get under there and check out the cv joints and make sure nothing is loose and its all how it is supposed to be.

 

A little research is a wonderful thing - it appears that I've "won" the Trifecta! The lights stayed off after I let the car sit for an hour, so maybe the speed sensor is just starting to go bad? I'm still going to check all the other possibilities this evening...

 

yeah i still have mine on. i do have to replace my strut tower plate as it's cracked but sometimes the lights don't come on, and when they aren't on, i'll hear my ABS going crazy as i put on the brakes and then *POOF* all 3 are back on again, so i think it's definitely the sensor gone bad.

 

I had my local garage put my car on the diagnostic computer, the result was what I expected: it's a bad speed sensor, front left. Gonna order the part now from Way I guess.

 

It happened to me tonight as I was calmly cruising along at about 30mph. I didn't notice the gauges doing anything crazy like I've read elsewhere. Heard not crazy sounds and hit no bumps before it happened. The first thing I though of after I checked my tire pressure was the wheel sensors. I'm gonna get in there tomorrow after work and try to clean mine. I'll let you all know if cleaning works, and if it does I'll tell you what I used to do it.

My mom's Jaguar XK8 had bad wheel sensors a while back. My dad cleaned the sensors and now it's back to normal. It's worth a try before I shell out cash.

 

I pulled off my passenger front wheel today along with the plastic in the wheel well. What I found was that the wire leading to the wheel speed sensor was dangling close to the drive belt and pulleys. No surprise that the wire had been rubbed through by the belt or pulleys. I added some wire and soldered the connections. Then wrapped in electrical tape and secured it so it wouldn't wear through again. Put everything back together and reset the TPMS. Drove for a while. Shut the car off. Drove back home. So far no lights!

I would recommend everyone check this before going to a dealer if they feel up to a bit of soldering. The factory mounting position of this wire is ridiculously close to all those moving parts.

 

ok ok... i got to shed some new odd light on the dsc light and tire pressure light constantly staying on problem...
it is said that the steering angle sensor is the culprit. ok i can see that.
buttttttt today i went out to test my relay for my a/c compressor (just for ***** and giggles) pardon my french. well here is what i did...
just cause. i used a jumper wire and closed the relay circuit. turned the car on to see if the fan would come on, look at the dash, and BAM, no fault lights... that is odd.
all i did was close the A/C relay circuit that is under the hood. yanno, the one with the snow flake looking thing.. yep.. jumped pins 30 and 87 or something like that... on the car side.. turned the car on. and bam.

Now... I test drove around the block, still no A/C... whatever.. but the dsc and tire pressure now work perfectly. even flicked it off a few times, spun the tires, drove on the highway for a bit, and it is still working. of course i did replace the relay before i drove around..

Now. how in the *&%^&%$ does messing with an A/C circuit cause this to happen? anyone?
sorry if you cant understand me. i only went to public schools.

 

Just a quick follow up: ordered the $100ish sensor from Way, and had my local guy install it for $30, plus the $40 for the diagnostic charge. Total of $170, which still is annoying but less so than making the trip to the dealership and paying over $300 for the same thing.

 

I had the same problem... My ABS sensor melted onto my wheel bearing somehow, and had to replace both. With labour at 75CAD/h, came out to 745... the parts came from MINI. Next time I know to buy them elsewhere! I think I paid 200 for the sensor and 200 for the bearing... about, plus all the glorious taxes here.

:/

Mike

 

there are a gizillion threads on this, and most of us who have been around will say "99 out of 100 times" the trifecta of lights is a DSC wheel speed sensor. Cleaning can buy some time, but they fail every now and then.

No clue on the A/C system.

But the reason that you get all three is on the first gens the tire pressure is done via wheel speed. As is the traction control / AST / DSC. As is the ABS. So when a sensor goes, all three systems are stumped and don't know what to do.

Matt

 

These posts relate to all three lights. I only have the DSC light and it will sometimes go out for a short while. If the speed sensor confuses all three what do I need to replace if I only have one warning? The dealer saw the light and said I had a "weak sensor" and wanted $400 to replace it. I opted out but now I am getting ready to sell and want to fix. Thanks for any input.
Bob

 

I am new to the Mini world after be wrapped up in 2.0T VWs for the last 10 years. Just picked up an otherwise clean 2003 MCS with some of the same issues I am reading about here. New tires were just put on and the TPMS and the DSC lights are on frequently. I was able to reset it once with the button then not again. The guy who sld me the car called his "mini guy" and said there aren't TPMS sensors on the wheels themselves. Can anyone confirm? sounds fishy unless the ABS computer just senses drag or something. Help appreciated.

 

I traded my MC for an F-150 Super Crew and the DSC light was still coming on. My TPMS worked fine, it was just DSC. There are sensors next to the wheel and my understanding is that those sensors are for TPMS (having to do with rotational speed?) and part of DSC with the steering angle indicator. All I know for sure is that my truck doesn't have any indicators. Good luck.