Hi - I very recently purchased a pre-owned auto transmission 2009 Cooper Clubman. Within the first two weeks of ownership, I have had the check engine light appear three separate times (all yellow, never red).

1. Mini service said it was faulty temperature guage and replaced.
2. Mini service wasn't entirely sure, but replaced a sensor. Considered possibility of recent switch in fuel grade at last fill-up as issue that perhaps could have caused the light (had recently emptied tank of regular then filled with 93).
3. Seemed to be sensor issue (knock) but noted they'd replaced sensor just days prior. Checked entire electrical system. Now they are considering the issue to be related to the quality of the fuel at last fill-up (note: same tank of gas as with CEL instance #2) and are currently running additional tests.

Is the Mini just very sensitive? Did I buy a particularly troublesome vehicle? Am I dealing with incompetent service technicians? Any insight or advice is greatly appreciated. 16 days of ownership and going on day 6 being in the shop!

 

What was the CEL code?

 

Do not know what the CEL codes read as.

 

Without CEL/Fault codes it is very difficult for anyone of us to point you in a possible direction. Is it a regular Cooper or MCS? When you did have it, did it idle rough @ cold starts and get better as the vehicle warmed up? Did the vehicle feel sluggish or down on power? Was there any loud noises coming from the engine bay (particularly the passenger side) during cold crank start ups? Do you use Top Tier Fuel (Chevron, 76, Shell) when filling your vehicle? What symptoms does/did the car exhibit when the CEL became present? Did it stay on or did it flash, and then disappear? Did you check your oil level to ensure that you vehicle had the proper recommended oil level present in the oil pan? Starting to sound like PUMA (BMWNA Engineers)...

I will make an arbitrary guess @ it though and say HPFP is taking a ****? But then again it could be excessive carbon build up in the intake runners & backside of intake valves. Although you know, it could also be a failing T-Stat. Its plausible that you have a bad tank of gas, but honestly it doesn't take a genius to test that theory out, and shouldn't take them more then 30 min to diag that issue (put known good gas, or introduce an octane enhancer) if the vehicle is exhibiting a knock or super knock fault. Honestly like I said earlier...cant tell you because the information provided is slim to none.

Ask your MINI dealership for the fault codes (and if possible each fault code as well as the environment data that is collected when a fault is set, like rail pressure and occurrence) and someone might be able to point you (or quite possibly them, as it seems you may have an incompetent technician) in the right direction, and get you back into your MINI.

Oh and yes, I work on MINI's. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a PM.

 

Next CEL you get, go to autozone or similar outfit and have them check with a code reader, most do it for free. Knowing what code or codes are being thrown help you to be in the "know" a little more when talking to your mechanic.