Today is Nov 6, 2010 and after many requests, I finally got out my camera and took another picture... Its now been well over a year and my memory is tired tonight... this is the little switch that is attached to the side of the clutch master cyl UNDER the dash and to the left of the clutch peddle... IF it falls off the car will NOT start... IF your standard trans Mini will not start when the button is pressed. Get on your back and look up under the dash IF you see this little part hanging down - you have found your problem... you should also see where it should go - this is NOT rocket sceince..... put the switch back and when you can, put a tie around it... now if your mini will not start and this little switch is in place - well then, time for plan "B"


If this issue has been posted already, sorry...

07 bought last Nov, has been running great, 11K miles.. Today, inserted key disk, pushed in clutch, pressed start button.... NOTHING... tried several times.. Nothing.... got other disk,,, still NOTHING>.. plenty of batt power... called Mini... waited one hour for tow... 65 miles to East Bay Mini (great people) Service rep could not advise over phone... said to get towed... At the Dealer less than 5 min.. saw them drive my car inside the service area??????????????? Found out from the service tech that there is a bulletin out about this problem. I can get my around a tool box... had I know about this, I could have saved an afternoon... If you are familur with how a house alarm sys works... all windows and doors must be closed to arm the sys - each window or door has a two small magnetic parts that must line up to "close" the circut... Well, If you Mini has the standard trans, the Clutch peddle has this same type of set up... up under the dash on the left side of the clutch peddle - there is the brake master cyl - on the side of that is a very small plastic part that has this magnetic switch in it... when you push in the clutch - these parts line up and allow the start button to work and start the engine... What is happening is, the small part falls away from the clutch arm and when you push in the clutch - the part is NOT attached and therefore will NOT allow the switch to work - and YOU are DEAD in the water.... this can happen with NO warning... SO, look at the below pictures... You will see the master cyl and a black plastic nylon tie... this Nylon Tie is what East Bay MINI put on... the small part with the white,blue and pink wires - that is the part that came off and fell away from the cyl... with that part hanging - pushing in the clutch (Computer did not know) therefore the start button will NOT Work...

Bottom line... if you push your start button and NOTHING happens... get a flash light, look up under the dash, next to the clutch peddle, find the master cyl and see if this small part is just hanging there.... You should see how it goes back in place... If may only get you going... but it better than having to wait for a tow - you Mini Dealer may be MILES away.... any questions... email me at harley0711@yahoo.com If you live close to a Mini Dealer and have an 07 (not sure about the 08's) get your nylon tie NOW... I wasted 5 hours for a two min fix...

 

Wow.

Glad to hear that it was an easy fix instead of a keep your car for a few days fix.

Sticky please!

 

Thanks for this information. I may just have the Hubby take care of this so that it does not become an issue while out of town somewhere.

 

Thanks for the "watch out". I live 2 hrs. away from my dealer and would be royally ticked (this is a family site!) if the same thing happened to me.

 

Maybe we should double tie ours so there's a backup already in place. My luck is that it would fall off, I'd have gotten a spare tie, and can't find it when I need it.

 

its a very small part and one tie should hold it fine... Most 07's have not had this problem... but its nice to know about... I was just up in Medford OR last week.. I would have been PISSED to have to get towed all the way to SAC to find out its a 2 min fix and I could have done, it... I really love EB Mini - but when I called the service guy did NOT know about this bulletin - Mech knew exactly what to look for... Had I been told to look... I could have put the switch back up using its own holding device - then drived to EB for the fix... waiting for 1.25 hours for the tow then riding in the tow truck all the way was NOT fun...
HOWEVER< if thats the worst thing that happens to me, I am Way ahead...lol

 

just had a friend have this same problem... thought I would 'bump' this thread for a reminder...

 

My wife just had the same exact issue with our mini!
03 Cooper Manual.
She was brilliant enough to get a push start, drove home, searched the internet and found this post. Told me about it when I got home and sure enough.....the small part just dangling...pushed it back it and she started right up!!!! 10 second fix! Gotta find a zip tie now... 15 second fix.

That's gotta be a record!
Thanks again-

 

Same thing happened to me. Mine's an 08. I called the Road Side Assistance folks, they dispatched a flat bed tow truck and went to the dealer about an hour and a half away. Got a free rental and they had it fixed over the weekend.

 

Shoulda bought an automatic!




Glad to hear that it was an easy fix tho!

 

never heard of this, ..i'll have to look for it and keep an extra zip tie in my car

 

Can someone post pics of what this is supposed to look like. Photobucket has removed the original pics.

I'm tired of push starting my car.

 

Ud date and been added and a new pic..

 

Today is Oct 28, 2011 and I got another email from a stranded Mini owner saying their Mini would not start and they saw a small piece of plastic with two wires coming out of it hanging under the dash area by the clutch pedal and should that be hanging like that. Photobucket deleted my pictures here for some reason.. Today here in CA was nice - I am home with a broken foot but in a wlking boot - like a good challange - got my camera out and took these pictures - hope they help.
It is such an easy fix IF you know what to look for and what to do..
I was so pissed when it happened to me... I had to wait forever for the tow truck, then a 40 min drive to the dealer - I swear they had it fixed Before the tow truck drive had even left... Glad it was fixed but pissed that is was so easy..

anyway, good luck to all



NOTE - Nylon Tie was added by the dealer so it would NOT fall off again... if yours is on, I would suggest to put a nylon tie on it Now - instead of waiting for that rainy and cold night when it decides to fall off.. LOL

harley0711@yahoo.com

 

This happend to my 08 MCS last week, at 1AM in the morning got off of work and it didn't start no noise nothing. Had it towed to Stevens Creek Mini and they charged me $250 to fix the clutch pedal sensor when I asked what was fixed they just said they zip tied it in place... $250... for a 10sec fix... I should of read this thread first. :-(

 

This is TOTAL BS --- Not YOU - THE DEALER

If I were you, I would maybe print this post out - make an appoitment with the Service Manager OR Dealer Owner/Manager And ***** like hell.... That charge is Way OVER what it should be..

I really feel IF you raise enough hell - it will get taken care of.... The shame of it all - They had the Gal to charge you this amount and now IF you don't raise hell, the charge will stick.. Iam hoping that as soon as the SM gets wind of this - it will be adjusted.

Sorry this post made it to you a little late - I actually posted this a while back and the pics got deleted and I had several people email me asking for pictures -

Michael - Turlock, CA

 

I hope that included a $200 tow.....

DOC

 

Holy crap, I thought I was the only one that had this issue. I am so very grateful that I checked this BEFORE taking my car to the stealership when I can apparently fix it with a zip tie. That absolutely blows my mind.

 

Really thought that this was the problem with my R53, but found out it was the actual starter.

 

Update to an old thread? I just replaced the slave cylinder and the master cylinder on my '04 R53, and no joy. This post popped up in my search and I figured since I had to remove the sensor to R&R the M/C, I may not have snapped it back in place securely. Sure enough, there is NOTHING holding it in place. Did I break off a little tang or lose a clip or something that was supposed to retain it?
Anyway, I tried the zip-tie fix and still not working. What are the odds I dusted the sensor in removing and replacing it?

 

Update - got an email from a nice lady in Minnesota yesterday - my Mini wont start - i sent here me home phone number - after a short talk - she went out with a flash light and was able to look up under the dash, above the clutch area - bingo, sensor hanging down, quick fix and it started right up

Michael - Turlock, CA

 

First time/long time... I am so thankful to people like you that take the time to share their learnings. This one saved me in so many ways. Awesome post.

 

I use forums in dealing with my Mini, Toyota, Harley and Guns - many times others have helped me, i try to alwys 'Pay if Forward' when I can - glad this one helped you.