I have a 2008 "S" that had been running rough at start-up, this morning i got the dreaded yellow engine light and the code is a p0304 and p0303 and p0300. The car has 49200 miles on it

has anyone else had this problem? i am not sure if this is the same problem as the carbon build up problem that others had posted, i have a 150 mile round trip commute daily so i am pretty sure that i keep it cleaned out.

 

Your cheapest initial DIY fix would be to inspect/replace that plug and/or coil yourself before you bring it to the $$$$ dealership. Both are easy to replace.

 

should i change this first or take it in for warranty.

 

Under 50K - get it to the dealer!!!

 

i was just wondering if this was a common problem, not what i should do about it. Although i do appreciate any advice given

 

fuel. Fuel Pump specificy the HPFP. The one under the bonnet doing the Direct injection. that was what caused my issues with all those exact symptoms.

 

did your dealer give you any problems exchanging it under warranty?

 

Well they checked the fuel i had used and that was not the culprit. So i guees they could have tryed to be more tools about it yea. If your mod free you should have zero issues the car has a light it has a code they have to fix it. Now mine came back the light and the action and they claim it is due to not clearing the full memory of the computer when they changed the pump. Just a warning be sure they clear everything including the fuel maps.
I think that answer is BS about the second time it came on but it has yet to re-appear so i am holding my breath.

 

dealer has had the car for 3 days now they have changed coil plug and injector and no luck they have sent in a PUMA i(i am not sure what this is) to mini usa and are waiting for information on what to do, dealer has given me a 2009 clubman (non s) SA has said this may take awhile. And i dont know what that means how long is awhile....

 

At least it sounds like they're taking it seriously. That's encouraging. Your mention of cylinder 4 caught my attention. I was one of the people involved in the carbon build-up thread. I suspect there may be several problems with the common carbon build-up symptom being discussed in that thread. Our '07 MCS was misfiring on #4 when it went in for its 1st scheduled service. They took me out into the shop & showed me the carbon build-up in the #4 intake & of course tried to blame it on bad gas. They attempted to charge me about $800(?) for the clean out they were recommending. We went around on that one, & they eventually agreed to do it for free. What seems so absurd to me about their bad gas diagnosis is that the fuel is injected directly into the cylinder, not the intake manifold. My theory is that the problem is somehow connected to the way the crankcase is vented into the intake manifold. I'm VERY interested in hearing their diagnosis on yours. Please keep us posted.

HHH

 

well they tested the fuel but will not tell me the results...the tech sent the information to mini yesterday. The SA told me yesterday that the testing was NOT to deny warranty When i asked her then why they would test the fuel in the tank now because obviously the problem didnt just happen and the fuel in the tank is not an actual representaion of the "bad gas" she agreed and said that they have to do what Mini USA sais to do. She said that the plan was to do a deep cleaning so i guess i have the dreaded carbon build up.

 

Had a problem like this on my GTI, Cylinder 4 kept misfiring and causing the check engine light to come on. Turned out to be bad gas. I stopped filling up at that station and the problem has never come back since. My problem started within 2 weeks of getting it, I had under 1000 miles on it. Even though your dealer says it may or may not be the gas, maybe try going to a different station for fuel anyway just to see if it makes a difference perhaps?

 

definatly have the carbon build up problem and the SA has said that it definitly is covered under warranty, I am going to go down this morning and take pictures of the build up if they let me.

 

turns out one of the downsides of direct injection is that wet gas isn't cleaning all the craap off the valve, intake and cylinders the way it used to..... Don't know what the long term solution is to this, but it's looking like it's something for all DI engine owners to think about.

Sea Foam anyone?

Matt

 

how does seafoam work?

 

Two questions:

1. How would you get the Sea Foam into the intake manifold with direct injection?
2. What's causing the carbon build-up in the intake manifold?

HHH

 

Water injection, baybee!

 

Sea Foam is used to de-carbon 2 stroke boat engines. GM has a product to clean up the top part of the manifold on direct injection engines but to properly do this you have to have this type of product enter into the engine via a vacum port on the manifold.
Porsche is having some issues with direct injected turbo Cayanne's and now the new 2009 Carrera engines. So far Porsche is dismissing that the small amount of carbon build up found on the valve stems and backside of the valve head is a problem.

 

that are used to soak the deposits so that they will break up, dissolve or burn away. You suck it into the intake via a vacuum line or something like that, let it soak for 15-30 min, then fire up the engine and watch the smoke show! It can be pretty dramatic.

An old-school trick is to do the same thing with water (have someone rev the engine at about 3000 RPM, suck in water, BUT NOT TOO MUCH) and the some of the water will get under the deposits and when it turns into steam (quickly) it will break the deposits loose.... The more advanced nasty distillate stuff can eat into the deposits a bit more effectively, but the idea is the same.

I'd guess that a good water injection system would really eliminate this completely....

Matt

 

My mechanic has some long-term experience with water injection - says he's opened up engines with WI and they're *clean* - the WI basically continuously steam-cleans manifold, valves, head, cylinders... of course, mine will be blue, but that's cool.

 

This all takes me back to my earlier question......
Where's the carbon in the intake manifold coming from?

If it's coming from the crankcase venting into the intake manifold, could MINI/BMW re-engineer the system to eliminate the problem? It's always MUUUUUCH better to fix the cause rather than treat the symptoms of a problem.

HHH

 

but I don't know if something like a phase separator or a "catch can" would be a total solution. It may take longer to happen though. Remember, what will condense on something like steel wool is just part of it. There are still gas-phase species that can crack on the higher temp parts (valves and combustion chamber) due to the high temps.....

And that burning the blow by is part of what keeps hydrocarbon emissions so low. So whatever is done would have to keep emissions where they needed to be for 100k miles... That's a tall order.

Matt

 

My problem was the exact same. Turned out to be a fuel pump. Got replaced under warranty.

Mark

 

i got the mini back today they cleaned the intake and valves but would not let me take any pictures. Anyway it runs much better so every 50K miles i will have to clean the valves and intake. The stuff that i saw didnt look like "bad gas" though it looked like oil to me.

 

I wish I would have thought to take pictures of mine. That would be a good idea when others experience this problem in the future.

HHH