Hello,

I just got my first MCS, a 2002, with 180,000 miles. Love it so far, but when I bought it, the guy said that the "Service Engine Soon" light was on due to a problem with the catalytic converter or an O2 sensor. I drove the car thinking I would look into a new CAT. Well, while tooling around this weekend, I noticed it sputtered a few times... so yesterday I filled up the gas tank and added a bottle of Lucas Fuel System cleaner. Drove around a bit last night, and then this morning on the way to work, I took a corner and when I hit the gas I felt a spurt, and the next thing I noticed the "Service Engine Soon" light was gone!!! Has anyone experienced anything like this? Did I really fix the issue?

Thanks!

Nick

 

Maybe.
Even though your SES light went out, I would check to see what codes are in the memory.
Do you know if the O2 sensors have ever been replaced? 180000 miles is a lot for an O2 sensor.

 

Did the "guy" indicate how he knew that the light was due to a problem with the cat or O2 sensor? I second the motion to get the car scanned to see what codes are stored. You can buy your own tool, take it in for service, or various auto parts stores will perform the scan for free.

Congrats on your purchase. 180K is a lot for these cars so it would be a good idea to have the car gone over by a competent mechanic familiar with MINI's to get a good baseline of the condition of the car. Or maybe that has already been done.

But if I am a betting man then I think the light comes back on. I hope I am wrong!

 

Negative Nancy. Damn, not everyone can buy a new or low milage used car. He asked a question, not your opinion on his car purchase. Sorry for the rant. Hope its an easy fix.

 

A cheap way to check the codes is to go to any auto parts store (O'Reilly comes to mind) and ask to borrow an OBD2 scanner. They will let you plug it in in the parking lot and get the codes. They'll come out and show you how, in most cases. Then write down the number and Google it. Or post the code number(s) here if you aren't sure.

 

Coincidence. I don't believe in a 'tune in a bottle'.
Scan it.

 

Whatever the code may be, start cheap and go from there. Does the car have a recent tune up (plugs/wires?) Take a look at the third prong on our coil packs, they can become rusted/oxidized, preventing a clean connection. Whenever I buy a vehicle, even with recent work, I always do a tune up to ensure smoke wasen't being blown up my butt. Do you know this is engine related, or does it feel more like in the drivetrain like tranmission related?

 

I assume you are referring to my post. Please reread it as there was nothing indicated or implied that was negative. I was simply offering advice that I thought would be helpful. Often when someone sells a car they offer their own opinion as to the solution to the problem. I did not want to assume how that information was gathered so I simply asked. I was not offering an opinion on his purchase, either good or bad. After all, how could I as I have not seen the car, its condition, history or any other information.

I did offer an opinion on whether the light would come back on or not, but then, that is what the original post requested. And I made sure to add a nice smiley face to show that I was trying to be pleasant. Like now.

 

Lets all hold hands and have a sing-along!

 

Sorry, sensitive topic for me. At times there is too much negativity on any online forum and I try REALLY hard to make sure that my posts give the benefit of the doubt and I try to respond in a supportive manner. There are times I am blunt, or succinct, but I never want to come across in a negative fashion. Sorry to hi-jack the thread, now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

And I am curious as to what the solution ends up being.

 

So am I but without knowing the service history on the car it's hard to make a good guess. It could be anything from a fuel pump going bad to a timing chain issue, who knows?

As to the mileage, it would seem that 180K is a lot of miles on any car, but we recently had a Club shop day in my garage and worked on a 170K mile car, we pulled the pan to replace the pan gasket and that thing was as clean as a pin inside - it looked amazing! The car still gets great fuel economy, and runs so well that the owner put a 16% pulley on it. We also pulled the supercharger to change the oil, it was stil full and the oil looked clean. We did put a new water pump on since it's so difficult to do and we already had it out - but it wasn't leaking. None of these parts had ever been off the ccar before either...

He has done a lot of repairs over the last 40K or so that he's owned it, so I think Acekraut11's comments were spot on, even if the new owner can't afford to do everything it might need all at once, there's no doubt in my mind it will need some attention, and having someone competent look at it and assess what needs to be done is just smart.

I also agree that hammbones rant was innapropriate and out of line......