2004 Mini Cooper S
John Cooper Works MC40
122,000 miles

Okay, so a little bit of back story:

I took the car to a mechanic on Friday (10/18) to have a bit of work done. I had him replace the belt tensioner, idler pulley, serpentine belt, passenger side cv axle, and brake pads. I don't know if this has any correlation, but I also installed an after market radio in the car Friday night.

Car ran fine Friday and Saturday up until about 2am.

About a little under a mile from my house, I was going maybe 35-40 mph, the car engine sort of gave out for a second like it was about to shut off or something...then it was okay again. I get about a quarter mile from the house and acceleration starts to die. I would press the gas and it would begin to shut off. Anyways, it shut off two or three times and I would press the clutch in and it would start back up each time but then promptly shut off when I would try to accelerate.

About 500 ft from my house it dies. Engine will turn over, but not start. I get my girlfriend to steer and I push it down the street and into the driveway. It's past 2 am and I am tired so I decided I will let it sit overnight.

About 10am this morning I go outside to see if anything has changed. I try to start the engine once and it is still dead. I try to start the engine a second time and it started successfully, but as soon as I press the gas it died. All further attempts ended with the engine turning over and not starting.

So here we are. The service engine soon, DSC, and EML lights are all on, but I cannot tell if they are on because something is wrong or if they are on because the car is not on...if that makes sense.

Please let me know any suggestions you may have to fixing this problem. I have only had this car since May of this year and it may be something obvious. Taking it do the dealer is a last resort...

From what I have gathered from the internet, possible culprits may be the wiring harness, throttle body wires, loose connections, or O2 sensors. The roads we were driving on were somewhat bumpy so a loose connection is certainly possible. Also, the mechanic may have knocked something loose while working on the car.

If anyone knows of a good mechanic in the NW South Carolina area...that would be great. Thank you for any help!

 

First check the battery and all connections. Try jumping it and see if it starts. Take the battery out and bring it into an AP store and have the check it. Next verify with all the work you had done that the belt is still on. These are the 1st places I would start with.

 

The motor still turns over and tries to start up but it will not, does that not verify the battery is working? It's like the computer is not letting the motor start.

 

Borrow a code reader....since they only cost about $40 many folks have one...
Check for codes....
Belt look OK? Any overheat or smells as it shut off? Fluids look OK? All obvious plugs tight?
The o2 sensor would NOT cause a car to stop running or fail to start...just guessing you are new to car repairs....anybody around to help you out?
How were you driving it when it failed?? Hard?

 

Yes, this is certainly new to me however I would like to learn as much as I can about the car to repair it myself! Belt is good, no overheating or smells, fluids okay. I did however find one loose plug that I believe is the culprit! Behind the spark plug connectors is a flay plug that I am guessing has to do with the throttle. The connector is okay however the clip that holds it secure is broken. I took some pictures for reference (http://imgur.com/a/45qT8). I secured it with electrical tape for now but if anyone has a site where I can get the plug, will I be able to splice the wires together? Also, the check engine light is on so I will stop by Napa tomorrow and get them to read the codes for me. Where is the access port at on this car?

 

Yup...the plug on the ignition coil would cause issues....
If you have never spliced wires on a car...that is not the place to start...
You must sodder the wires...the wrap..usually with hear shrink.. To protect the repair from moisture...the plugs can usually be replaced...so cutting might not be needed....

 

Well, I tried to follow the wire to the other end and it goes down into a like a tube of wires and I have no idea where it comes out at. I have it wrapped in electrical tape for now but it is going to turn into jelly eventually because of all the heat under the hood. Do you think zip ties would be a better fix for now? Also, do you know where I could get a replacement?