unknown power fault , any answers please...

[Jamesr022]

I was driving home from work today when 2 minutes into my drive the traction control light started to flash 2 or 3 times and then stayed on and the yellow engine light came on as well.
The engine started to sound really rough like it was running on 2 or 3 cylinders and i found i had no power at all, I could still drive the car but i had no supercharger, the car felt really slugish to drive, I pulled over before i got onto the motorway and stopped the car,
I turned off the engine and re-started it, it sounded normal again but and reved normally, but the yellow engine light stayed on.

This has happened 4 times now , and everytime when i'm on the motorway, The first time i called MINI assist out and by the time they arrived the fault seemed to have gone , but i took it to the garage anyway. they could not find anything wrong!
since then its happened a further 3 times!!

When this happens and the traction control light comes on i have tried to switch it on but it does not respond to the switch, stays off all the time until the car is restarted.

I don't know if it is a mechanical fault or an electrical/ ECU fault, The EML light never comes on!

i have no idea whats causing this , and any suggestions would be greatly received as this is starting to really **** me off!

[murmini]

Sounds like it enetered the 'limp home mode' Your dealer should be able to download what ever codes are being generated by these errors. MINI assist does not have the equipment to do this.

[Jamesr022]

Been driving the car today the yellow engine light is now always on, could somebody please tell me what this relates to? the car feels like its running ok!

If i take it into the garage would it be sorted out under the warranty or would i have to pay for any work?

[murmini]

Take it to your MINI dealer and have them read the codes causing the error. If the car is under warranty it will be covered.

[Jamesr022]

i have taken the car into the garage and they have told me that the ECU needs to be reprogrammed at a cost of £65, told them that the cars under warranty but they have told me that it does not cover ECU reprogramming!!

really ****ed me off !! everything is so BL**DY expensive with them! the only down side to owning a MINI!

[Will_'S']

Quote: Originally Posted by Jamesr022 (original)

i have taken the car into the garage and they have told me that the ECU needs to be reprogrammed at a cost of £65, told them that the cars under warranty but they have told me that it does not cover ECU reprogramming!!

really ****ed me off !! everything is so BL**DY expensive with them! the only down side to owning a MINI!

Personally try other dealers see what response you get woodmans the sponsours are generally good. Also there's prob someone on here with the software anyway so chance your hand at that before giving any money away.

[Jamesr022]

Only problem with that is that they had already completed the work before phoning and telling me that it would be £65. basically i would have to pay out or they keep the car until i do! I have been into the dealer and they explained that the reason for the faults is that the mini needed a tune up, they reprogrammed the DME control unit what ever that does! The £65 was the Labour charge!! I had to pay as i need the car to get to work i cannot afford to not have it!

Think i am def going to be writing to MINI customer service to complain that i was not consulted about the warranty not covering the work until after they had completed it!
Even the service manager was under the impression when he phoned that the warranty covered it, He called me the first time and told me that it was £65, i did not agree to it as i thought it would be covered under the warranty, i told him it was a cherished vehicle and covered by MINI warranty, he checked and confirmed it! then said that it would take an 1 hour or so and put the phone down!

2nd call to say that the car was ready and that he tried to claim the work back and they told him it was not covered and i would have to pay the £65!

Does anybody know if it states in the manual that the car might require to be tuned up now and again to keep it running at optimal performance! if so where?
I would have thought that this would be classed as a fault not a tune up as they called it and that it would be covered! its never been explained otherwise with any of the MINI's i have owned!

[roland2003]

..It certainly sounds like waffle to me. What were the fault codes? Personally I think whatever it was it should be covered under warranty or at least under the... 'keeping customers happy' policy.. My guess is they just downloaded the latest software as an attempt to cure it. Be interesting to see if the fault comes back.
Best Regards Roland GTT

[jez_MCSc]

If you check on the back of your invoice it says somewhere I think one of the first 2 terms is something like they have to inform you of the charge and you have to give authorisation for them to perform the work. As this obviously didn't do this no contract was formed, verbal or otherwise.
Same thing happened to me when my car rolled down the hill with the handbrake fully on (I know I should have had it in gear, always do now) anyway it was in for a service and amongst other things I mentioned it.

No mention of cost, then picked it up no worries, 2 days later got a bill for £50 +VAT or something for the handbrake adjustment.

I wrote a letter explaining their terms to them and recieved a credit note in a couple of days later. Hope that helps, let us know what happens.