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Speedo/ABS problem - please help!

91K views 37 replies 29 participants last post by  roeder.andrew.m 
#1 ·
Hi im new to this forum, we have a mini one 2001 and love it so far, well up until a month ago when the speedo decided to stop working and the abs light came on along with the handbrake light.

I searched google for weeks to see what the problem may be, seems to be a very common fault and basically read that it would be either the abs sensor, the wiring to the sensors or the actual abs module itself...

Firstly i tested the rear abs sensors as it was the easiest thing to check first, i tried the drivers side (uk car by the way) first because i read that this was the wheel that controls the speedo (is this right?), there was no change so i tried it on the passenger side, again with no change. I then had it plugged into a diagnostic and it came with 2 codes...

P1613 Serial communication with ASC
P1607 CAN status

After a quick look on google these seemed to be to do with the abs module or the sensors, without knowing which wheel though i decided to fist check the wiring to each sensor just to check if there was a split anywhere, all four seemed to be fine. After more searching on google i thought i would buy a second hand module and try that. To make life easier for myself i just connected the new module and kept the old abs pump on as as far as i know the pump wont be at fault. There was still no change.

So yesterday i thought i would test the actual abs and see if any wheels lock up or not. After a few attempts it showed that the drivers side rear wasnt working (the sensor that i originally thought seen as it was the one that controlled the speedo) so i fitted the rear sensor again just to see if it would work this time. Nothing happened though. I then thought that maybe it needed to be plugged into the diagnostic again to maybe clear the faults in order for it to work, so i plugged it in and got some more faults....

5k11 CAN: control module
5K14 CAN: connection with dme/dde failed
5k16 CAN: instrumentation
5k18 CAN: data error from dme dde

I have been told that on some cars that the abs module may need coding again, is this true? So with that in mind i decided to fit the old module and the same faults came up. Im at a total loss now and really need help without paying BMWs ridiculous prices to get it fixed.

The problems are the speedo doesnt work, the abs and handbrake light are on and the temp gauge and petrol gauge seem to have a mind of their own sometimes. However what is strange is sometimes the problem doesnt happen and everything works perfectly, for a few miles anyway.

What should i look at, more wiring? Faulty dials? New module and code it? Fit the abs pump aswell as the module? Im really stuck for ideas :(

Sorry for the long post but we really need this fixing and enjoy the mini again :D
 
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#2 ·
03 Mini Speedometer stop working

I have a 03 mini cooper with 110k miles. My speedometer stopped working (the odometer, trip, temp and fuel gauge still works). No malfunction lights are on (ABS, DCS, brake etc..) in indicate a problem.

Whats odd is that in the morning when car is started, the speedometer needle works for about 10 mins then stops.

Not sure if this is something to do with the speed sensors (there are 4 i assume) or the speedometer itself? Any guidance on how to diagnose or repair the issue would be appreciated
 
#35 ·
03 Mini Speedometer stop working

I have a 03 mini cooper with 110k miles. My speedometer stopped working (the odometer, trip, temp and fuel gauge still works). No malfunction lights are on (ABS, DCS, brake etc..) in indicate a problem.

Whats odd is that in the morning when car is started, the speedometer needle works for about 10 mins then stops.

Not sure if this is something to do with the speed sensors (there are 4 i assume) or the speedometer itself? Any guidance on how to diagnose or repair the issue would be appreciated
Breakout on a 2006 Mini Cooper speedo and tacho not operating properly needs to be replaced speedo not working after a minute comes on abs life lights blinking tyre pressure blinking stays on taco erratic temperature gauge erratic goes to normal engine light on speedometer and tacho problem needs to be replaced expensive one $1000 $ 1500
 
#5 ·
Did you ever solve this please?

We've just spent the day with our friendly mechanic and didn't get anywhere. We thought it might be the steering angle sensor from lots of googling but turns out we don't have one as the car doesn't have stability control or anything.

I inspected all the wheel sensors and they at least looked ok. We struggled to test them on the oscilloscope and meter for some reason though :-/ I'll check the body control unit tomorrow. One thing we struggled with was the Snap On computer couldn't talk to the abs unit.

Maybe it's at fault but our symptoms were more gradual. It started off occasionally flashing the hand brake, tyre pressure and abs lights. Then they were on most of the time and flashed off. This would always stop below about 10 mph / in traffic. Then occasionally the speedo would stop working as well. Now lights on permanently and no speedo. I wonder if it's a wheel speed sensor problem, or driving was shaking a dodgy connection/cable somewhere and now it's permanently gone.

Thanks :)
 
#7 ·
could be this not sure, if you get an odb 2 metter and when you drive shows the miles then its not this and BMW MINI COOPER S DSC SPEED SENSORCLUSTER ECU and could be one od the abs cables or the bcu or the bsm ether way not worth it just live it as it is my speedo dont work but they gages do. when some fix there please post.
 
#12 ·
Have had exactly the same speedo, fuel, temp gauge and fault light problems. Still trying to isolate exactly where it is but have tested, replaced and ruled out all of the expensive abs, bc1 Units and all of the sensors! With the help of some very expensive diagnostic equipment and support from BMW diagnostic support, it has been narrowed down to a broken wire somewhere on the CAN BUS loom. Will post again once we've found exactly which one!
 
#13 ·
GOOD EVENING EVERYONE
i had the same problem with a mini one french car fault code P1613
no speed indication ABS AND PARCK BREAK lights on
i fixed the failure :
1) i d checked the 3 alimentations (12VOLT) for the ABS unit
there is two permanent alimentations and one when you turn on the contact key
one permanent alimentation was missing
i d checked the fuses ,they were good
i d checked continuity between fuse and ABS unit plug : one wire was cut
after investigationi found the wire cut at approximatly 10 cm from the ABS unit plug
i d repared the wire and all works perfectly now
i hope it will help someone
Dave flight engineer
 
#25 ·
GOOD EVENING EVERYONE
i had the same problem with a mini one french car fault code P1613
no speed indication ABS AND PARCK BREAK lights on
i fixed the failure :
1) i d checked the 3 alimentations (12VOLT) for the ABS unit
there is two permanent alimentations and one when you turn on the contact key
one permanent alimentation was missing
i d checked the fuses ,they were good
i d checked continuity between fuse and ABS unit plug : one wire was cut
after investigationi found the wire cut at approximatly 10 cm from the ABS unit plug
i d repared the wire and all works perfectly now
i hope it will help someone
Dave flight engineer
I know this is an old post but you wouldnt know what pins are supposed to have power, ive got power at the 2 heavier red wires at the top and traced the 2 brown wires to be earths on the chassis.
 
#14 ·
I have the same problem abs ,vsc handbrake,low tyre pressure lights all on, speedo has stopped working and fuel gauge acts up, all this occurred after alarm suddenly came on one night.looked next day 30 amp abs fuse blown in engine compartment also 5 amp abs,they were replaced but 5 amp kept blowing until I identified damaged front n/s sensor damaged so replaced ,no more blown fuses.All lights still on took to BMW and as I couldn't with my reader there diagnostic tackle could not link up with the vehicle but the nice man identified what he thought was the cause, looks like the wiring to the abs multi plug has appears damaged just below the abs pump rhs of engine compartment, he said try to find the broken wires and that should solve the problem,the wiring looks corroded and looks green due to corrosion,he said they can do it at £100 an hour but could take between 3 and 5 hours work so I will be trying myself in March as the car is drivable,will let all know how I go on!
 
#15 ·
Finally found the problem which caused the same problems as above.
A broken wire about 10cm inside the dash(behind glove box) coming from the back of the abs control unit.
Found it by pure chance, whilst pulling around the wires, happened to notice one of them had stretched. The sheath was still intact but the wires inside it were broken. Have no idea how this happened! Not worn on outside, never been worked on in this area.
Anyway, repaired wire, abs, traction control, handbrake and run flat lights all gone off, speedo, fuel gauge and tach also returned to normal.
Been ok for the last 1k miles having been faulty for the previous 10k :)
 
#19 ·
Mini cooper S 2007 no speedo

can someone please help I just bought Mini Cooper S 2007, The speedo is not working and no lights on ABS, Hand break and airbag on both dial plus I have no ABS, its seems its not communicating with Can. has any one any ideas, I tired going through all fuses checked all connectors on BC, ABS and speedo but no luck,
 
#20 ·
I have the same problem on a 02 mini cooper. I've replaced the power supply from the fuse box to the abs pump and replaced the can wires from behind the dash to the abs pump with still no luck, i even tried a different fuse box. i am getting 0 oms on the abs can bus wires and 60 oms on all other can bus wires.
The way it works sometimes and more othen not seems like a broke wire or poor connection or the abs pump itself.
 
#23 ·
Fixed!

I found myself over the past week with the problem this thread describes. It came really out of nowhere, the dash would suddenly glitch, all dials would drop, apparently my handbrake was on, and that ABS and ASC were disabled on my 2003 mini one D r50. After finding this post and a few others on similar websites I noticed that my AC wasn't reliable either. I had an alternator and battery test done for free. The battery was the original one from 2003! So i got that replaced, and then I reset my ECU. This will differ for each mini time period. It can be found easily online. This fixed the problem. So if you have an old mini, check its not using the original battery!
 
#23 ·
Hi guys I’m glad I found this forum!! I have a 06 Mini s soft top. My speedo stopped working loads of lights on dash. Garage just phoned they replaced two back springs both ABS sensors. It’s been in a week one of the sensors they fitted was faulty. All fixed now. £652.
 
#24 ·
I'd just like to add my tuppence, after finding this thread through Google Search.

I was encountering the same problems as lots of people have described on my Countryman R60.

I had the ABS Pump check, no problems... in the end, I had the car plugged into a diagnostics software to read the live data while rolling.
The car was showing fine until you went over 10mph. Above 10mph, the OSR and NSR wheel speed sensors would read 356.56mph...
obviously the issue was either rear ABS sensors or wheel bearing
What I found, I still cannot believe. Our British road salt had caused corrosion between arm and bearing.

277110


277111


The corrosion has actually dented and created a small hole in the bearing where the wheel speed sensor, senses:

277112


Now all cleaned up, protected from it happening again, along with new rear bearings and all back to normal!
PS. Light will stay illuminated for 1/4 mile before the system resets itself.
 
#26 ·
I bought an r53 basket case that had random p1607 and p1613 codes, once I had it running, a few times a week. A mechanic at the local dealer I am friends with suggested unplugging the tacho. I eventually did, and it hasn't thrown a single code in 6 weeks. Haven't looked at the tacho yet...
 
#27 ·
Hi im new to this forum, we have a mini one 2001 and love it so far, well up until a month ago when the speedo decided to stop working and the abs light came on along with the handbrake light.

I searched google for weeks to see what the problem may be, seems to be a very common fault and basically read that it would be either the abs sensor, the wiring to the sensors or the actual abs module itself...

Firstly i tested the rear abs sensors as it was the easiest thing to check first, i tried the drivers side (uk car by the way) first because i read that this was the wheel that controls the speedo (is this right?), there was no change so i tried it on the passenger side, again with no change. I then had it plugged into a diagnostic and it came with 2 codes...

P1613 Serial communication with ASC
P1607 CAN status

After a quick look on google these seemed to be to do with the abs module or the sensors, without knowing which wheel though i decided to fist check the wiring to each sensor just to check if there was a split anywhere, all four seemed to be fine. After more searching on google i thought i would buy a second hand module and try that. To make life easier for myself i just connected the new module and kept the old abs pump on as as far as i know the pump wont be at fault. There was still no change.

So yesterday i thought i would test the actual abs and see if any wheels lock up or not. After a few attempts it showed that the drivers side rear wasnt working (the sensor that i originally thought seen as it was the one that controlled the speedo) so i fitted the rear sensor again just to see if it would work this time. Nothing happened though. I then thought that maybe it needed to be plugged into the diagnostic again to maybe clear the faults in order for it to work, so i plugged it in and got some more faults....

5k11 CAN: control module
5K14 CAN: connection with dme/dde failed
5k16 CAN: instrumentation
5k18 CAN: data error from dme dde

I have been told that on some cars that the abs module may need coding again, is this true? So with that in mind i decided to fit the old module and the same faults came up. Im at a total loss now and really need help without paying BMWs ridiculous prices to get it fixed.

The problems are the speedo doesnt work, the abs and handbrake light are on and the temp gauge and petrol gauge seem to have a mind of their own sometimes. However what is strange is sometimes the problem doesnt happen and everything works perfectly, for a few miles anyway.

What should i look at, more wiring? Faulty dials? New module and code it? Fit the abs pump aswell as the module? Im really stuck for ideas :(

Sorry for the long post but we really need this fixing and enjoy the mini again :D
I had the same symptoms. It was my tacho. If you have a tacho, try unplugging it.
 
#28 ·
Hi guys

Reading through these comments give me hope for my wee 2004 copper. I also have fuel guage working but not speedo and trip. Following the theory of damaged wire to abs pump.
I ripped out the glove box today,
Automotive tire Motor vehicle Hood Light Car
i was presented with a large bundle of cables wrapped in self amalgamation tape going through fire wall to where abs pump module is. I was really hoping I could easy identify a problem wire as discussed in this thread. Nothing jumped out and after jiggling the wires, no change to warning lights. No errors come up when using obd2 adapter.
Can any one help with how to test for a damaged wire?
Have a multi meter but unsure how and where to test.
 
#30 ·
Hi all, I have just bought a 2011 cooper D with all the above problems. Really want to cry! Speedo (digital and analogue) and revs all over the place. Abs light, traction control run flat and handbrake warnings. Cruise control won’t engage. Fuel gauge is fine.
I have replaced the battery and done so basic wiring checks but really don’t know where to begin! Removing the dash is one hell of a job (I started the other day gave up after 2 hours).
Has anyone got a solid fix for this or is it a case of try everything?

many thanks!
 
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