start stop system

[rubyminicoopers]

Bought a three year old mini cooper s a couple of weeks ago and the start stop system hasn't kicked in since day three. Booked it back into the garage twice and they're now telling me these little cars are temperamental and only work under very strict conditions. Anyone else experience of this or am I being fobbed off

[dlpruk]

This time of year, the s/s should kick-in as soon as the engine is warm - say after 3-5 miles of driving.

It doesn't work in very cold weather though.

[Angib]

There's a long list of things that cause the stop/start not to operate - like the engine's still warming up, the outside temperature is low, etc.

The one that I'm pretty sure is preventing my stop/start from working right now is the condition of the battery - if I charge it up fully on a battery charger (any car's alternator is a bit weak by comparison), the stop/start works but after a few months it doesn't. Right now, if I drive 50 miles, that's enough to charge up the battery and the stop/start will work, but around town it doesn't charge enough.

I can't tell in daily use that the battery isn't very strong - the car starts with enthusiasm - but its behaviour when being charged told me it's got a bad cell. So it's pretty borderline, but that's enough to let the voltage drop to the point where the BCU won't let the stop/start operate.

This seems quite a likely problem for many cars, so if you want to test it out on yours, use/borrow a battery charger and see if the stop/start comes back.

Another stop/start test I've seen is 'cabin not at temperature', so make sure your heater or A/C isn't set on maximum (either way) as I've found that can do it too.

[pnwcolnago]

Quote: Originally Posted by rubyminicoopers (original)

Bought a three year old mini cooper s a couple of weeks ago and the start stop system hasn't kicked in since day three. Booked it back into the garage twice and they're now telling me these little cars are temperamental and only work under very strict conditions. Anyone else experience of this or am I being fobbed off

If it is still under warranty take it back and demand it fixing why should they even be able to fob you off if there is a problem with a 20k car it needs sorting

[stead34]

My stop start works from coldish, ive had the car 4 months and it has never failed to kick in at the first set of traffic lights that are only half a mile from the house, I know its stone cold but still operates, the only time it doesnt is when it regens the particle filter....

[Osclix]

Yep my clubman only takes 5-10 minutes to warm up before the auto stop start kicks in.

[Billwill]

My car's brand new and the start/stop seems to work when it wants to. There's no rhyme or reason that I can work out as to why it sometimes works and other times - about 40% of the time, doesn't.

I stop the car, take it out of gear and lift the clutch - it then may work - if it wants to.

It doesn't seem to matter if the engine is warm or not.

[Billwill]

I can get the stop/start to work much more often by switching the heater fan off - obviously higher electrical load in the circuit keeps the engine going.

[RABID MONGOOSE]

Might sound like a stupid point to make,but if you reverse your car off the drive without putting on your seat belt before moving the stop/start does not work. - make certain you buckle up before moving.

Worked for someone else who posted the same problems.