[Angst]

So, took the old 'un for its MOT fully expecting it to fail on the brake lines as it's been an advisory for the past 3 years but ti actually only failed for having no bake lights.

As I've got to wait till it stops raining before I do anything(possibly a week or so from now) I thought I'd do some research if it turns out to not be anything obvious.

Checked the fuse (if F6 is the correct one) and it's fine. Next stop will be the switch.

However, there are also some other electrical gremlins that have appeared but as my wife drives the car I'm not sure if they all failed at the same time.

• The front 12v accessory doesn't work
• Opening the driver's door with the key (bought the car without the remote fobs) doesn't unlock the passenger door.
• The power lock switch in the dash doesn't operate the locks - it sounds like the locks are operating when the switch is pushed in one direction but they don't pop up or down and in the other dirrection there is either nothing or a faint click from the footwell.
• On occasion (maybe once every few months) turning the ignition key does nothing. No lights, no clicks, totally dead. The cure ? Leave it and try it after 10 minutes
  or so. Always starts.
• On the way to the MOT the steering felt like it went light at speed then went heavy. Not sure this is connected as it does leak fluid due to the fact that somebody has used none synthetic fluid in the past and the seals are goosed.

Looking on the web it would seem like this is the BCM (BC1) playing up. Any other less painful alternatives???

 

[garybee]

Possibly, but when I have a few faults my method is always to pick one and diagnose that. The brake light one is as good as any. I'd hook up to the OBD connector and see if the car is sensing the brake pedal movement. You'll need a decent fault code reader to do this though (in the £100 range). It's worth owning as it'll save you money in the long run by not buying parts you don't need in an attempt to find a fault.

 

[Angst]

I get your point. I've only got a cheapo effort but if I'm insisting on running older cars and fixing them myself I suppose I'll have to invest - any suggestions on diagnostic tool Gary ?

 

[garybee]

My favorite for user-friendliness is my Launch CRP123. It allows you to see live data from all the ECUs in most cars and resets lights on airbag, ABS as well as engine stuff. I have a more in depth laptop based one that is more comprehensive but not as nice to use. The Launch is all you'll need in the vast majority of cases.

 

[garybee]

I also meant to say that it allows you to view the inputs to the various ECUs. You can see the outputs of both circuits of the brake light switch for instance.

 

[Angst]

Just read a review of the CRP123 and it says that it will only work with vehicles made post-2006. Is this correct in your experience?

 

[garybee]

That's not what I've found at least. I've used mine with my 2001 mini.

 

[Angst]

Thanks for clarifying so quickly.

 

[Angst]

Righto, got one on order. Of course a diagnostic tool is only any use if you know how it works (and how what you are testing is supposed to work!), any resources available that will let me see how the brake light circuit/ locking circuit etc.are supposed to operate ? At the moment my diagnostic equipment consists of a multimeter and a very basic ODBII tool. This is a step up!!

 

[mike1967]

Righto, got one on order. Of course a diagnostic tool is only any use if you know how it works (and how what you are testing is supposed to work!), any resources available that will let me see how the brake light circuit/ locking circuit etc.are supposed to operate ? At the moment my diagnostic equipment consists of a multimeter and a very basic ODBII tool. This is a step up!!

trouble with gen 1 mini is it was a rover group designed car that bmw took over when they went went under, and rover stuff was always a different format from most other car makers, inpa is one that cover s the gen 1 cars fairly well but still not all of them, insta d is prob the best level but so complicated, autocom cdp plus is fairly good, the wurth snooper ie RAC use it i have lost count the amount of diagnostics tools i run to work on most stuff. what autocom dont work on the wurth snooper will,, think can buy both and have nearly every car on the road covered for under £100 plus a cheap windows laptop and both will allow for writing data ie encode stuff as well, something a hand held low spec scanner wont do very well, but still the gen 1 mini's the diagnostics are very limited, and a lot of the stuff i work out with a scope and scanner and multi meter etc just takes longer to find faults also pays to write the readings down as you go to compare them,, the wurth snooper software has a really good option it has autodata on it so it tells you ecu pinouts and what each pin should read at certain revs or heats or loads etc , believe me this is a must have bit of info in front of you,, as main dealers will not release these figures

 

[Angst]

Once the rain stopped and I could get upside down in the footwell the problem at first appeared to be a loose wire in the connector block to the switch. This sorted, the brake lights still didn't work 100% so I replaced the switch. Now sorted.

Still got the lock issue to now work at.