Help mini jcw r56 won't start

Help mini jcw r56 won't start

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Phillop

Original Poster:

5 posts

75 months

Friday 12th January 2018
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Hi could anyone help me
I have a Mini Cooper jcw 2011 and I had a car on ramp on dash in yellow. So was going to get checked out on weekend but I was driving the car and the car on ramp turned red. The car was running fine as it should. I switched engine of went in shops and come to start again and nothing no ignition lights only the stereo and hand break light comes on with the red car on ramp sign. It won't try to turn over when I press the button. Has anyone else had this or no what's going on ?????

Rockster

1,508 posts

160 months

Saturday 13th January 2018
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Phillop said:
Hi could anyone help me
I have a Mini Cooper jcw 2011 and I had a car on ramp on dash in yellow. So was going to get checked out on weekend but I was driving the car and the car on ramp turned red. The car was running fine as it should. I switched engine of went in shops and come to start again and nothing no ignition lights only the stereo and hand break light comes on with the red car on ramp sign. It won't try to turn over when I press the button. Has anyone else had this or no what's going on ?????
Not clear to me some of the references you make: "on ramp on dash in yellow"? And "the car on ramp turned red"?

All I can offer is some general things. If the CEL (check engine light) is on then there are one or more error codes. Reading and interpreting any codes can go a long way to helping one know what's going on. There should also be freeze frame data logged which provides some kind of "telemetry" snapshot of when the error condition was recognized.

I am still learning my way around my 2018 JCW so I don't know the answer to this but does the JCW, at least your JCW, allow one to query/check for any error codes or are these only obtainable via an OBD2 code reader connected to the OBD2 port?

Regardless of how you obtain the codes -- if the CEL is on active codes, but if the CEL is dark pending codes -- obtaining the codes is pretty important.

With other cars I have upon occasion had the everything looks normal but the engine doesn't crank behavior.

If the car is equipped with a manual transmission this behavior can arise from a bad clutch interlock switch. This switch doesn't have to be bad. The clutch pedal hardware/linkage can develop some "slop" so be sure sure that when the clutch pedal is depressed the switch plunger is fully depressed.

With an automatic transmission the transmission has to be in Park or Neutral. If the Park or Neutral switch is bad then the engine controller will not let the engine crank. In this case instead of putting the transmission in Park try Neutral. Or move the transmission lever from Park to Drive and back again in the hope that this switch will work.

Another possible explanation is a bad ignition switch. Now my experience with ignition switches is primarily with "old fashioned" switch in which a key blade is inserted and the key turned to start the engine. A heavy key chain over time will cause wear and tear over and above any that occurs from just normal usage.

If the switch is bad sometimes wiggling the key as the key is turned can have the switch working.

If the ignition switch is consists of a push button or like my JCW a toggle switch the switch could still be bad but that would be a diagnosis for a Mini tech to make I think.

Yet another no start cause can be a failure of the car's security system to verify the key is valid. Now I'm not experienced with the newer cars but with older cars one pushes a button on the key to unlock the door. But to start the engine requires the car's security system to obtain an ID from a "pill" in the key head. This is obtained by when the key is inserted in the ignition switch and the key turned the security module emitting an RF signal from an attenna located behind the ignition switch surround.

The "pill" in the key receives this signal and the signal energy energizes the circuitry in the "pill" and the "pill" then transmits its ID number. The antenna receives this RF signal and carries it to the security module which decodes this and looks up the number. If it finds the number the engine is allowed to crank. All of this happens in practically no time.

I believe something similar goes on with these newer vehicles. If the pill in the key no longer works or there's a problem with the circuitry that emits the RF signal and receives the response from the key pill then while one can open the car the engine will not crank.

The security module will almost certainly emit an error code that signals some kind of error code ("key not recognized") and with the proper diagnostic computer this error code can be obtained and interpreted.

In the meantime if you have a 2nd or spare or valet key you can try another key in the hope that just the pill in the key you are using is bad.

Phillop

Original Poster:

5 posts

75 months

Saturday 13th January 2018
quotequote all
Sorry wasn't clear but here is a picture of the dash light. It has now turned red. There is a code that comes up on dash under the dash light
CC-ID-718
I put in a code reader in the OBD port it's not reading the code reader for some reason


Rockster

1,508 posts

160 months

Saturday 13th January 2018
quotequote all
Phillop said:
Sorry wasn't clear but here is a picture of the dash light. It has now turned red. There is a code that comes up on dash under the dash light
CC-ID-718
I put in a code reader in the OBD port it's not reading the code reader for some reason
If one is not reading any active OBD2 code it is because the light is not a CEL (check engine light) but something else. By something else it could be a dual purpose light that turns yellow for an OBD2 error but red for what appears to be a Mini proprietary error code.

If there is no active OBD2 code or a pending OBD2 code then all you have to go on is the CC-ID-718 code.

As best I can tell this is related to an engine start fault which kind of jives with what you report. The engine doesn't start.

If you have road service for the car now's the time I think. IOWs, I think you'll need to have the car looked at by someone who has access to all the code meanings and access to the steps to properly track down what is gong on.

Edited by Rockster on Saturday 13th January 22:51

sad61t

1,100 posts

210 months

Sunday 14th January 2018
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This is a major malfunction indication, probably ABS unit failure.
Yellow means drive straight to the dealer.
Red means the car may be unsafe and/or cause further damage by operating, and will prevent the car being driven. You may be able to override by depressing the brake pedal while starting; if not, you will have to arrange a recovery.

From the owner's manual page 121:
Lights up in red:
> Starter failed or
> ignition malfunctioning. Engine restart only possible when brake is depressed or
> lighting system failed. Low beams/tail lamps and brake lamps still operational. All other lamps failed
Have the system in question checked without delay.
The engine cannot be restarted.

Lights up in yellow:
> Control of the brake lamps failed or
> fuel supply malfunctioning
You can continue your journey, but moderate your speed and exercise due caution. Have the system in question checked without delay.

Mini10

2 posts

43 months

Tuesday 8th September 2020
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Hi, sorry for the reply to an old thread, but I have no idea how to contact the owner.
Did you ever find out what was wrong with the car? I have this exact problem and I've been struggling to find anything useful about this.