The car is a 2006 Mini S Convertible.

This is the 4th time this has happened. Details on what happened. Driving along and we lose power, completely, and need to pull off the freeway. Granted most of my driving is Freeway miles at speed, but it's never happened on city streets. We do not lose electrical and can crank the vehicle after it's off the road, will not start for hours. Also, the first two failures had a few thousand miles between them, when I replaced the belt it has been a week of daily driving to get to where I am today.

The first two times it appeared to be a low battery, charged it once, and replaced it the second time (tested bad). The alternator is pushing out around 14volts.

Thrid time we thought it may be a slipping belt causing it to go into limp mode, but in all instances, it failed and would not restart immediately. Anyway, the belt was cracked and way out of specs for tightness. Replaced with new.

This last time it failed, I noticed a buzzing from the fuel pump when trying to restart it. I removed the cap to ensure it was not vapor-locked, no start. This happened this morning and I assume when I go to recover the car this afternoon it will restart and I can drive it on to my trailer.

Based on what I am seeing I believe I am dealing with a failing fuel pump. Has anyone else experienced these "gremlins" and if so what was the ultimate culprit?

cvs334

 

Got the thing home last night ... here is what happened along the way.
the car broke down at 0700 ...
1500 son tried to see if it would restart and drive home. no fire.
1900 brought flatbed ... tried to restart, still noisy fuel pump, eventually fired, but would only run for 30 seconds. we lined it up to load and the person steering the car was able to start it and drive it onto the flat bed.

Smelled like raw fuel from the exhaust ... will play with it tomorrow and see if I get any codes. But again ... based on the following anyone have similar symptoms?

 

Hooked up the computer last night, no codes, the thing runs, the fuel pump is still noisy ... so not sure if this is me being over sensitive?? Is there anyone who has experienced random failures with no stored codes? Datastream looks good as car is running, nothing looks out of range.

 

Ok, Installed a new pump and filter, the filter was very dirty. The first long drive went well, hoping for the best, but still need a few weeks before I am happy.

 

It failed shortly after posting the previous post. Someone on Mini Mania suggested replacing the Fuel Pressure Regulator/Fuel Filter Housing. So ... here we go!!

Everything is finally installed and running. Had a little problem with the new Fuel Pressure Regulator/Fuel Filter Housing. Since I had a new filter in the old system, I swapped that and apparently I broke the o-ring and it would not get fuel pressure. It took some thinking to figure that one out, but when we started to bleed off the fuel from the line, it was not coming out very strong, so figured the new part was bad or I had installed it wrong ... this time it was me.

Anyway 70 miles so far ... running good. Will keep all informed if things change.

 

I have a 2004 Cooper S. Same problem as you. Stalled 2X in days. 2X flatbed home. Replaced fuel pump 50K ago. Fuel pump made strange noises when trying to start but would not. After I got home started normal. There are only 3 things, fuse relay on fuse panel or fuel pump. What did you end up learning about your 06 mini? I'm leaning toward fuel pump. One post said to "clean out" fuel tank. Help!!

 

I learned a bunch of nothing. I replaced fuel pumps, filters, purge valves, housings(fuel pressure regulators), and maybe more ... anyway not sure if any was bad, but I did discover the tank has a hump, the pickup is on one side and the pump is one the other. THEORETICALLY, the pump will backflow overpressure into the pickup side, and believe me, I have run the car to the point it had 1 mile left on the trip computer before filling up. But for whatever reason ... if you starve one side it's over and has a difficult time restarting. UNLESS it gets towed and things slosh around or you put gas into it. Once I realized this, no more problem ... and I explained it to the person who bought it and they have been happy.

Yes, the gauge in most cases was 1/4 tank or so I didn't think fuel ... and in a roundabout way, this is a technical justification to saying I RAN OUT OF GAS AND SPENT A TON OF TIME AND MONEY DIAGNOSING IT.

Good luck, post your results here for others.

cvs334

 

Thanks buddy. Full disclosure, the red fuel low light is on but the gauge shows between empty and 1/4. After pump/filter replacement and maybe "cleaning tank" I'll put 3-4 gallons in it. Not knowing about this "hump" and then having it towed 2X could be the culprit. After it quit, the pump was making an unnormal noise. The original fuel pump lasted until 176K. The one in there now is from BavAuto (SADLY out of business) with only 65-66K on it. Weird noise 'could be' from no fuel entering. As a side when initially starting the engine for the last couple months, the engine DID NOT immediately start. Kind of like an engine with a carburetor needing a choke to start. After second time it started fine. I'm ordering fuel pump, filter and relay just for insurance. After that I'll need to test drive it. How far from home? IDK. My everyday driver and in the short term borrowing wife's car. What can I expect though for 241K? I have flown many 'older' aircraft in the military and civilian. As long as they're "maintained" as Harrison Ford said (6 days, 7 nights), they will last. Again thanks for your reply. We'll see if I do a bunch of parts replacement for nothing.