I just got a 2012 Mini Cooper R56 project to fiddle with. After dropping in a new battery, it will detect the key and do some flashing lights but it won’t crank or turn over or anything like that. I registered the new battery with the Ancel tool. Radio, headlights, windows, blinkers all work. But there is no crank or any engine sounds when I push the start button.
One clue is that it’s seemingly stuck in park (will it go out of park when not running?). I wonder if there’s some kind of Neutral Safety Switch fault, though I can’t find any trace of it. I get 3 wildly different results for that at autozone, not sure which one would be the right one or where to look for it.
So can anyone point me in the right direction on this? I have continuity tested all the fuses under the hood and in the Passenger footwell. The only sound when pressing the start button is a couple clicks from the passenger footwell fuse panel. I swapped around the three relays under the hood, that had no effect. None of the error codes seem related to anything major, it’s all stuff like daytime running lights and passenger seat sensor. I could list them all here if it helps, let me know. I’ve tried everything I can think of so far, so I appreciate any kind of help I can get!
Yeah, good question, I am stepping on the brake when pressing the button. I will check if there is a switch behind the brake pedal that maybe got dislodged.
I did check, there seems to be a switch up under the dash at the top of the brake pedal. It seems to be engaging, though I’m not really sure how to test if it’s good. I also tried stepping on the brake pedal really soft or really hard, but that had no different effect. I’m going to look into dismantling that part of the dash so I can take a closer look at the switch… little hard to get my head up there right now!
Look around the shifter normally towards the top, should be a tiny access door that your can open and using something log and skinny (ink tube out of an ink pin, Philips head screw driver etc) and insert it down the hole under the access door and push the shift lock over ride button down and move the shifter out of park… Then you can see if it will start in neutral or move the shifter through it’s full range while in the start position to see if the starter hits anywhere… Also make sure the shift cable is moving the manual valve/gear selector lever on the transmission to make sure the cable is not broken or the end has not popped off either end…
One thing I don’t think you mentioned was why the new battery, and have you ever heard it start?? Did it just not start one day and you threw in a battery hoping it would start?? Have you tested the starter signal wire for power at the starter to even see if the starter is getting a signal to start or not??? You might just have a bad battery, or the ignition start/stop button switch could be bad… Lots of possibility’s…
Ugh, just spent a very long while trying to do this. Unfortunately it seems Mini’s been too clever by half while designing the release here. It’s a tiny bit of plastic that you pull, and it seems the Previous Owner/Seller pulled it too hard and yanked it off. I’m going to try pulling it apart tomorrow per this video but it looks like too much for tonight. I’ll update if that does anything.
And no I’ve not seen it run, I bought it dead with a completely dead battery. The PO/S had bought it from a friend hoping to get it running but had to move for work soon after he got it. Now I’m the schmuck.
I’m going to try your other suggestions, though I would appreciate some help with that. I have a multimeter, what should I see when I test the starter? Just 12.6V? The new battery did turn on all the lights and dings and things, so I don’t think that’s the culprit. Didn’t even think about the start button, but it does light up the dash as if it’s going into ACC or start mode? I’ve never seen one of these start except in videos.
I hope you got it for junk price, cause it could have a locked up engine, rod nock etc, and or bad transmission etc etc etc…
Probably need to see if you can either buy a factory service manual (not owners manual, but those are good for other things also) or at least the factory wiring diagram to see what all is in the starting circuit and start at one end of the wiring diagram and work your way to the other end, somewhere between the 2 ends will be your issue… I generally like to start at the stater and work my way back…
Rock Auto has a picture of your neutral safety switch/range sensor that might help you locate it. It looks like something that mounts under the steering wheel/ It had a nine blade connector.
As far as the brake light switch goes, turn on the ign abd step on the brake and see if the brake lights work.
Using a diagnostic scan tool, check if the PCM can read brake switch input. Without brake switch input, the start operation won’t work, and the shift lever can’t be moved from Park.