Help is on the way

I got a call from Mini today assuring me that I will get another call in a few days to schedule the home visit. I am anxious to see the results of this as I still think the problem is almost entirely in the PEU. I am not as ambitious as many in terms of home diagnostics, but I do think I have a pattern that is very repeatable and defeats most theories, including some of my past ones.

ISSUE

drive home from Manhattan to S.Orange and plug in = FAILURE in less than 7 secs

WORKAROUND

let the car sit for 30+ minutes and repeat. 100% success.

The only thing I can think of that would change in this workaround is wither the battery temp or the PEU perception of the battery temp. Or something relating to the charging preparedness of the batteries (I am sure there are several variable at play).

Letting the car sit idle for 30 minutes should have nothing to do with the supply levels coming from the street. It can only have an impact on the car and its readiness to charge.

My $850.02

PS

I still love this car, and hope the lease extension stories are all true (though for closer to 2c that $850)

PPS

Anyone in Cali want to trade cars (with Mini arranging the shipping) ? Let's see if the cold is contributing to this issue or not....

That would have been embarrasing

So I have been driving the rental Hyundai for 8 days now and last night while driving home from work I was listening to a story on NPR about the new Volt and the LA auto show and thought about how little I like the idea of the "backup gas engine". But it also made me think that I haven't put gas in the in the rental all week. Sure enough I look down and the gauge is below empty and the little gas pump light is on. No fancy warning bells or anything and I had not noticed. I made it off my exit a few mile ahead and filled up. I can't wait to get #269 back on Monday.

So I got the call Friday that I would be getting #269 back because it is keeping a charge fine and there is nothing wrong. Apparently I am going to get a call from Mini to arrange for them to come out and check out the car at my house with my charger to try to diagnose what is happening.

We will see.

Hyundai for the holiday's

I dropped off #269 at Morristown on Wed AM to have them look into the charging issue. When I dropped it off they said they would put on the snow tires as well. Apparently they got a shipment from Tire Rack of 30-40 sets of snow tires for the E's and they are eager to have the space back, so if you are waiting, now is the time.

Unfortunately I had originally scheduled to drop off my E on Monday and they had a Mini loaner slotted for me. But because of a work emergency, I had to move it to Wed. No loaners for Wed, so the Enterprise base Hyundai it is. I didn't know that they made cars still with manual windows, but let me assure you. They do. I then got the call that they were flat bedding it to the Mini office and not working Wed for the holiday, so no one will look at it until Monday. So I get to enjoy the Hyundai until they are done. With the comment "but don't worry, Mini is picking up the tab until you get your car back". Believe me, who is paying is not my worry. I REALLY miss #269.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thur night charging..... loaner story

Came home about 8:20pm. Tried the 32A, red light on the CC box this time. 3x unplugged, try again... All red lights.

Tonight I set the car to 12A and let it OU charge. I just went to the garage (11pm) and disconnected the 12A (it was charging like a champ), reset the car to 32A, plugged in the CC box. 20 green blinks and I went inside.

I guess it needed some 12A primer before upgrading to the 32A juice. This will not be a practical exercise for me, as I will most certainly forget to go back down some nights and will only get a night of 12A. After a few days this will not work for me.

There doesn't seem to be a pattern yet on the PEU or the CC box being the cause. But 32A charging as soon as I pull in doesn't seem to work well anymore.

Remember, I just got a new CC box and cable because of this very issue.

I called for service today and they were trying to arrange for a rental car. I never heard back so I couldn't drop off my car. She didn't ask any real questions, so I am not sure how the flow of information is supposed to work.

Most interesting part of the call however was when I asked her about the Mini loaner fleet rather than the Enterprise route and she said they are NOT ALLOWED to loan out their fleet for MINI-E, only rentals. So the most expensive car in the building by far can't get a loaner. I hate to be cynical about this but I can only guess that this is because the local dealer does not want to loan out their cars when MINI corporate is willing to pay for a rental. I would hope the 35k mile Hyundai would be a last resort and not the default.

Either way. I'm starting to get concerned that this may be a more systemic issue. My only working theory is related to the colder temperature. I seem to only remember this ever happening once it started turning colder. Highs in the 40s and 50s now. And going in the wrong direction for the next several months.

Here we go.....

No Charge last night

So last night I come home and immediately plugged in. I can hear the Clipper Creek box click on, 4 blinks on the dash, and I hear the PEU in the MINI-E click off. No change in lights on the CC box.

Push the stop button on the CC , unplug, 5 secs, plug in.....same

Rinse, repeat.... After 3 try's, with no error lights anywhere, I decide to test the low voltage theory. If that is it, in theory it should kick in later.

Well I came down this morning and nothing. Luckily I use less that 50% a day so I could get to work today. This is what I was experiencing originally, I would connect the car, just go inside as all seems well, it would click off and when I come down in the morning, nothing.

I am now convinced this has to be an AC Propulsion thing. I can hear the PEU click off when the dash light goes out.

unhappy.

Again again

So I am going to find all the blog entries I can and try to get more opinions. I am having charging problems again.....

New charger, new cable....

Arrive home 10pm, immediately plug in wall charger...

3 blinks on the dash, 4th blink, I can hear the PEU click off from the engine bay

Disconnect, wait 5 secs, reconnect......

1 blink, red light on the charging unit

Disconnect, take out the trash, come back (lets call it 2-3 mins), plug in the wall charger

20 blinks, I'm home free....

This is the worst case since the wall charger was replaced, but I have had at least one other day where 4 blinks, the PEU clicks off, but the disconnect, reconnect worked straight away that time.

IDEAS????

New Clipper Creek box

So after changing out the cable first and having the box light up, they changed out the wall box itself and we have been fine charging for 3 days now. I will let it run for a week or two before I claim it fixed, but so far so good.