Our Mini won't start, any ideas what could be the problem?

Battery cables connected? Are you saying the engine tries to start but doesn’t catch?

Yeah, it makes the sound a car makes when it won’t start, hopefully that makes sense.

@Leanne15 Battery or cable connector if it just clicks. If it cranks but doesn’t turn over, not even an idea….lol, sorry.

It’s not clicking, it’s cranking and not turning over, even pumping the pedal isn’t helping.

Pumping the pedal is not going to help; makes things worse even in case the engine does suddenly start.
It is flooding the engine.

The not being able to start it could be a failing starter motor.

Will jump start help?

”No, if the starter (motor) is bad that’s it. If it’s a manual transmission you may be able to push start it.
Jump starting is used when the battery in the car has insufficient voltage to power the starter motor.”
From Quora

What shall we do then as we have nobody to push us and now we are cold as our jackets are open?

Sit ten minutes try again

My sister says she’s really cold, she has a T-shirt on underneath a jacket that is open.

Start by closing your sister’s jacket.
Mother or grandparents might have ideas as to what the next step could be.
Sleep there, get a mechanic in tomorrow to fix the car.

We will wait the 10mins to see if that helps.

If it is indeed the starter motor (which it may well not be, very difficult to tell from where I am) then a 10 minuten wait, or a 10 days wait for that matter, isn’t gonna help an iota.
Good luck though.

Just got to work out how to keep my sister occupied for that 10mins lol. She won’t sleep and we have no books for her to read.

Get your mother to tap dance something thirties on the roof, this should keep her warm & maybe breathe new life into the stricken mini.

@ucme, are you serious haha?

@Leanne15 Not as a rule no, but this time…yeah kinda :D

Sounds like you guys need a jump.

Liking your sense of humour :D, could do with you here to keep little sister occupied.

The 10 minutes is to let tge gas unflood, if they flooded it. Did it run out of gas? Never pump the pedal if the car has injectors.

@Leanne15 I would get there if it were at all possible, but unfortunately it’s the chauffeur’s night off.

Update? Hopefully she’s driving home.

No, it just doesn’t want to start and, no, it has plenty gas in.

It’s not getting gas sounds like, better get a tow home. Sorry.

Mother is determined to get it started lol.

Do your grandparents have some jumper cables??? If the battery isn’t dead by now, it’s going to be if she keeps cranking and cranking.

What about safety features? Is it all the way in park for sure? Steering wheel amd tires straight?

@KNOWITALL, yes, it’s in neutral and steering wheel /tires are straight yeah. @Dutchess_III, I was told jump start won’t help.

@Leanne My brand new one had a disconnected ignition wire. Just randomly stranded me until they found it. Sorry, good luck.

It just doesn’t want to start and I’ve told mom to stop cranking it but she’s ignoring me. Me and my little sister are bored stiff now, sister is huffing at me so I’m getting grumpy.

Does she not have a phone? Let her ask us a question….haha

No, she didn’t take her phone.

Is it a very old car? Do you need to give it gas usually to start it? If it’s old and doesn’t have fuel injection she might have flooded it when she kept pumping the gas. If that’s the case then let it rest 5 minutes and then try again, not a lot of gas.

If it’s a stick you can try to get some momentum with people pushing it and try to start it In second gear. Put the key in the on position, push the car, and then give gas and release the clutch just like you typically would while driving.

@JLeslie, the car is a year old.

If it’s a stick you can still try to start in second by pushing it. Just pumping the gas won’t help.

There’s nobody to push us though.

Tell your mother to stop cranking it and let the car rest for 10 minutes. If she hasn’t drained the battery yet, she soon will.
Meanwhile, tell us if you’ve had this problem before☺️

Yes, we have had it a couple of times before. Oh and I did but she moans saying that she WILL get it started, even if it means trying all night.

Tell her that she needs to allow the fuel to dissipate. Find something to do fo 10 minutes. Ask her if she is willing to let YOU start the car.

She has given up for 10 mins now and will let me try for a bit.

Wait the full 10 minutes. When your turn comes, make sure the car is in park. Keep your foot OFF the gas pedal and turn the engine over for around 5 seconds. If it doesn’t start, wait a minute or 2, then press the gas pedal to the floor and try again. Don’t pump it.

I’m pretty sure you don’t have spark. No amount of cranking will help this.

Will this car have a coil, or am I too primitive?

Do you have a Roadside Assistance subscription? Is there such a thing in the US?

@Adagio, I am in the UK.

@stanleybmanly Probably coil packs

Same question applies Leanne, do you have that service over there? Or is the car still under warranty?

Hey peeps, my first try and it started :D.

Get the crank position sensor checked if it happens again.

@Leanne15 AA Roadside Assistance service . I don’t know about the UK but here in NZ the AA Roadside Assistance is fantastic, well worth taking out a sub every year.

It started!

I did what you told me @stanleybmanly and it started first time.

Now sister is sleeping so all is good, before she slept she apologised for shouting at me :).

It’s a good idea to have someone slap a diagnostic tool on your car. Do you folks know someone with automotive skills?

Will a mechanics garage do it?

One of moderators can delete this now as I’ve got it started :).

It’s fine. It can stay up.

Take it to a Mini shop when you get a chance for a diagnosis.

@janbb, I will get mom to do that :).

Me and my sister thank you for your help :).

I do and was trying to think of ideas but mine has always started fine – so far.

Don’t tempt fate now @janbb, I would not hope that on anyone.

Since the engine cranks but doesn’t start, the next thing to do is determine if there is spark at the plugs and gas to the injectors. Pull wire off a spark plug, set it very near something that is metal and crank the engine. Observe for spark. If there is spark, there is probably no gas.
How many miles are on the odometer? What year is the car?

There are over 300 miles and car is only a year old.

How much gas is in the tank?

@kritiper She said she got it started.

Half a tank. It started though so we are on way home.

You might have it checked out by your mechanic before starting out next time. The fuel system may have lost it’s prime and next time it might be worse.
Have a safe trip home!

I’m just glad we are on our way home now, hopefully mom doesn’t stall it at a junction though.

No but it is possible.

Be mindful of any strange odors while you’re driving. Like gas, oil, ?

A year old car—very
unlikely, and I think the starting problem might be about your mom’s heavy (but nervous) foot. Pumping the pedal was a solution in the 60s or 70s.

I mean we bought it a year ago

OH! so what year is it?

But it was 2nd hand, it had another previous owner. Mom says it’s 4yr old, previous owner bought it in 2014.

Yay! Bring the car in to be fixed ASAP. Don’t chance getting stuck again.

I’ve heard they’re very safe & I like the look of em. I tried to interest my daughter in one, so I could tool around in it, but of course since it was my idea, she wanted nothing to do with it. I LOVE the huge tachometer/ speedometer gauge.

@JLeslie, I think we will as all of us were getting frustrated and grumpy with each other.

We made it home :). And sister is fast asleep so I’m carrying her into the house and straight into my bed so I can cuddle up with her :).

Good night and good luck!

The car is 4 years old and it has 300 miles on it??

Damn, missed a zero, that should have said 3000.

4 years old and only 3000 miles on it?? I drive about 10000 a year.

Yeah, we only use it when going long journeys which is not very often.

I think this is a joke. 1–800-AAA-HELP

I bet your mom was thrilled you got it started. Agree it should be checked though. She wouldnt have pumped the pedal if it had started so somethings not right. Good job!

@KNOWITALL, yeah, she was happy and so was little sister, little sister gave me a big hug when she woke up. I think mom will get it checked because she could see how frustrated we were plus she was getting angry with the car, swearing and pumping the pedal aggressively.

haha! Let us know what it was, I’m just curious since my ignition wire had the same symptoms. Have fun at Rhona’s party this weekend! :)

@KNOWITALL, I will and we sure will :P. I love a party haha.

Do you live on a small island?

Yeah.

Did you ever figure out what the problem was?

Was the starter motor, we got it sorted at a mechanics garage after it wouldn’t start again this evening, but this time we were outside our own house and mom didn’t try for ages like last time, she tried for 10mins then gave up and called the garage.

That’s very odd. If the engine is cranking, the starter should be fine.

Mom thinking of getting a new car once we are back from my sisters surprise outing tomorrow, any suggestions on what to get, she likes Vauxhall or Renault?

Subaru. We never see a Renault or Vauxhall out here.

Our chauffeur recommends a Bentley better than that japanese crap the yanks tootle around in.
Personally i’d ignore his advice & suggest something a little more affordable, a Rolls maybe.

You said the car was only a year old! Or did you mean it’s an old car, you have only had if for a year?

My cousin won $90 million in the lottery and promptly went out and bought herself a Subaru. I have a friend on Facebook who absolutely swears by Subaru. So a Subaru would be my suggestion.

Yes @Dutchess_III, we have only had it a year but the car is 4yr old. Mom got a Citroën C3 for what it’s worth.

That’s another car that is extremely rare here.

The cars we have here are totally different. Interesting that she got a new car after only having the used Mini for a year.

The thing that puzzles me with people who know little about cars is how frequently they will buy one without even a nickle’s worth of research. Your mom could go to her cell phone and simply google Citroen c3 reliability. Too late now. But you should remember this when it’s your turn to buy a car.

Yeah…she bought an entirely new car because of some (probably) minor mechanical malfunction?

Back when I kept up with such things and you could find an occasional Citroen in the states, the car was second only to Jaguar in guaranteeing employment for auto mechanics. There’s a reason other than price for the glut of Hondas and Toyotas on the road.