1st Gen R53 Cooper S A strange brake light issue

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by mrntd, Jul 22, 2013.

  1. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
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    So I check the garage door the other night as I was locking up and my brake lights were on. The car had been off for hours and I didn't notice it when I parked the car or when the wife came home.

    I opened the door and they went off and didn't comeback on.

    Has anyone ever heard of this?
     
  2. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    How old is your battery? When I had electrical gremlins like that, my battery was 5+ years old. After a replacement... fixed!
     
  3. N2MINI

    N2MINI MINI of the Month

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    When my car was about a year old or so the 3rd brake light stayed one 1 time as I got out of it at the mall. I tried cutting lights on and off, starting car etc. Luckly I had a couple of tools and I disconnected it for a few days, plugged it back in and has worked fine for 6 years.. All that being said I have no idea how to help you..
     
  4. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

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    Dang! Yet another myth dispelled! I thought you never used your brakes...:devil:
     
  5. Jason Montague

    Jason Montague New Member
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    :cornut: THREAD JACK- This takes me back to Pakistan/Afghanistan in 1988. They never use their brakes there, only their horns. We would be coming back to the US Embassy in Islamabad for a weekend break( Muslim weekend is Thursday night through Saturday). Now over there they believe that one's death is preordained the day one is born.:yesnod: So they don't believe in any safety precautions at all. One can only be killed on the day that Allah has preordained it:yesnod:So we're haulin-arse(the Pakistanie ISI always drove as Americanskis weren't officially in country) up and down barely two lane mountain roads where one side of the road is a sheer rock face and the other side of the road is a sheer drop of 500-1000ft.:yikes: They never used their brakes but just sat on the horn passing blindly on all curves.:yikes: We offered to drive but were told NO! Only by the grace of the good Lord did we make it back in one piece. Then of couse we hauled-arse to the embassy bar and drained their stock of beer. "Who are those guys with the beards and long hair? I don't know but they sure drink a lot of beer on Thusday nights.":drool:Thumbsup:

    Now back to the thread.

    Jason
     
  6. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
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    I may not but the ghost in the car does. :cornut:

    I guess it's just strange stuff when the computer in the car controls all the stuff instead of plane old switches. Maybe it got jealous of the parts I got at Micro Center :Thumbsup:
     
  7. B.A.D.

    B.A.D. Club Coordinator

    Dec 6, 2009
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    You say by the grace of the good Lord, the other option is that it obviously wasn't your preordained time to go...
     
  8. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Its obvious. Your Mini was about to sneak out for the night and you caught it in the act.:devil: If youve been driving around town like an old lady in a Cadillac and not letting your R53 scream a little they are known to do this. :D
    The fix is to find some good roads and give it a good flogging. This way at night when you lock up it will be to tired to get into trouble.
    Idle hands are the devils work shop. :devil::biggrin5:
    I hope this helps.
     
  9. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
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    That's the best idea I've heard yet. I think I may have to down to HH Saturday or Sunday morning. Anyone interested in going along?
     
  10. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Hey Hamid Karzai.....

    Don't be hating our Predator Drones....

    Dude..... it was preordained....
     
  11. beken

    beken Well-Known Member

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    The ghost of Lucas electronics. Told you MINI were not totally BMWized.

    Having said that, I tried putting LEDs for my license plate lights on awhile ago and I had to return the LED lights because when everything was turned off, the rear license plate light blinked and stayed in that mode until I turned on the exterior lights.

    Did you change your bulbs recently? I think it might be possible the bulbs have a slightly different impedance than the stock ones, which caused the body control computer to turn them on.

    Or it is possible some moisture go in through your gutter drain rails and wet a wiring harness which caused a temporary short of the brake circuit.

    ...just fishing around for possible reasons.
     
  12. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
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    Nope bulbs are the same. It could have been moisture but it did it many hours after driving in the rain. Come to think of it I have had an issue with the hatch release after I wash the car sometimes. I'll check into that.
     
  13. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    I had problems with the hatch release. It turned out that my break light had a small crack in it allowing water in to the hatch. Once I changed it the problem went away.
     

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