A woman called me, telling me she didn’t have a key that would start her car.
“What car do you have?”
“A Mini Cooper.”
“Alright, and what year?”
“2008.”
“Okay!”
I told her the price, and she didn’t argue at all, which is always a nice feeling. It’s nice not having to justify the price of your work.
On my way there, I wasn’t sure whether the CAS module had been updated or not. If it had, I knew I probably wouldn’t be in the mood to remove any modules. But if it hadn’t, I’d be feeling pretty good about the job, since it could be a two-minute fix.
Anyway, I arrived and saw the Mini Cooper. I parked, called her, and while she was coming out, I was getting my Lishi ready to open the car.
I went to the side of the car to unlock it, and she came over and handed me two keys.
I was like, “Okay…”
“I thought you said you had lost the keys.”
“No, I have two keys, but they don’t start the car.”
“Okay, let me check them.”
Both keys were fine, so I jumped into the car, thinking it might be a faulty ELV (steering lock module) or perhaps the keys were out of sync with the CAS unit. That’s a classic issue on BMWs and Minis from those years.
But I wasn’t seeing the usual steering wheel warning on the instrument cluster.
So, what now?
After doing a bit of searching, I figured out that the key slot module might be the problem. I’d never come across that before.
I told her I was going to order a new one and come back to replace it. She agreed.
One Week Later…
The new key slot arrived!
I went there again, and just as I was about to park, I realized the Mini Cooper was parked somewhere else!
She came out, and I asked her if she had managed to start the car.
“Of course!” she answered.
Okay!
One of the two keys was still showing the missing-key message in the slot, even though it was starting the car.
Anyway, I was there with the new module, so I went ahead and replaced it. After that, the second key no longer showed any problems, and everything seemed to be working great.
So, I guess the Mini Cooper’s key slot was faulty. Sometimes it recognized the keys, and sometimes it didn’t.
I guess we’ll know for sure with time. :)
It wasn’t a difficult job. Actually, it was quite simple. But it feels good to work on something new instead of doing another all-keys-lost Ford Transit Custom. Hahaha!
Until next time,
Aggelos
