The empty can with an exclamation point inside wasn’t the only light that appeared on the Mini’s speedometer yesterday.
After lunch Donna went to the other side of town for her allergy shot. On the way back home she noticed that to go along with the tire pressure warning light there was one that she recognized right away. It was the one that preceded the downfall of the Emperor, the check engine light.
When I got home, after filling all the tires up with air, I downloaded the Torque Lite app onto the phone, took my bluetooth OBD2 scanner out to the Mini and found out the Ladybug was suffering from a P2177, AKA: System Too Lean Off Idle Bank 1. So I Googled “P2177 Mini” and got a couple dozen hits on forums, but almost all of them included other codes and scary symptoms like won’t start & rough idle. Some of the cures sounded even scarier like replacing the high pressure fuel pump or pulling the cylinder head of to de-coke the guts of the motor. Or my favorite, multiple dealer visits with still no resolution.
To fully reset the low tire pressure system you need to drive the car around for a few minutes for the sensors to calibrate to the new pressures. So, I started the car, it fired right up. It idled fine. Donna hopped in and we went for a couple mile drive around the neighborhood with no problem. Not wanting to take any chances, we called up Newton’s Automotive and we dropped off the car tonight for an oil chance and some diagnostic work.