15 replies to this topic

[abbymichelle]

Ready for an essay?

Hey all. Relatively new to the forum, advised to come and talk to you guys because you'll know more than all the garages that i've been to! 4/4 garages that i've taken my mini to have either looked at me like i have 4 heads when i describe the problem, laugh at me and say its nothing and that i dont know what im on about. VERY frustrating!

So, i have a 1999 1275 cooper, bought it last november..with advisories like the electrics are a bit 'fiddled with' (lass i bought it from was young and wanted to be an apprentice mechanic, i think she tried a few things on Charlie..) and that the windows dont really function as windows should. but hey...i bought it anyway.

SO. the loss of power. Here goes.

The problem doesn't occur all the time. It comes and goes, when it's not there, the car is fantastic. Loads of power in 2nd and third (2nd up to fifty, third up to 70 very comfortably) and fourth cruises along nicely. When I have the problem, its as if all the power is in 2nd and 3rd, 4th is nearly a complete no no. Literally no power, you could go into 4th on the motorway at about 70ish and gradually watch the speedo drop down, revs go down, and the pedal begins to feel really stodgy (for lack of a better word). It feels as though all of the power is at the very top of the pedal (there may be a technical way to describe this but i have no idea!) so just as you touch and push down to accelerate, theres your power. Any more than that and you get the heavy, chugging go-nowhere zone. So to get around this at the time, drop down into third, get the revs and power up again and try again. Same problem for the whole journey, and probably the next few too. My mum used a mini when she was younger and she described a similar problem that was fixed by dipping the clutch and revv'ing it though to clear it, but this has no effect on mine, you could dip and rev and back into 4th and go back to having no power and have to drop into 3rd. My dad owns Mg Midget and has done several rebuilds, after describing the problem to him and he drove the car and said it was misfiring, but then said it could be several things.

Possibly related, and usually happens when the car is having a shitty spell, when you go to pull away sometimes it feels as though theres something stopping the engine from working properly and you have to lever the pedal slightly, or let off and try again to get any power and go anywhere. Moving off from roundabouts is a nightmare when this happens! You'll just find yourself right in the middle of the roundabout going about 7mph until you can find some power and drive away.

The problem seems to be more severe when its raining driving in the wet. I was on the motorway (which i now generally avoid!) and it was raining and at times i had to go into 2nd on a slight incline to actually have any power at all. And it want a smooth ride whatsoever. You'd be able to feel the car jolting and skipping through the steering wheel and the power would be in and out. Also when wet, the wipers only have one speed, intermittently just stop and using the lights/wipers at the same time can be a nightmare... wipers on, headlights on + flash headlights = wipers off. headlights on + dip down from full beam = lights off completely. All sorts of combinations.

I've had the car serviced (albeit by a very poor garage who managed to miss suspension gone, ball joints gone, hole in the floor etc etc etc. They changed the oil and air filters, and a sparkplug and charged me £260 for the work (tsk tsk) ) and had it MOT'd at a different garage where the prementioned work was completed and a lot of welding £480 later. Neither garage, or two others i've been to with the problem have been able to tell me what it is.

Please help me! It's such a horrible problem which leaves you SO frustrated when you're driving, you just want to punch the wheel and shout "GO!" without risk of setting off the airbag ha!

Any suggestions and solutions are much much appreciated, or any good garage recommendations in/around the Basingstoke/Newbury area!

Cheers guys x

[Ethel]

It's an MPI I assume? You'd be best finding a garage that's equipped with the diagnostics for Rover's Mems engine management system. A mobile auto electrician may even be a cheaper and better option.

On a d-i-y basis, you can check all the electrical connectors for wear & tear and clean them, a dab of vaseline will help keep the damp out.

4th gear, lower revs and more load, suggests fuelling over ignition, but that's little more than a hunch.

[mini*mad]

yeah, may be just as simple as either = fuel filter or = fuel pump
worse case scenario ecu

id run some red-ex through on some of the more expensive petrol (vpower or what have you)
after changing the filter

[mini*mad]

Redex RDX10 250ml Petrol Injector Fuel System Cleaner

available from euro car parts, or halfords etc.

[abbymichelle]

Thankyou guys! Under foot it does feel as if it could be fuel related. As if theres just too much to cope with.

Thankyou Thankyou!

[mini*mad]

if that doesnt fix it there are a couple more things you can try that cost next to nothing but
may be just abit of a barrage of info in one lump haha

[abbymichelle]

haha aye

We'll just bought some Redex, faithful amazon.
will sort the fuel filter and give it a go x

[Ethel]

I think it's more likely to be dodgy wiring, more chance of that being intermittent than filters and injectors blocking & unblocking themselves.

[abbymichelle]

Thats very true...

[mini_in_progress]

if its intermittent and feels like theres no power as you put your foot down i think id be looking at the thottle position sensor/wires maybe coil pack/leads

Edited by mini_in_progress, 17 May 2012 - 12:36 AM.

[mini*mad]

depends on how many miles the mini's done between filters (25k or 2 years between them)
many of the mpi's ive looked at with owners for 5+years have never had it replaced
so worth doing :)

but yeah someones bodged the wires on my mini and its being a PAIN to sort out to say the least lol
cleaning up the connectors on the caps to the ignition coil & distributor are defo worth doing too

Edited by mini*mad, 17 May 2012 - 12:35 AM.

[abbymichelle]

So many things to look at :/

[mini_in_progress]

not really, you dont have a dizzy, cap or coil as mini mad suggested you look at lol you just have 1 coil pack making your spark, :) like i say id check that, the leads, throttle position sensor first.... checking all the wires/plugs going to them looking for corrosion,maybe worth taking the spark plugs out see if the gaps ok since they were changed

Edited by mini_in_progress, 17 May 2012 - 01:15 AM.

[coopdog]

i had it once in my carb mini,
when up a pretty long steep hill and when i got to the top it wouldnt rev at all just kept losing power, dipped the cluth tried reving then it came back,
so i dont think its a problem just with an injection engine :/

[cal844]

4 garages and not one checked the ECU, as mentioned check all the connectors and earth point, give them a clean with some sandpaper or replace ir rusty, id also consider waiting till the fault happens then driving it to the garage whilst its occuring.