261 replies to this topic

[Tonylamb]

On the cam i've asked the maker.

on the wiper/lights issue. I don't see how I could have it wired wrong because I just connected up the plugs to the various bits. that said i do have an additional loom in the car which moved the dash from behind the wheel to the centre consoul? I've got to take the heater matrix out because it has a slight leak. When that is out it will be a good time to take a look at the wiring under the dash, more room.

Thanks for the help lads.

[Tonylamb]

noisy exhaust got me under the car this afternoon. some exhaust adjustment and also noticed a bent suspension tie bar. Interestingly having sorted the big oil leak from the timing cover oil seal. there are some other spots of oil... its old. But I do seem to have oil leaking from the distributor drive. is this a common oil leak spot or not? Maybe the oil is coming from somewhere else? any thoughts a help.

[nicklouse]

I would get some UV leak trace oil additive from guessworks.

 

give it a good clean up first then add the product then use as normal. Then get the black light out and go all crime scene on it and you will find out where it is not leaking from.

[Tonylamb]

I still reckon going through the park circuit, as I set out above, is the way to go. Start at the live on the motor connector (piccy 4 posts up) with a test lamp between a good earth and work your way round the loop to the low speed wire going in to the motor. Be sure to have the ignition key in the appropriate position!
 
The headlight poltergeist action could be anything from dropping the overall voltage and slowing the motor enough to not override or equalising potential across the motor via poorly grounded earth wiring.

Ethel I've been through the park circuit and can't seem to find an issue. Shame as I was hoping to find a problem. On the subject of the flasher switch, which is more important to me. The wiring diagram shows a purple wire going to the tab in the switch. when you pull the arm towards you it touches this pole and presumably should complete the circuit. The odd thing is that there is also a black wire soldered to the purple one. That would imply its an earth. But you can't have an earth connected to a live feed? The black wire isn't on any wiring diagram. But it does look completely original. I want to wire up some driving lights so I'm trying to sort out these little wiring problems. I'll send this and go and take a picture of the switch.

[Tonylamb]

I still reckon going through the park circuit, as I set out above, is the way to go. Start at the live on the motor connector (piccy 4 posts up) with a test lamp between a good earth and work your way round the loop to the low speed wire going in to the motor. Be sure to have the ignition key in the appropriate position!
 
The headlight poltergeist action could be anything from dropping the overall voltage and slowing the motor enough to not override or equalising potential across the motor via poorly grounded earth wiring.

Ethel I've been through the park circuit and can't seem to find an issue. Shame as I was hoping to find a problem. On the subject of the flasher switch, which is more important to me. The wiring diagram shows a purple wire going to the tab in the switch. when you pull the arm towards you it touches this pole and presumably should complete the circuit. The odd thing is that there is also a black wire soldered to the purple one. That would imply its an earth. But you can't have an earth connected to a live feed? The black wire isn't on any wiring diagram. But it does look completely original. I want to wire up some driving lights so I'm trying to sort out these little wiring problems. I'll send this and go and take a picture of the switch.

attached is a photo of the flasher switch. As you can see there is a purple and black ??? wire. You can see the post it attaches to with the yellow arrow. The green arrow shows the other side of the switch which is the high beam/dip switch. your thoughts as always much appreciated.

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[KTS]

by the look of it i'd assume that's non-standard - have you traced the black wire to see what the other end is connecting to ?

[Tonylamb]

by the look of it i'd assume that's non-standard - have you traced the black wire to see what the other end is connecting to ?

It looks like its original though which doesn't make sense. I'll try and trace the purple wire back to its source. Looking at the wiring diagram the purple should be live.

[KTS]

as far as i'm aware there are very few soldered connections used in a mini - almost all are crimp terminations (presumably as they're a lot quicker to do)

 

i'd also wonder what's hiding under the insulation tape and heat shrink sleeving in the foreground.  both look a bit suspect

 

the purple wire should be a fused permanent live supply from the fuse box, so you should have 12v to the connector at all times

[Tonylamb]

Right so we are pretty confident that the black wire shouldn't be there. I will run a wire from battery to the terminal and see if I get anything. thanks for the thoughts.

Tony

[Tonylamb]

[quote name="Tonylamb" post="3630622" timestamp="1579628922"]Right so we are pretty confident that the black wire shouldn't be there. I will run a wire from battery to the terminal and see if I get anything. thanks for the thoughts.

Tony

I wonder if someone wanted a seperate live feed so took it from this point.

[KTS]

[quote name="Tonylamb" post="3630622" timestamp="1579628922"]Right so we are pretty confident that the black wire shouldn't be there. I will run a wire from battery to the terminal and see if I get anything. thanks for the thoughts.

Tony

I wonder if someone wanted a seperate live feed so took it from this point.

 

if you trace the black wire back you may find out 

[Tonylamb]

God plan and that's what i did. I don't think the black wire is wrong its a bridge across to another part of the switch. It then powers the horn I believe. Anyway I have found the issue which is in the switch itself.

When the lights are on the lever pushes forward and back between dip and main beam. With the lights off you pull the lever back to flash the lights. In my case that doesn't work. Using the multimeter I was checking the power sources and levered the back part of the switch forward with the probe. The flash mechanism works. Its something to do with the lever action of the brass switch rather than the wiring of it. This is important because I want to use the flash mechanism on the fog lights on the front of the car.

i'm looking for a wiring diagram for the driving lights to come on with the lights on main beam off on dip and to flash. I'm thinking i use the feed to the lights themselves as currently switched to trigger relays for the driving lights.

Thanks for the help and thoughts.

[Tonylamb]

Interesting new issue the engine is making a sort of chuffing noise???? A bit like a steam engine piston. Its not constant and it doesn't rise and fall with the engine revs. At first I was worried that it was pressure coming from the engine breather and perhaps a blown head gasket. its a mystery. But all is running well otherwise. Any thoughts its a strange one.

[Tonylamb]

I bought a new dip/indicator switch which has sorted the dipping issue. Back to the indicator issue. the lights all work but they don't flash its the same problem with the hazards. So I changed the flasher unit on the hazards for a new one. No change. As i had to take the heater matrix out because its got a tiny leak that was the time to pull the hazard switch and replace it with a new one. I've read the switches are often the source of the issue. Changed the switch but no joy. So next step I changed the flasher unit in the dash which is for the indicators. Indicators now work and flash. But the hazards just light up the bulbs no flashing. I've read a few threads on this on the forums and have done the suggested. by the way the in line fuses are fine. Its the least serious problem as happily the indicators are now working fine. but any thoughts on the hazards appreciated.

[Tonylamb]

I've been driving the car a bit recently including a filming session. pictures on facebook and Insta. However whilst the handling is OK it feels heavy steering and a bit wooden at times. So I've tried to see what the geometry is up to. I have a camber gauge but its difficult to use on the mini. Normally I'd stick it to the disc. Not possible in this case so I made a camber gauge out of an old level. Interestingly i thought the car by eye had a positive camber. My gauge shows 2 deg positive drivers side and 2.5 ish passenger side. Not sure how that can be. The car is lowered but not much. front end is 6inches from bottom to ground both sides. Howevering I would have thought that lowering (hi lo's) in any way would make camber more negative. I'm right in thinking that the I should be running 1 or 1.5 degrees of negative camber???. I have adjustable tie rods but these are set at the length of the standard tie rods. I only put these on because the originals were bent to blazes. So I'm a bit mystified. Should I get fully adjustable lower arms or go with the 1.5 degree negative ones? out of interest what effect will positive camber have on handling? 1.5mm of toe out by the way. Any thoughts?
'

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