7 replies to this topic

[Bevan]

I just got my mini back from the garage, after undergoing a full front end rebuild, and sports pack conversion, im driving it home and the I happened to look at my tempreture gauge, which is reading full in the red. So I pull over and pop the hood, cant see no smoke and the fan is running. I got it home and replaced the thermostat with a new one, and put in fresh water/antifreeze. Only thing I can think of is some sort of tempreture sensor is faulty, does anyone have any idea of where this can be found?

Also, my poor little beast is eating through petrol like there is no tommorow, im getting about 50 miles to every £10 of petrol. Is this about right or should I be getting more, if so whats the best solution?

Many thanks in advance

[Mini_Magic]

I just got my mini back from the garage, after undergoing a full front end rebuild, and sports pack conversion,

Was anything changed mechanically?

Has the front end got plently of air going through it? (grille etc.)

Has it been converted to MPi or still SPi?

[Bevan]

No its still a SPI, no engine mods as im planning on dropping a new engine in the begening of next year. There is plenty of space for it to suck in air, which is why I thought it was a sticky thermostat, but there is a new on in there now.

[Mini_Magic]

Could try an ECU reset, turn on the igntion but don't start the engine. Then pump the throttle about 10 times, fire it up and that should reset the ECU. Not sure how much that will help to be honest.

[Jammy]

Moved to 'Injection Technical'.

[Sprocket]

The ECU sends the signal to the gauge on the dash. The sensors usualy fail low, never heard of them fail high.

Do you know that the engine is in fact not over heating? I sugest you measure the temperature of the engine with a thermometer. The white line on the dash is roughly 90 degrees, the electric fan comes on at 104 degrees, which is in the red, and switches off at 97 degrees.

Does the gauge read in the red even if the engine is cold, if so there is a short circuit in the wiring somewhere. This is a possability as you have had the front end replaced and cut about. If the sensor itself is faulty, these are about £18 new and is located on the underside of the inlet manifold. To replace it, its easier to take the rad out than take the manifold off.

The fueling issue could well be be a dirrect result of an incorrect temperature reading. It could also be any one of numerous other things, You should really have a diagnostic done on it otherwise you could be chasing the real fault for some time.

Sort the temperature issue out first.

[Bevan]

Cool, thanks for the info folks! I am going to try and tackel this problem tomorow. When I turn on the ignition, the temp gauge goes up high into the red, so I know that the engine isnt overheating, I stuck a thermometer in the rad coolent and it was reading about 84 degreese, that was after about 30 mins of the engine running idle, took it for a spin around the block and tested again, still around the same mark so I know for a fact that it isnt overheating.

[Sprocket]

Check the engine wiring loom for cuts and nicks. The temp sensor wiring will pass down the right side of the inlet manifold between the bulkhead and the manifold. It is protected with sleaving, which can be pushed back to expose the wires, i would have said that this would be the most likely place for the short to take place, if its not there, it might be near the ECU where the loom bends round to the connectors, there is little protection of the loom there, everywhere else is pretty well protected.

Oh and just a thought, if there has been welding on the car and the ECU was still connected, the sensor or the ECU input of the sensor may be shorted. Disconnect the sensor and see if the gauge stays low, if it doesnt, its either the input or the wire, disconnect the pins from the ECU connector and see if the gauge goes low, if it does the wiring is shorted, if it doesnt the ECU is fubar'd.