7 replies to this topic

[todds200]

My mini 1000cc 1983 has been laided up over xmas so decided to give her a run out this afternoon,went for about 2 miles and all engine power was lost and sounded like he was misfiring,pulled over to see if a plug lead had came off but all seemed fine,turned around and she limped home.
i decided to have a closer look and pulled of the plug leads 1 buy 1.she is only running on 2 cylinders but the other 2 are sparking but to me only look week
checked the coil with a replacement but that was ok,checked the condencer with another 1 and that was ok.had a look at the point jap and that seems fine.9 (points haven't been changed for 12 months)
Checked the plug leads with a spares i had and all seem fine.I changed the distributor cap and rota arm last feb but i was unable to find the old ones to try.
Removed the rocker cover to see if the valves were opening and closing but seem ok.
The distributor is tight and does not seem to have moved.

seems strange that 2 are misfiring(2 far right when looking at engine)

Any suggestions on this. going to order new points,condenser,distributor cap and rotor arm.

The mini has always been stored in the garage but has been very frosty over the last couple of weeks

regards

Todds

[JD8891]

Sounds like damp may have got in, mine can miss fire after alot of rain and not been used for a few days but tends to fix its self as it warms up, maybe try spraying something on to dispel the water from the electrics.

[taffy1967]

No don't go spraying WD40 as this will just cause more problems in the long run and you won't be getting to the route of the problem.

Has your Mini got it's original ignition weather shield fitted? If not, get one fitted now.

Replacing all the electrics is a good start, but you might want to check that the head gasket hasn't blown.

Is there oil in your water (has the radiator level dropped) and is the dip stick oil looking creamy at all?

[liirge]

Do a compression check, it sounds like a Head gasket are the non firing cylinders next to one another?

[todds200]

I have checked the oil and water level and they seem fine,no creamy residue on the dip stick,but when i took the rocker cover off,there was creamy residue in there but not much,the 2 cylinders that are misfiring are next 2 each other.

dont think this is damp.

regards

todds2

[Dan]

If the head gasket has failed between two cylinders the only evidence will be that those two cylinders will loose compression and stop running. Sometimes it will blow charge back out of the carb also but that's all, you get no loss of coolant and no loss of oil or build up of emulsion. A little emulsion under the oil filler in an engine that's been sat idle in the cold for weeks and then taken on a short sprint is perfectly normal.

[todds200]

Thinking about this it does seem like head gasket because every thing else seems ok.

where the best place to order from and has a quick service.

regards

Ian

[L400RAS]

where the best place to order from and has a quick service.

www.minispares.com or try your local Rover / MG parts dealer, if you have one. The last time i needed one quick they had one on the shelf, genuine part, (£12.61 for a 1275, yours will be different for the 1000)

I would recommend not to scrimp on such a gasket - use "Payen "or copper gasket.

HTH
Ryan.

Edited by L400RAS, 03 January 2009 - 05:40 PM.