22 replies to this topic

[dklawson]

Does your engine have electronic ignition or points?

[masserator]

It has points

[dklawson]

Since it has points, regardless of how fuel related this problem may seem to be, start by checking and setting all the ignition bits first. Check the condition of the dizzy cap and rotor looking for cracks and carbon tracking. Look at the plug wires for craked insulation. Replace anything that is suspect. Clean/dress the points (or replace with new) and fit a new condenser. Set the points gap to 0.012". Refit the cap and bring the engine to temperature. Check the ignition timing with a light to confirm the timing is where it should be.

Once all the ignition components are known to be good and once the ignition settings are correct you can move on to car adjustments.

On their own, carb adjustments take a while to "go out". It's not very common for carbs to be in tune one day and suddenly be out of whack the next. Ignition components, particularly points, can wear quickly or fail and be OK one day and need attention the next.

[taffy1967]

It has points

Eh? An original 1275cc engined 1993 Mini should have electronic ignition, like all Minis of that era.

The last Minis to have points were the 1992 998cc engined Mini City and Mini Mayfair. Electronic ignition was introduced to all Mini models when the 1275cc engine was used across the board.

The Rover Mini Cooper models had electronic ignition from 1990.

[dannyg2325]

had aproblem like this a few months back.

air intake pipe had broke and leet dirt into the carb, trapped at the bottom of the needle iirc, but had bent the needle.
this caused the same thing to happen.
worth screwing of the dash pot an checking if anything looks out of place?

hope this helps.
dan

[alicetheauto]

Check that the vacuum pipe is on the carb to the distributer. Then, ever had a try timing a mini? It could be the ignition is slightly out of time. To do this, you are supposed to use a strobe light BUT you can see if this is the problem by-
warm up the engine, then rotate the distributor VERY slightly. Try not to touch the leads on it though, as they are 40,000volts. I tend to rotate it with a plastic handled screwdriver,as I am a wimp. See if, by turning the dizzy a few degrees either way the revs change. BUT, mark where it is now, in case this is NOT the problem. You then have the original setting to return it to.
Has itg got any WORSE with time (weeks) or is it the same?

[masserator]

have now fixed the probem:) thanks all for the help
in the end it was the air filter was too cloged and so no air was getting in in (doh!)
now cleaned the filter and adjusted the points slightly and all is well again:)

my mini is a K reg (says 1993 on v5), is there anywhere online to check if it should be electronic ignition?

[taffy1967]

have now fixed the probem:) thanks all for the help
in the end it was the air filter was too cloged and so no air was getting in in (doh!)
now cleaned the filter and adjusted the points slightly and all is well again:)

my mini is a K reg (says 1993 on v5), is there anywhere online to check if it should be electronic ignition?

Put your engine number into this as it will tell you what you should have: -

http://www.guess-wor...ical/engine.htm

If your Mini is a 998cc it will have points, but if it's a post 1992 1275cc engined Mini (as standard), then it would have come with electronic ignition.