5 replies to this topic

[Grodecki]

Hi all.

92 SPi Cooper.

Over the past few days the engine has become noticably louder, sorta like a hole in the exhaust but the noise is from the front and it's just sluggish. I struggle to get to 70 and foot to the floor I'm not going past that.... whereas before it would happily go sailing on upward. It seems alright up until about 2500rpm then it just feels slow. Idle has also become a bit erratic sometimes going as high as 1500rpm

I've not had a chance to look at things under the bonnet other than oil and water yet, and they are both fine.

First idea was vacuum leads... is this a posibility? I will check them tommorrow night but I want to know if there is anything else I should be having a looksee at.

Cheers all.

[mickyh]

Just rebuilt spi, new clutch, gearbox, drop down gears etc, engine was fine before hand and now it is exactly like you describe!

Noise is unbearable, I am hoping its the manifold not back quite right, suggesting an air leak making in louder and sucking too much air in. Then it could be the vacuum leads then have a habit of making it louder if broken and poor performance; or then head gasket?

Lots to go for!!

Will keep you informed.

[Rented]

Only a possibility here and worth checking ....

a common problem is on minis with the original exhaust system is where the manifold connects to the down pipe that 1 or more of the 3 studs is broken causing it to blow at that joint resulting in loss of power and a higher idle sometimes ( With the lambada sensor right at that joint it can cause havoc sometimes ! )

Normaly the cheapest way to solve if any of the studs are broken is to remove the top part of the manifold , grind flush the broken stud and drop / tap a new stud in as the top part of the manifold is something ridiculous like £110 for a new one !!!

If you look at the picture here : http://www.minispare...00/LKC10090.jpg you will see the 3 studs that connect to the downpipe .

Worth a check and see anyways

Edited by Rented, 11 October 2009 - 11:12 AM.

[aburnet8]

Did any of you guys get this sorted?

Ive got exactly the same problem with my 99 MPI. The engine just has no power under load, struggled to even get it on a set of ramps, and has the same loudness.

Alex

[aburnet8]

I'm still struggling with this.

So far ive changed the head gasket, borrowed a compression tester and that showed low compression so i changed the gasket, but still had the same problem after (turns out the compression tester was duff)

Following the gasket change, i got it running, bled the coolant system but it still had nothing under any load, or if you blipped the throttle fast enough it would cut out. When it was up to temperature it then wouldn't restart.

Ive also changed -
HT Leads
Spark Plugs
Crank Sensor
Cam Sensor
Checked Valve clearances
Checked earths & Major sensor wiring back to ecu

The car now won't start, it tries to but is flooded straight away.

Is there anyone local to coventry that has a diagnostic tool to give it a once over

Any Ideas?

[rasputin22]

If you can start the car, let it warm up to running temperature but then once switched off can't restart it, it is a very good sign that the coolant temperature sensor is kaput.

Basically this acts like a choke and if you add choke to a hot engine then you can flood it and it wont start. To test it you will need to get hold of a multimeter, connect it across the sensor in the resistance setting and it should be around 2-3000 Ohms. These are a seperate sensor to that of the temperature gauge.

I have heard they are a bit of a pig on MPI's and are located on the manifold somewhere. Do a search and you should find a similar topic.

Edited by rasputin22, 20 December 2009 - 06:56 PM.