8 replies to this topic

[Ellie 756]

Hi all,

Can anyone reccommend a mini friendly garage in the Bath / Bristol area?

It's an SPI engine, so where ever I take it needs to have the ability to deal with this.

Thanks

[Jeff R]

What's wrong with it?

[Ellie 756]

What's wrong with it?

Ever since getting the car it has idled slightly fast, but that's not the main problem.

We hit a rather large bump in the M4 on Sat night and something on the underside hit the road. Following this the engine lost power. Pulled over and had a quick look under the car, but couldn't see anything obviously damaged so decided to start it back up and continue. It idles as normal, but would struggle under load and feel as though it was misfiring.

It seemed to slowly improve along the journey, but still wasn't quite right.

Since then I have cleaned and re-gapped the pugs as they were very black and on the return journey it seemed better although we didn't push it. The fuel consumption seemed quite high though.

I am confident with carb'd engines (specifically vw ones), but less so with injection.

My current though is that the jolt dislodged some dirt from the fuel tank that is now slowly working its way out of the fuel system. I haven't checked the filter yet or re-checked the plugs. I'm also going to take a good look at the underside when I've got time.

Basically just wanted someone who is knowlegable to take a quick look.

This is Ellie's boyfriend writing by the way,

Cheers

[bobs]

After we rebuilt mother's SPI Cooper we took it to be checked over by;

The Injection Centre
The Stonehill Centre,
Units 2, 5 & 6 The Coachworks
BRISTOL
BS30 9DH
Tel: 0117 244 7899

Not Mini specialists, but have the right kit and a good knowledge, did help get it running just right and checked all over the engine, can give them a call.

I know of one Mini specialist near Bath, but they're not confident with SPI cars so wouldn't recommend.

[Jeff R]

I did have a code reader, but unfortunately I sold it!

I wonder if you've damaged one of the vac pipes that goes from the ECU to the back of the manifold. If one of these comes adrift it will run ultra rich and use tons of fuel.

[Ellie 756]

I did have a code reader, but unfortunately I sold it!

I wonder if you've damaged one of the vac pipes that goes from the ECU to the back of the manifold. If one of these comes adrift it will run ultra rich and use tons of fuel.

Ok, I'll have a good check over those.

From the little I know, I know that if any sensor is damaged/disconected it runs on a default setting so I assume that could also lead to rich running.

Thanks for the help so far.

[Ellie 756]

After we rebuilt mother's SPI Cooper we took it to be checked over by;

The Injection Centre
The Stonehill Centre,
Units 2, 5 & 6 The Coachworks
BRISTOL
BS30 9DH
Tel: 0117 244 7899

Not Mini specialists, but have the right kit and a good knowledge, did help get it running just right and checked all over the engine, can give them a call.

I know of one Mini specialist near Bath, but they're not confident with SPI cars so wouldn't recommend.

Ok, thanks. I'll give them a try if I can't get it sorted.

[minidaves]

proberly the vac pipes to the ecu are damaged, easy fix just pop off air filter and they are behind the inlet manifold. they perish and fail all the time

dave

[CMcB]

As for garages, if you still need one - specifically Mini specialists - the best known one in the area is Somerford Mini, just off Junction 17 of the M4 - LINK