22 replies to this topic

[Dog]

Sorry for confusing things further...
But could it be the coil?

My Mini was spluttering all over the place once it was warm... change the coil... and then spot on after that

[Roxoff]

Thanks for all your help everyone. I really appreciate this.

I've just changed the temperature sensor, and that's made no difference to the temp gauge reading. It's probably the other end of the connection, after the dashboard gauge that is struggling, maybe the voltage regulator.

Anyway, while I was poking around the front of the engine with the shield out of the way, I noticed that there is a thin black pipe that should have lead out of the distributor, but the pipe was broken off where it meets the pancake thingy on the top of the dizzy. I thought that was suspicious, so I went to glue it back temporarily (I wont get a replacement till tomorrow at the earliest) and the other end of the pipe either wasn't connected, or pulled free while I was wiggling it. I dunno where that's supposed to go, I'd have thought it went to the carb, but it doesn't seem long enough to reach; and it looks like it's broken off too. Does anyone know where this pipe is supposed to plug into? I taped over where it's supposed to go into the dizzy, as I believe it has some vacuum effect.

So this is getting worse (but nothing major broken... yet.) I'm still going to flush the coolant out (that's my job for Sunday) if I can get a thermostat+gasket tomorrow I will, but if not, then it's a clean out without it.

[ashmeadant]

OK I'm just gonna make this quick, rather than start a new forum. My temp gauge doesnt go up any more than 1/4, even on a 30 mile journey. Does anyone know why this could be? Thankies

[Sprocket]

This is for the vacuum advance on the distributer. It should be connected to the carb at the point just before the manifold in one of two ways depending on whether a carbon canister is fitted or not. These are either direct to the distributer or to the vacuum stat on the thermostat housing through a T piece and then to the distributer, there will be another pipe off the vacuum stat that disapears into the nearside wing.

This may be the problem, but I would not be surprised if the ignition timing and fueling are out either. Set the timing to 6 degrees at 1500rpm with the vacuum pipe disconnected and blocked off, reconnect and set the idle speed to 850rpm, set the fueling using a colour tune, re set the idle speed. Adjust the fast idle speed to 1200rpm and ensure it operates the the richening at the correct point.

[Festerfly]

and change (or at least try another ..) the Coil while you are there..

Mine was doing this and the coil was faulty.. eventually packed up altogether and wouldent start...

[Roxoff]

Time for a quick update.

I gotta get a vacuum advance pipe, its easy enought to fit, but a trip to Motabits shows that they're not as common as they once were. Still it runs without it. I cant set up the timing and the carb until I got one, though, so its gonna have to wait. I found the other end of the connection, tho', and taped off both ends completely - both the distributor and the carb (there's no other connections, just straight through carb to distributor).

I'm about to go drain the coolant - it's still a bit warm, however, as a trip to the local motor factors has given it a run. I have got a new thrermostat+gasket, that was easy. I hope flushing with cold water while warm isn't going to cause any problems (but I'd not expect any with a cast-iron block). I also bought a couple of litres of battery water too - that's gotta be a lot better in the cooling system than even filtered tap water.

Wish me luck - that bloody bottom hose is a pig to get to.

[gsms]

Wish me luck - that bloody bottom hose is a pig to get to.

:nugget: Lets hope you have small hands!

Pour a bit of hot water on the end of the hose as your putting it back on, it'll slide on much easier. This piece of advice saved me a LOT of time when I changed the rad!

Guy.

[Roxoff]

Another update.

Well, I've done it. There was absolutely no way I was going to get that bottom hose off the radiator... I took the other end off the engine instead, and flushed both the radiator and the engine block through. This doesn't drain properly, because the lowest point is above the water line of the radiator, but at least it was full of clear cold water.

I lowered that pipe as much as I could, and refilled slowly. It took nearly 3 litres of coolant/distilled water at 50/50 mix. And now, the temp gauge works and the heater has gone from very warm to hot.

There was a lot of C**p came out the system, so I'm probably going to repeat in a couple of months