11 replies to this topic

[bella4017]

Hey guys! don't suppose you could help - When driving my mini for around 20 minutes, I brake when coming to a junction to slow down to stop, when i put the clutch in and come to a complete stop on a number of occasions the revs have dropped and the car has completely cut out, sometimes it will start back up straight away however sometimes it doesnt! HELP! Thanks :)

[RayBoogs]

Any other symptoms along with this? What are the exhaust emissions like, clear? white? black? How does the car dive other than this?

There are a few things that could cause this, well many, we'll need a bit more info :)

[minicooper1.3i]

Sounds like you've got the age old trouble of a break in the wire to the MAP sensor. As the top engine stead bushes wear the amount of engine rock increases and this puts strain on the loom, especially around the MAP sensor. Eventually, breaks appear in the wire so although you're motoring fine, when you pull up at a junction and drop the clutch, the engine rocks forward and the MAP sensor cuts out. Result = engine stall.

If you're handy with electrics you can by-pass the break with some new wires, or it might be worth just replacing the engine loom. It's not difficult to replace, just a case of threading all the connectors through the right areas.

Good luck!

[xrocketengineer]

I would check first that the vacuum pipes are in good codition as Sprocket says here:
http://www.theminifo...oint-injection/

[Darkscamp]

had this before and changed almost everything i could. last thing i tried was the coil and hey presto, trouble free driving again

[spiguy]

I would suspect the automatic idle control. While modern injection cars control idle with an air bypass, the SPi does it using a stepper motor, which drives a pin that actually pushes on the throttle lever. The solder joints to the motor in the housing can crack, resulting in loss of this control. Its happened to me twice - one time exactly as you describe, another time it failed while the pin was quite far out, so the revs 'stuck' at about 2000 rpm.

Easy enough to check - with the air filter housing removed, you can see the pin moving in and out - if you use your hand to rev the engine up and let go, you should see the pin come out to 'catch' the throttle lever as it returns.

If it is the stepper motor in your case, then you would probably find that your idle speed has dropped a bit in general - most noticeable at cold startup.

You can just remove the cover to get at the motor, and repair the connections, if this is what is wrong. Worth a check.

Cheers
Craig

[icklemini]

To add to the mix of advise here....

Crank sensor (+ connections + wiring)... usually fail when they get hot, as its a primary trigger for the injection system, a failure or fault will stop the engine... usually find it will have trouble to start again when warm... but will be fine when cold...

Note that the MAP sensor referenced in a post above, is internal to the ECU on the SPi so there is no wiring as there is no external MAP sensor... What there is though are a few vacuum pipes that connect the manifold to the map sensor in the ECU. A failure here (in my experience) doesnt cause the engine to stall, but makes it run very rich.

Stepper motor... this controls the idle, if someone has been playing with it and not set it up correctly then yes the car may well stall at idle... however, it will always start again without problem...

Edited by icklemini, 28 January 2012 - 10:53 AM.

[oscat]

When I bought my MPI it would cut out similarly to yours. I was thinking it could be dirty injectors so considered using Redex or similar, but I just started running it on BP petrol and after a couple of weeks, it never did it again. I figured it had most likely been run on low quality petrol.
I'm not saying that your mini has the same problem, but may be worth considering if you do not find any obvious faults.

[Ethel]

Having a look at the wiring and connectors (also the vacuum pipes, air filter etc) is always worth a go. It will help to give the year, or if it's SPI or MPI, for more specific advice.

[Rajan82Matharu]

Hi there I'm having the same problem and wanted to know if the pin that catches the throttle lever doesn't catch it anymore, how could I fix this?

[FlyingScot]

Don't assume same problem, best to creste a new post (this one over 4 years old) and a pic would help

FS

[Alpenflitzer]

What kind of vac pipes? The original - even if new - generate cracks in the angle pieces (black) or you have stuck them to far on the nipples. Then they are closed. Change to silicon pipes which you can stick on the nipples directly.

Did you ever control you lambda sensor, the coolant temperatur sensor, fuel filter??

Years ago I had similar experience and the in-line fuses were completely corroded. They sit behind the front panel.

Edited by Alpenflitzer, 27 November 2016 - 11:18 AM.