8 replies to this topic

[minidug]

Hi everyone,

So this is what happened to me today. I was on my way home from a visit to MiniSports and at a set of lights on the dual carriage way i put the car into Drive and try to pull away. It stalled on me. I ended up being helped by the police to push him off to a safer place and have a look.

Im relatively new to the Mini so wasn't really sure what i was looking for to start with. I let it cool down for a while and tried again. This time it went into gear and started to pull forward but as soon as i pressed on the gas it would just conk out !

I managed to get a tow home and start to investigate. What ive found on forums etc is that people with the same problem as mine seem to sort to problem out but replacing the Vacuum Advance Distributor pipe.
Now ive looked and looked and searched my engine and i just cant seem to find one. I mean there must be one somewhere. Or is it possible that i don't have one ?
Well any help would be most appreciated and any other thoughts on what else my have caused the problem let me know.
Cheers,
Neal .

[station31]

possible timming issue would be my guess mine used to do that, does it have points or electric ignigtion?

[SA MINI]

Yes as above or the idle could be too low & there for cant take it when a gear is selected.
The Vaccume advance pipe should be from the distributor to the front of the carb. Depending on model. The Vaccume advance is in the distributor usually

[ShoutforJoy]

As well as checking the vacuum advance it's worth checking the oil level as this can cause problems like this. I notice that you're new to Minis, so I have copied the instructions for checking the oil level on an automatic - it's not as straightforward as you would imagine.

The correct method to check the oil level in your Classic Mini Automatic is as follows:
1) Park on a flat and level surface.
2) Apply park (hand) brake and park if you have a later 1275 model.
3) Start and warm up the engine.
4) Once warm turn off and wait for 60 seconds, the time is important, i use a stop watch, but the second hand on your watch will do.
5) Now fit the dipstick and retract dipstick to take a reading.
6) Holding the dipstick with the handle slightly higher than the reading area, take a reading.
7) You should aim for it to be at the "Max" point on the dipstick.
8) The difference between the "min" and "max" points is approximately 1 pint (0.6 litre)
9) If you have too much oil you must let some out.
It is important that you follow the above to the letter otherwise you will get incorrect readings from time to time.

There is no transmission fluid in Mini automatics - they share the engine oil and need regular oil and filter changes to keep the transmission in tip top condition and reduce wear. The recommended interval is every 2-3,000 miles or 6 months (whichever comes first). The oil that you use is important too. Most people recommend a mineral oil of 20w50 grade. The auto transmission expert that just rebuilt my transmission recommends 10w40 for newer cars like yours.

If these don't solve the problem come back to us.

[Guess-Works.com]

Being a 1996, would it not be a single point injection engine rather than carbed ?

IMO, it points firmly at lack of oil or worse torque convertor .

[bmcecosse]

Unless the engine is desperately down on power.... is it idling smoothly enough? Does it rev up nicely when not in gear?

[minidug]

So ive solved the problem. It was the Vac pipe that was connected from the ECU to the MAP senor. It was sitting on the back of the manifold and burnt through. Just replaced pipe and runs normal whoooooo.

[bmcecosse]

Great success!

[minidug]

So here is a photo of what happened.

Thanks a lot to everyone for your suggestions.

Neal .