3 replies to this topic

[Leekr89]

have had a problem with one of my minis thats been bugging me for a long time,

 

its on a 1994 1275 cooper si, basically it started when i removed the engine to replace the clutch and 'whilst i was there' i ended up replacing most of the easily accessible components including the head gasket (and a piston crown and block face clean) and the valve stem oil seals (all 8)

 

but not the oil pump as i thought pressure was still good, fitted engine and all was well with good oil pressure 60ish psi cold 40psi idle when warm, no smoke etc but ran abit hesitant, part of the problem turned out to be the fuel filter, the rest is because its an spi... so once partly cured i drove it abit hard, found once idling after the drive that the idle pressure had dropped to 25 psi, being the fool i am i hadnt long changed the oil before doing the headgasket and i 'thought' it will be alright for abit.. how very wrong i was,

 

so i changed the oil and filter straight away, same grade of oil that was in there before 20w50, but after a journey to mini in the park last year it dropped down to 15psi..  after getting worried about it i thought of anything else i could do, so i thought to change the oil pressure relief valve and spring, which did seem to bring it back alot, cold start idle was at 80psi but did drop to around 25-30 when warm which i thought was a large drop! and noticed after a while when starting or if i revved it when cold it used to blow abit of blue smoke out, but when warm it was more of an oily smell rather than anything else, if i hold the revs steady at around 4k it doesnt blow any smoke out at all and emissions are extremely low (found out trying to run the engine slightly lean using a metro 1.1 ecu) only tried this idea thinking if it was the piston rings emissions would be higher if it was burning oil!

 

im now wanting to sell the car at some point soon but not with the engine issues im having as im looking for a good amount of money for the car, i wouldnt want to sell it with any issues at all

 

hoping some of you guys could shed some light on this as im wondering whether to buid up a new short engine for it or not, originally when replacing the valve stem oil seals they were abit of a nightmare to fit as the springs on the top kept popping off or the whole seal! (cheap ones?) which would count for my smoking problem its just the fluctation of the oil pressure which concerns me, thanks in advance :)

[sledgehammer]

This is all a guess -

 

I would check the new oil relief valve isn't sticking - the bore could be a bit scored , holding the plunger open

 

or it isn't seating correctly

 

also (less likely) possibly the gauge faulty - or oil condition / grade

 

as for the smoke on start up - expect it on a worn engine

 

a rich mix on start up will give a bit of smoke - due to the extra fuel washing oil off cyl wall

 

but also check vents & pipes - you could be getting a bit of crank case pressure build up - due to pipes restricted

 

have you looked to see if the valve stem seals have ridden up off the stem ? - that would give smoke

 

nice to see someone concerned with passing on problems to a future owner

Edited by sledgehammer, 05 June 2013 - 09:06 PM.

[Guess-Works.com]

I think the crux of the problem, is selling for a good sum of money.... You wont get a good sum of money for a "smokey Joe"

 

How many miles has the engine done...

 

Smoke on startup is usually due to worn valve guides, new valve stem seals will hide the problem for a while, but these will soon wear and oil will pass them.

 

As it's an Injection, then it'll be fitted with a Cat, so your emissions should be very low. If it's not fitted with a cat, then put one back on as you don't want to be passing on a car which will immediately fail an MOT.

[Leekr89]

The cataylst is fitted back on so there is no problem there :) the engine has covered about 50k miles, ever since i have had it at 47k it has always sounded a little 'rattly' even after fettling the tappets and changing the timing chain and tensioner, dont get any noise from the drop gears or gearbox either, had abit of a look at the engine earlier, all the stem seals are still seated but have noticed the crowns of the pistons were abit oily maybe more on cylinders 1 and 2, and also cylinders 1 and 2 spark plugs also were abit oily, but cylinders 3 and 4 were a nice light brown colour, previous engine run was probably only around a minute so dont know whether its giving me any false readings or not, most likely i will end up pullng the engine out of it but was hoping for an 'easier' fix   i havent finished putting the new subframe in the back of it yet!