22 replies to this topic

[Elwyn]

Hello

 

1993 L reg SPI Cooper, Manual, RHD

 

The engine won't start

Battery is fully charged

Starter motor turns

Fuel is getting to the injector / throttle body

No bang

 

Background:

I've had the inlet manifold refurbished

I've had the engine out to change almost all gaskets

New water pump, radiator, fan belt, clutch plate, servo repair kit, new brakes all round etc etc

Lots and lots more than that (eg steering rack, engine mounts, steady bars, bushes, rear subframe etc etc....not things that help or prevent the engine from bursting into life)

 

Battery now re-charging

 

No leaks

A faint whiff of petrol in the engine bay

 

It last started about 6 months ago

It started first time

Instantly

As it always used to do

It used to be...turn the key, wallop and away

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Elwyn

 

 

 

 

 

[Elwyn]

I've checked spark plug gaps

They weren't perfect but neither were they miles off

Now adjusted to 0.8mm / 32 thou (hoping that's right)

 

The spark plug ends were damp and smelled of fuel

Clean

Not black

 

I've pressed the round black fuel cut off thing....top right of engine bay on the bulkhead...if that's right?

But as there was fuel at the spark plugs, it wasn't a lack of fuel, I think?

 

Feels like a lack of electricity spark?

 

I'm trying again shortly, but running rapidly out of things that my limited knowledge points me towards

 

HT leads to dis cap....which order / location should they be on the dis cap....just in case that's something simple that I've stupidly got wrong

Edited by Elwyn, 31 July 2021 - 06:24 PM.

[xrocketengineer]

Do you have any RPM readings while cranking?

Edited by xrocketengineer, 31 July 2021 - 06:42 PM.

[Elwyn]

I wasn't looking specifically, but don't think so

[xrocketengineer]

If the distributor is installed properly and you are not getting any RPM readings, it is possible that the crank position sensor is not connected properly or it has failed.

Edited by xrocketengineer, 31 July 2021 - 06:50 PM.

[Elwyn]

Is that 12 point guide for SPI's with the "not quite a distributor" distributor?

[Elwyn]

RPM readings if the engine doesn't start?

[xrocketengineer]

Is that 12 point guide for SPI's with the "not quite a distributor" distributor?

That is the SPI distributor installation instructions from the factory repair manual.

[xrocketengineer]

RPM readings if the engine doesn't start?

Usually, you see the tach needle bounce around while cranking. 

[Elwyn]

Not a thing on the Rev counter but I don’t think the Rev counter ever did move until the engine popped into life.
I’m going to do the tdc, distributor, rotor arm thing tomorrow
Thank you

[humph]

Make sure the big loom plug is properly pushed into the ecu socket and the little clip on the plug that retains it has clicked. Mine dropped out slightly when we hit a bump and that caused a lack of spark at the plugs.

[Elwyn]

Hello good people
An update
Ecu plug was fully in
Disconnected and reconnected it and a few other electrical connections
Took spark plugs out, cleaned, checked gaps again, refitted them
Took the dizzy cap off
The cap and rotor arm are virtually new
Compared the dizzy with info provided by Roger Carpenter
My dizzy wasn’t on / in right
Took the holding “arm” off, rotated the dizzy body anti-clockwise through c90 degrees
Put it back together.
Dizzy cap back on
HT leads all properly connected
When accessible, the rotor arm has a little wiggle / slack
There’s wiggle slack at the rotor arm to the spigot it pushes onto
And there’s wiggle slack at the point at which the furthest inward part of the dizzy shaft keys into the corresponding slot in the engine block
TDC lines up with the rotor arm at the required angle (roughly 2 o’clock)
Battery charged
Back in and connected

Keys in

Turn

Starter motor galloping

No bang
No firing
Nothing

Am I ruling things out or wasting my time

I can’t thank Roger enough
He’s sent me numerous emails setting things out for me throughout the day

Thanks all for all the helpful suggestions so far

Any more ideas?

Regards

Elwyn

[sonscar]

Not familiar with SPI but I would take the king lead out of the dissy and stick a plug in it and look for spark as you seem to have fuel.Steve..

Edited by sonscar, 02 August 2021 - 08:38 AM.

[Elwyn]

I've changed the HT leads

Just in case

No change

 

I took the king lead out of the dissy and connected a plug

Held it close to bare metal part of the engine

It sparked from spark plug to engine

 

I reconnected the king lead and tried all the other HT leads and spark plugs in the same way

 

Aside from getting the odd jolt myself, all plugs sparked from spark plug across to the bare metal engine part

 

All 4 spark plugs are again smelling of fuel

 

Seemingly not electrical?

 

Timing?

 

Valve clearances were all checked and set when I had the head off and replaced valves, springs and collets

 

Piston heads were gently cleaned as they were coked up

 

Any more suggestions?

 

Thanks Elwyn

Edited by Elwyn, 02 August 2021 - 06:41 PM.

[Elwyn]

Just tested the resistance across primary and secondary circuits on the coil

From another post on TMF, I read that the primary circuit should be 1 ohm and the secondary circuit between 7500 and 10,000 ohms

As below

Mini Spares describes their GCL143 coil as 0.9 ohms

 

My readings?

 

Primary : 1.3 ohms (Vs the target / correct 0.9 - 1 ohm)

Secondary : 7400 ohms (Vs the target / correct 7500 - 10,000 ohms)

 

I honestly don't know how accurate my multi meter is

It's very new but it wasn't expensive

 

To those of you who know things, is this likely to have any bearing at all on my predicament?

 

 

O.E Electronic Ignitions

 

These use a special coil on cars with the 65DM4 Distributor, and have a primary resistance of 0.89-1 ohms and is also tested in exactly the same way as the Non Ballasted and the Ballasted. It is important however to ensure the correct coil is fitted to the system as a incorrect model of coil with the wrong primary resistance will cause the electronic module to fail.

 

 

Resistance for the secondary winding will be very high, something like 7,500 to 10,000 ohms. Check that circuit resistance between the HT output and one of the primary input terminals.

 

O.E Electronic Ignition 89-on DLB198

This is the standard coil as used on the late Mini with factory electronic ignition. This was a Genuine Rover fitted part on 1275cc. GCL211 is the same equivalent as GCL143 but from Unipart. 1 ohmn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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