8 replies to this topic

[richcrosse]

Morning all

 

Tried to start the mini this morning (to take it to the MOT centre ironically) and it just wouldn't fire.

 

The engine is a 1275, bored to 1380, running a twin carb setup.

 

It ran fine on Saturday when I moved it round on the driveway ready to take out this morning and it ran absolutely fine.

 

But now this morning, it turns over, but nothing - tried it with choke in/out and accelerator etc. Also put a battery pack on it to make sure it had plenty of crank power. Checked fuses and terminals on fuse box, alternator and coil - can't see anything obvious. I can feel the coil is getting warm so its definitely getting power. It hasn't been touched since it ran without any issue on Saturday evening, so I've no reason to suspect anything significant has changed.

 

The closest it came to firing was for about 2 seconds, but after it stopped, there was a large puff of white smoke from the air filters. It did this twice - the first time I put down to me possibly flooding it but after the second occurrence, I decided to stop and seek advice from you lot! Did a quick search but couldn't find any topics which directly related and I've already checked (what I think are) the obvious things. Not sure whether I should be concerned about the puff of smoke, or what to check next?

 

Any help / advice greatly appreciated!

[richcrosse]

Update - It had rained a lot last night and because I'd left it out ready for going down to the MOT this morning the engine bay was quite damp it places, so I used a shop blower to blow the moisture out of the engine bay and off all the electrical components and then left it for half hour or so with the bonnet off (as its a carbon fibre bonnet with pins/straps holding it on) to let it dry out. Came back to it and turned the key, she fired straight up....

 

Whilst this is obviously a good thing, I'm curious if anyone can suggest what might have got damp enough to have stopped the car from starting? or, are the two things unrelated and this was just coincidence, in which case what could cause an intermittent starting issue as described above? 

[KTS]

from what you've described i'd be looking at the condition of the HT leads and what they're connected to 

[andyapanel]

If you get it firing in the dark, you can quickly see the sparks flying.

Keep your hands clear, though.

[Designer]

A fault I had like that was the connector for the black low voltage wire on the side of the the dizzy where it connects to the loom was not making proper contact. Replaced it and no further problem.

It could be that when drying out with the blower it was moved enough by the air blast to establish a proper contact.

[sonscar]

Distributor cap wet probably inside it,and or top of coil wet,Steve..

[richcrosse]

Thanks all - I'll check the leads, dizzy and terminals when I get the car back. I did pull the leads off and have a look this morning when trying to get it started, I didn't notice any obvious corrosion etc, but may just change them over to a spare set to be safe.

 

On a positive note, the garage just called to say its passed the MOT and they've had no issues starting it etc, so whatever the issue, it doesn't seem to be reoccurring at the moment... which actually is my least favourite type of issue, I'd much rather know what it is but hey ho...

[tarnofsky]

Can't remember who said this a long long time ago but it still is true and has saved me a lot of time and hassle over the years:

Whenever a Mini has any electrical issues, go and change the fuse box. They're cheap and changing is a 5 minutes job. Disconnect from old, connect to new in your hand one terminal after the other - this way you can't mistake any cables - then unscrew the two screws holding the old box, discard it, put the new one in place and put the screws back in. Done.

These boxes corrode from below where you can't see the corrosion. Expecially when your car is out in the damp and even more so if you don't have all the seals around the bonnet - which I assume you don't as it's a fibre glass bonnet - and moisture gets into the engine compartment while driving in the wet.

Just recently we cured a Mini that failed to start at irregular intervals mysteriously. Symptoms were pretty similar to what you describe...

[coopertaz]

Can't remember who said this a long long time ago but it still is true and has saved me a lot of time and hassle over the years:

Whenever a Mini has any electrical issues, go and change the fuse box. They're cheap and changing is a 5 minutes job. Disconnect from old, connect to new in your hand one terminal after the other - this way you can't mistake any cables - then unscrew the two screws holding the old box, discard it, put the new one in place and put the screws back in. Done.

These boxes corrode from below where you can't see the corrosion. Expecially when your car is out in the damp and even more so if you don't have all the seals around the bonnet - which I assume you don't as it's a fibre glass bonnet - and moisture gets into the engine compartment while driving in the wet.

Just recently we cured a Mini that failed to start at irregular intervals mysteriously. Symptoms were pretty similar to what you describe...

this and the stupid inline fuses are a good starting point for weird intermittant electrical faults. if you apply petroleum jelly to rear of fuse box and terminals in inline fuseholders, aswell as bullet connectors under front slam panel you can save alot of grief