60 replies to this topic

[OJM]

This is the first Mini we've owned, and the first engine I've started to tinker with, so I apologise for my ignorance and lack of knowledge on engine workings etc...

The Mini is a Cooper Monte Carlo 1.3i (I assume an SPI).

We've having a couple of problems, but not sure if they're related or not. As such, I'll try and explain what's been happening since picking the car up on Saturday (3rd May)...

As a note, we know the car has a hole in the exhaust, somewhere...


We picked up the car on Saturday (nice sunny, hot day), and drove about 5 miles to fill up with fuel. Once full, we drove from Stoke-On-Trent to Loughborough (about 55 miles), down the A50 at 70mph. Everything was great, and we arrived in Loughborough!

At home, we couldn't not go out for a drive, so we pottered around in the car, and stopped off to show my bro and sis, and visit a local show. All stop starts, and no issues whatsoever!

On Sunday we drove from Loughborough to Walsall (about 50 miles), again at 70mph, with no problems. Coming off the A50, we drove past Tamworth towards the Walsall area. We went round the usual couple of roundabouts without problems, but the last roundabout we got to, the car died as we pulled away - I restarted the car, and it started first time with no spluttering etc!

Later on, we took a trip out to Kings Bromley (at this point it was a bit wet, but not raining), where the car again died when coming to stop at a roundabout - I noticed that the car seemed to cut out as I dipped the clutch to change down. It doesn't slowly die, it just goes completely without warning or spluttering etc, and isn't a user issue...! We drove back from Kings Bromley to Walsall, and it died a couple of times again.

In Walsall, we decided to change the K&N cone that the original owner had installed (without any cold air feed), to the standard air box (brand new filter inside), and attached the sensor etc.

We left Walsall to visit relatives in Edgbaston (approx. 17 miles) without any issues with the car (as far as I remember - at this point though, I was giving it a little more revs before coming to a slow / stop at roundabouts) - after the first 0.5 miles, we filled up with petrol.

When leaving Edgbaston to return to Loughborough, pulling off the drive the car had severe spluttering issues, which carried on all the way down the round, but I managed to "drive out of it", then it was fine.

Monday morning (weather nice and warm), I picked up some oil from Halfords (plan to do an oil change), filled up with fuel and added Wynns Fuel Injector Cleaner. We then drove to my parents (5 miles), without problems, and took my uncle for a spin whilst we were there - no problems!

Whilst I was there, we tried to locate a problem with the 4 front spots - none of them are working. We managed to get the two middle ones on (by doing nothing but check fuses and poking around), but the outer two aren't coming on at all. Then the middle two stopped working, so looks like a dodgy connection. Anyway, I also used Wynn's Intake Cleaner to clean the intake and throttle linkage etc, and gave it a bit of a spray whilst reving the intake open - it spluttered a bit, but carried on, and I left it running for a minute or so.

When setting off this evening, at about 19:30, the car again spluttered all the way down the round. Once at the bottom of the hill, I had to slow right down, and spluttered it out of the junction, only for it to die after about 5 metres - also found the indicators weren't working, so I must have knocked something...dipped lights etc are fine. At this point, I think the engine had become flooded - I had to plant my foot to the floor, whilst starting the engine, which made it burst into life after a couple of turns of the starter motor - lovely black smoke kicked out of the back, but assumed this was from the intake cleaner.

The car is now tucked up in my parents garage - drove fine when I turned it round and back up the road.

Tomorrow I plan to give it an oil change in the evening, and also locate a hole we have in the front of the exhaust - the black smoke above helped me locate where it was!


So, if anyone has any ideas on what's going on, and what to check for etc, that would be great! Like I said, I don't know much when it comes to working on engines, but hope to start here, and get my hands dirty big time!


Also, if anyone knows of any Mini enthusiast or specialist garage in the Loughborough area, that would be great - we'd like someone to give it a once over (mostly because of this problem), but also would be nice to have an expert at hand to assist

Thanks in advance to all who can help!

Cheers!

Edited by OJM, 05 May 2008 - 09:05 PM.

[Dylan8660]

Well first off welcome to the unpredictable world of minis! It would seem that you have various electrical problems and it would do no harm working through all connections and refreshing them with particular attention to the earth straps on the engine and battery to boot. I would of thought that it sounds like a fuel problem and it may be worth investigating the pump. You don't mention the sparkplugs or HT leads and as you've just got it it will be worth changing these as a matter of course. Otherwise you sound as if you've got a good handle on what you can expect, it will just take a little time and methodical process to get it perfect. Is it a 94 or 96 Monte?
Good luck.

[OJM]

Cheers Dylan! It's a 94 Monte.

This evening, before reading your post, I went ahead with the oil change - took it out for a little spin to warm it up, however starting off was a bit of an issue...spluttering for about 2-3 mins all the way down the road, then suddenly all fine again!

Changed the oil and oil filter (flushed with Wynn's Engine Flush), cleaned the spark plug ends and adjusted the measurements to 0.8mm. Also patched up the exhaust hole to keep me going for a bit, and to see if it solves the spluttering - thought it might be down to lack of back pressure etc (!? I might be talking rubbish).

Went to start it up, and it won't fire. However, after a couple of goes it fired for a second, then went back to just turning the starter motor (I think) etc. Once again, it's tucked up in the garage - charging the battery to top it up just in case.

Going to take it to the local garage tomorrow, to get them to give it a once over - was taking it down anyway, so what better time for them to have a look...

One thing I have noticed is there's a mechanical linkage to the right of the throttle linkage, and it's very very stiff - can hardly move it, even after WD40 etc. It looks like it's only set to move about 1cm, as it has a metal "guard" which looks like it only lets it move so much. Any ideas what I'm talking about, and whether this needs to move freely?

Edited by OJM, 06 May 2008 - 09:39 PM.

[OJM]

Argh, not sure if I have the right spark gap now! I read 0.8mm the other day, now I'm reading 0.025 thou (?) - could someone confirm what the gap for a 94 Cooper 1.3i is please?

[tinker1981]

Argh, not sure if I have the right spark gap now! I read 0.8mm the other day, now I'm reading 0.025 thou (?) - could someone confirm what the gap for a 94 Cooper 1.3i is please?

Hi there, i'm new on here but have been building minis for 12 years and know quite alot about spi's.Firstly check the little black pipe from the map sensor to the ecu. I currently have a cooper 1.3i and the situation your in ive had 3 times and twice its been that the pipe is blocked. Also the 3rd time was a blocked injector, if you can get the little beast to run rev it as high as ya can(dont worry the ecu has a rev limiter built in)and hopefully it will blow out, this was the cause and remedy of my third time. Plus do check the engine earth strap and all ignition connections. For your lights chech the bulbs and fuses. Do a continuity test with a volt meter and also a voltage test on the circuit. hope this helps

[tinker1981]

Argh, not sure if I have the right spark gap now! I read 0.8mm the other day, now I'm reading 0.025 thou (?) - could someone confirm what the gap for a 94 Cooper 1.3i is please?

Hi there, i'm new on here but have been building minis for 12 years and know quite alot about spi's.Firstly check the little black pipe from the map sensor to the ecu. I currently have a cooper 1.3i and the situation your in ive had 3 times and twice its been that the pipe is blocked. Also the 3rd time was a blocked injector, if you can get the little beast to run rev it as high as ya can(dont worry the ecu has a rev limiter built in)and hopefully it will blow out, this was the cause and remedy of my third time. Plus do check the engine earth strap and all ignition connections. For your lights chech the bulbs and fuses. Do a continuity test with a volt meter and also a voltage test on the circuit. hope this helps

And the gap is 0.8 for your spark plugs and check your tappet clearences

[OJM]

Thanks tinker!

Could you point me in the direction of the map sensor and ecu please? I'm waiting on a Haynes manual, so will be able to locate things a bit better once I get that...

Is it possible it could be the intertia switch? Read on other topics that it's possible that's kicked in and stopping fuel etc. Suppose one way to find out is to remove the air filter to see the injector firing or not? (which I assume is the injector...).

As I said, I know very little when it comes to engines, but I'm hoping to start learning by fixing Monty!

[OJM]

Well, touch wood, I've sorted the problem! The issue was down to a bad / lose connection at the fusebox! Cleaned all the other fuse contacts whilst I was at it, and not once has it had a problem since (famous last words...). Also found that an indicator that we were having, was down to dirty fuse contacts.

Unfortunately, it's still running quite rich, and a lot of dirt is coming out of the exhaust (all over my parents drive, car and garage). When I put my hand near the end of the exhaust, it's also kicking out splatters of what seems like petrol. I've recently patched up a hole in the exhaust (where the flexible knuckle is), just to tie me over, so will the ECU sort itself out in time, and sort out the fuel to air mxture? If not, what steps would be best to take?

Cheers all!

[tinker1981]

Ok dude, sorry for the length of time to reply, car running rich and C**p out the exhaust leads me to think a few things, do you have a poor idle, if so the ecu will be trying to counteract idea number 2. mine was doing exactly the same thing and after getting really *Drunk or yellow human water* off with all these so called visual checks i stripped the top of the engine. This led me to the cause, it was the valve stem seals. Thankfully i can do all work on my car so paying someone is never an option. If you do have to pay then its quite a complex job for someone who has never done it and if your not happy with following haynes. Thirdly it cold be an air leak, get the engine running and place a little piece of tissue near all the manifold contacts and it should nt move, or do a sound check, just put your ear near the manifolds and listen for leaks. Lastly and this is a long shot, check ya tappets are set right, everyone sets the tappets all the same and for yours its .12thou. For me thats *man danglies* their not set the same, cant remember of top of ma head so i wont guess but ill find out in my notes if you want the correct settings. These are only my thoughts through my experiences(lots) but i hope they help

Edited by tinker1981, 20 May 2008 - 11:13 PM.

[tinker1981]

Map sensor is the little black box on the left(looking straight at mini)of the inlet manifold, about the same size as a box of matches. it will have 2 hoses connected to it, one goes to the ecu(silver looking flat box on the left) and the other to the back of the inlet manifold. Check these arnt split and replace if necessary. Dont just look take them off and check. You'll be suprised what problems are caused to the running when these are nackerd. Last and not least i bet. make sure your air filter is clean and not blocked. Have fun dude

[DaveRob]

The MAP sensor IS NOT the little black box the size of matchbox..... thats just a trap in the line to the MAP sensor.... the sensor itself is incorporated inside the ECU on the SPi amd you cant mess with it...... If you have ANY leaks in the tubing from the manifiold to the ECU then you will have problems..... their are plaenty of threads on here about what to check....also make sure your exhaust is fixed better still get a new one... or buy my old one off me lol.... but either way fix the exhaust as it will cause the Lambda to read the mixture incorrectly and screw up the fueling.....

Just out of interest... you say you might have knocked something..... when you were spraying around the throttlebody... you didnt knock any of the pipes off round the back.... the little thin bore ones with rubber elbows that degrade and perish and need replacing cause thats usually what happens in faults like this... or the other one that usually comes off is the one that IS connected to the MAP sensor at the ECU righit on the bottom of that silver box on the left hand side of the engine bay.... the pipe connects to the black inlet between the 2 connectors ( on a 2 plug ECU) or to the right of the one [plug ECU... go in ... have a look.... you know you want too.....lol

Report back after you have checked all the above

Rob

Edited by DaveRob, 21 May 2008 - 06:47 AM.

[OJM]

Cheers for all the info - I'll try and go through it all properly at the weekend, however, for the time being...

The indicators stopped working again, so I pulled over and the engine started spluttering again. After managing to turn round and drive back home (spluttering most of the way), I lifted the bonnet to check the indicator issue...which solved itself. But, whilst I had the bonnet up, I noticed a black tube had come disconnected...from the bottom of the ECU! Replaced it, and the engine was fine again.

Now not sure if this has been working lose since I had the problems before, or my dad might have plugged it back in and since then it's popped out under pressure. Anyway, it's pretty tight now, so hopefully won't come off again - I'll have the airbox off at the weekend to check the connectors at the other end.

Unfortunately, since patching the exhaust (temporary measure), it's cracked the putty as it's right on the flexible knuckle. Since it's cracked, the cars popping again, and having issues starting - need to give it some revs, and keep revving it until the idle speed settles. If I don't keep revving it when I get it started, it just idles to nothing and cuts out. Hopefully this is due to the hole in the exhaust, and replacing the downpipe will sort it. Typically the downpipe I need (I think) is sold out on MiniSpares - http://minispares.co....aspx?pid=32952. Or would this be an alternative - http://minispares.co....aspx?pid=33648 ?

I've noticed three connectors in the engine bay which aren't going any where, and was hoping someone might be able to advise - one of them has a rubber cover on, so is possibly the diag port. See attachments for pics!

Cheers all!

Attached Files

•  DSC01266.JPG   35.93K   70 downloads
•  DSC01267.JPG   38.61K   36 downloads

Edited by OJM, 21 May 2008 - 09:39 PM.

[BoyracerAU]

Regarding the connectors in the pic on the right.

The big black box above is your Relay Pack. And the two connectors circled: (Green with plug) I suspect is the alarm and the beigey coloured one is your Diag Port.

[DaveRob]

The one with the green plug is indeed the alarm port... and the beige one Diags. thats in the right photo... the one in the left photo should be connected if you remove the airfilter it should look like this

 DSCF0960.jpg   77.02K   46 downloads

Just out of interest... is your temp guage working...lol?

As for your exhaust.... you really need to get it fixed.... it screws the fuelling up and if you run it for long it scerws the lambda sensor AND eventually the cat as the lambda thinks its running lean and adds more injection cycle when it doesnt need it. (hence the rich run symptoms)

As for the pipe into the ECU.... it doesnt see pressure its connected to the manifold vaccumm..... so it just sees suck... trace tis pip from the ECU to the line trap and make sure its not blocked.... also check REALLY carefully the condition of the pipes and elbows for cracks, holes or blockages..... in all the people that have called round to plug my diag gear in the most common fault has been due to cracks hole or pipes off..... its REALLY important.

And, like I said.... if you want a new exhaust I have one for sale manifold... cat....Stainless big bore side exit... the whole lot from head to tail pipe....

Report back....

[OJM]

Cheers both!

DaveRob, I can't see on your pic where my loose cable should be plugged in. Could you highlight where it should go to please?

Not sure about my temp gauge, but come to think of it, I don't think I've seen it move - is this the plug for it?

How much are you looking at for your exhaust? To be honest, I don't really fancy a big bore, unless it's quiet - any pics?

Will check the pipes tonight / tomorrow!