9 replies to this topic

[QuintonNeaves]

Hi, 

Please bear with me as I know nothing about cars and am new to the Mini scene   

I recently took my car to a garage (non specialist) as the clutch has seized up, and there was brown slush in the radiator. The garage fitted a new slave cylinder and filled up the clutch fluid which solved that problem. They then went to flush the radiator out and subsequently blew the heater hose connector as they didn't wait for the engine to cool before taking the cap from the radiator.

The next day, the car started cutting out completely so I took it to a Mini specialist who fitted a new Heater control valve, this solved that problem for about a week.

The car then started to Idle at about 100 before cutting out after about 5-10 seconds. I took the car back to the specialist who found a leak to the manifold, they fixed that and reset the codes on the ECU.

It worked for a day and then Idled at about 100 and cut out again, this time the car overheated with smoke coming from the engine, when I took it back to them they fitted a new hose from the inlet manifold to the thermostat housing, this fixed both Idling and overheating problem until the next day when the idling started again.

I decided to take it to a different Mini specialist as I thought a different brain could solve the problem. They checked all vac pipes at the back of the manifold and re set the lost motion gap, they also cleared the map sensor of oil, again this worked until I started the car for the second time at home. 

Idling is now a problem again and there is tons of black smoke coming from the exhaust when I accelerate!

I know its lengthy but thought I would give you the cars history since I have went it (2 months) 

Any help would be much appreciated as I am not mechanical minded!!!

 

 

[humph]

I had the same problem. The thread is here

 

http://www.minifinit...hp?f=22&t=86339

 

The solution to your problem may not be the same but with mine I found that the engine bay wiring loom was rubbing between the manifold and the bulkhead, this had lead to a break in the wires to the lambda sensor. A specialist had replaced the lambda sensor having diagnosed it as faulty, but didn't check the wiring which was only connecting intermittently. This is outlined in the post dated 21st May 2011 in the thread above. I had a car electrician friend repair my loom (£50) and the problem was solved instantly.

 

Unfortunately this wasn't my only problem as I'd had an intermittent high idle problem from before this issue started, having both probably made the whole thing much more difficult to diagnose.  The repaired ECU (knackered stepper drviers) in the 21st May 2011 post sorted this high idle issue, not the low idle like you're experiencing.

Edited by humph, 08 July 2015 - 11:39 AM.

[Blatherskite]

Is the low idle and smoke issue when hot or cold? And does the temperature gauge rise to about normal within a few minutes? I would suspect the coolant temp sensor being either disconnected or faulty, giving an overfuelling (like choke) when it's not needed.

[QuintonNeaves]

Thanks people 

 

I have replaced the elbow joints on the Vac pipes which fixed the low idle and black smoke problem. 

Its now idling at 2000 revs  Any idea what could be causing this? The garage said i should try resetting the lost motion gap? I have no idea how to do it though?!?

 

 

Cheers 

[QuintonNeaves]

UPDATE!

I found on one of the threads that I should try to reset the stepper motor by doing the following:

- turn the key to 2nd position (alternator and oil pressure warning lights are on), but don't turn on the engine; 
- open the bonnet; 
- fully press and release that throttle cable's arm for 10 times; 
- close the bonnet and turn off the key. 

I did this, the car now has no idle at all

Any ideas?

[Fast Ivan]

http://www.theminifo...oint-injection/

[humph]

UPDATE!

I found on one of the threads that I should try to reset the stepper motor by doing the following:

- turn the key to 2nd position (alternator and oil pressure warning lights are on), but don't turn on the engine; 
- open the bonnet; 
- fully press and release that throttle cable's arm for 10 times; 
- close the bonnet and turn off the key. 

I did this, the car now has no idle at all

Any ideas?

What do you mean by no idle at all? Won't run or high revs?  When you turn the engine off can you hear a quick clicking (a kind of brrrrr, brrrrr noise lasting a few seconds) from the stepper as it returns to it's starting position? It should do this every time, that was the cause of the fast idle on mine, the stepper drivers in the ECU had gone and were only returning it intermittantly.

Edited by humph, 08 July 2015 - 08:53 PM.

[QuintonNeaves]

The car won't run at all unless i manually rev the engine and as soon as I take my foot of the throttle it dies again. There is a brrr, brrr noise but the stepper motor doesn't seem to move at all. Did you have to replace/fix the stepper motor?

[humph]

My stepper was replaced, and then swapped back when it didn't solve the issue. I can't recall if you can see anything physically moving as it operates.

 

http://www.theminifo...are/?hl=+reader

 

You also need to get a voltmeter on some of the sensors to check they're working. I'd give you a hand but you're the opposite end of the country, and my skills are hit and miss at best:-)

[QuintonNeaves]

Quite expensive too aren't they... if they're not gong to work haha. I'll have a bit of a play with it tomorrow to see if I can adjust the stepper at all.

 

Very kind of you to offer your help, thats what I love about the Mini community, if people can help then they normally do

 

I'll let you know how it goes!