29 replies to this topic

[Faultless]

Hi i have been searching through posts and found an old post with similar question but he never said if it worked so here goes nothing.

The plan would be to get my standard SPI Sprite ecu and chuck it in the bin or try to sell it lol, then get a SPI Cooper ecu and put it on my mini with the intension of boosting power to that similar of the Cooper SPI. Now this brings up a few problems in my head such as: will it be a straight swap will i need the Coopers alarm and immobilizer. what else is differant in the Cooper SPI engine which gives it the extra power such as cams or valve sizes in head exhaust etc. As im sure most of you are aware the cooper has a claimed 63bhp and my sprite 53bhp so cooper power would be nice lol.

Any help in this area would be good. thanks Lee

[Dev]

as far as i was aware the SPI only had 53 in cooper form just had a different CR.

i could however be very wrong and i'm sure mr sprocket will along shortly with a full explaination

[Faultless]

sure cooper had 63 oh well either way will ecu be worth while. i was hopin mini sprocket would come along soon lol and thanks for reply dev

[Faultless]

i have been doin a little research and have found this i was goin to cut it all out but then it may confuse matters so
instead i high lighted bits that i think may explain a little the ecu differance.

Electronic Control Systems

Single Point Injection (SPi) 1991-96, Japan 1991 On.

In 1991 the Cooper 1275cc engine lost its carburetter in favour of fuel injection, primarily to comply
with emissions regulations. The injection system used was a fairly simple affair, employing a single
injector housed in a throttle body on the inlet manifold. Known within the factory confines as Throttle
Body Injection (TBi), it is always referred to as Single Point Injection (SPi) because that is the name universally used.

The Rover Mini Cabriolet introduced in 1993 also used the Cooper SPi engine, and from 1994 the other
Minis in the line up (Sprite, Mayfair, plus the many limited editions based on them) also went over to
single point injection, set up to a slightly lower state of tune than that used for the Cooper and
Cabriolet.

In a few export markets the Cooper came with the lower performance Sprite/Mayfair engine, using that
engine’s control unit. Which countries this concerned is particularly poorly documented, so further
research may be required before ordering. A ray of hope is that some ECUs were marked with the state
of tune: ‘Standard Performance’ means Sprite/Mayfair, whereas ‘High Performance’ means Cooper.
39 MNE10027E ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT, engine , 1 Manual, Cooper, up to (VIN) 060487,
reconditioned except Japan.
MNE10078E ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT, engine , 1 Manual, Cooper, up to (VIN) 060487,
reconditioned Japan.

[stellis]

ahhhh noobbhhh lol , ello, why dnt you jus get rid of the injection system and come into the ligth with carb, soulve all the problems of gettin power cheepishly lol , see u soon mate
xx

[THE ANORAK]

i might be completely wrong, but i thought the extra power came from a higher spec cam shaft ???

EDIT : it also says in my book that the mayfair/sprite engine had lower compression !!!

cooper = 10.0:1
mayfair = 9.4:1

Edited by THE ANORAK, 14 March 2007 - 06:39 PM.

[Sprocket]

Non Cooper engine has 9.4:1 Compretion Ratio and what is considered a fairly tame cam. This engine aslo had the 3.1:1 Final drive in the transmition. The ECU has a slightly leaner acceleration enrichment than the cooper ECU for improving fuel economy.

The Cooper engine has a compression ratio of 10:1 and a slightly sportier cam. This engine had the 3.2:1 final drive in the transmition. The ECU has a slightly richer acceleration enrichment than the non Cooper ECU for a slightly more sporty acceleration.

That is the 10hp difference, non Cooper 53hp and Cooper 63hp. The main difference is in the engine and not the ECU.

You can fit the Cooper ECU to a non Cooper engine, but you would gaet a better result if you skimmed the head and got the compression up to 10:1. Dont expect rocket acceleration, you will notice very little difference for the first hour of so of driving.

The other thing to consider is the alarm and imobiliser. There are several ECU's about, the early ones are two plug, all are Cooper and will not work on the non cooper as these were later with the one plug ECU's. There are two types of one plug ECU's. Coded and non coded. All later ECU's from around 95 onwards are coded, so the easiest way out of it is you need to find a non coded Cooper ECU from about 93 to 94. the alarm will still work if you have one but the imobiliser wont. This part number is MNE101070. Good luck finding one as it took me nearly a year

If your sensible enough you will keep the injection and make sure its running right. There is no real difference in tuning the injection compared to carbs. The problem arises when you are after all the power you can get your teeth into. You CANNOT use any cams that were not specificaly designed for the injection as these cause pulses in the inlet manifold and confuses the ECU and run rich all the time. They just dont work. Having said that, i run the Kent 274 cam and 1399cc fully ported head, matched and ported inlet, bigger throttle body and bigger injector, soon to fit 1.5:1 rockers and im pushing near the 100bhp on a standard cooper ECU. Big cc is the secret. After market ECU's will enable you to run Alph-N and wild cams.

Emissions need to be taken into acount at the end of the day and anyone who can get a injection engine fitted with a carb through an MOT without fiddling with it and faking it then they really are good. 1994 cars fitted with carbs have problems getting through emissions tests.

Hope that helps

[Sprocket]

ahhhh noobbhhh lol , ello, why dnt you jus get rid of the injection system and come into the ligth with carb, soulve all the problems of gettin power cheepishly lol , see u soon mate
xx

What mod is more expensive on the injection car compared to the carb cars???? Theres no need to get an injection car on the rollers for a start so you have saved £60 there straight away, then theres the cost of the carb, dizzy and inlet manifold to contend with.

Its all myth mate, and I wish people would stop spouting it. It mostly because people havent got the foggiest on how it works so revert to what they know. Fitting carbs to the injection for any reason other than the engine needs it, because of the tune, and im more and more finding out that this is not the case. Wild cams are a thing of the past. The injection spec cams are the way to go on the five porter carb or not

Its the engine that produces the power not the carb!!

by fitting the Cooper ECU you will achieve a richer acceleration enrichment and still retain MPG.

[Bill USN-1]

ahhhh noobbhhh lol , ello, why dnt you jus get rid of the injection system and come into the ligth with carb, soulve all the problems of gettin power cheepishly lol , see u soon mate
xx

What mod is more expensive on the injection car compared to the carb cars???? Theres no need to get an injection car on the rollers for a start so you have saved £60 there straight away, then theres the cost of the carb, dizzy and inlet manifold to contend with.

Its all myth mate, and I wish people would stop spouting it. It mostly because people havent got the foggiest on how it works so revert to what they know. Fitting carbs to the injection for any reason other than the engine needs it, because of the tune, and im more and more finding out that this is not the case. Wild cams are a thing of the past. The injection spec cams are the way to go on the five porter carb or not

Its the engine that produces the power not the carb!!

by fitting the Cooper ECU you will achieve a richer acceleration enrichment and still retain MPG.

X2

where have I heard all these things before???


Words of the uniformed!

[fikus01]

please dont let this get into another carb vs injection argument, ome will get on with 1 and find better results, others with the other and find better results, each will be convinced the other is a waste of time and they are right.

THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING, HOW WELL THEY DO IT DEPENDS ON HOW WELL YOU CAN WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE AND WHAT U UNDERSTAND.

END OF DISCUSSION PLEASE.

by the way i too heard the extra bhp was from compression and cam tweeks, tho id have likd to have seen a dyno read out of each engine, we all know how exact(NOT) rover can be with their bhp rigures!

[Sprocket]

LOL, i dont think any of their quoted figures ever were reproduced, except for the likes of a standard 998 which, if it was any less, the transmission would end up just eating, LOL. That and the fact that the roaling roads are not in a 14 degree centigrade controlled chamber fed with constant temp coolant and free flowing exhaust without scilencer. ( I know things and work places ) Figures will be different no matter what.

What about MiniSports quoted figures. LOL. 'From' 100bhp on their 1380. from that they are saying that their stage two 1380 is 100bhp, wow thats impressive!!!

Edited by Mini Sprocket, 14 March 2007 - 10:02 PM.

[Bounce]

Did you know the Cooper SPI is the fastest ever production mini (excluding the ERA)


Any who. I have a Cooper ECU up for grabs. Its one of the coded ones so you can have the immobilser/alarm aswell

[Faultless]

Sorry for getting back to you a little late i was down croydon with no internet anyways ive got a couple of people intereseted in selling me a cooper ecu so what do you reckon give it a go. Will a coded ecu work providing its a one plug and i get the alarm and imobiliser thanks for your info Lee

And mini sproket im sure i remember reading a thread on here about you making your own throttle body and injector by robbing them of a k series engine is this worth attempting i have a little mechanical knowledge but not that much so should i leave that task alone.

oh and how much do you want for your alarm immobiliser and ecu (posted) is the ecu one plug type

[Sprocket]

Yep, Bounces is a one plug coded ECU. If he is looking to get rid of the lot then you shouldnt have any problems. Does your car have an alarm, or at least a black box on the bulkhead behind the dash?

If there is no alarm and just a black box (like mine) of which no one can tell me if its just an imobiliser and still coded to the ECU or not, if you go the matched alarm and ECU set you will have to add a bonnet and boot switch and any thing else that might be needed, best check wiring diagrams, but its not too difficult. I was looking at this my self. Easier to get the ECU I mentioned, MNE101070.

If you do have a factory fit alarm, then plugging in the two ECUs will be a straight swap. IIRC Bounces car is a 95/96 so a good bet.

Dont bother with a bigger injector or throttle body unless the tune of your engine needs it, its a lot of hassle to get it to work right and you WILL need the service tool to set it up right. If the engine is fairly standard tune then you will achieve nothing by making things bigger. Mine deffo needs it.

And yes the injector is from a rover K series 1.4 16valve single point injection engine. Not many about, but ive seen a few manifolds on ebay recently. Never use the injector straight off that engine, best get it cleaned first. The throttle body is the standard Mini one and is originaly 41mm. This can be opened out to 44mm with the use of a SU HIF44 carb solid throttle disc. The SPi throttle body needs to be precision machined for it to work, its not strictly a diy job and could set you back up to £100 to do satisfactoraly. I know ive seen modified ones sell for ALOT more on ebay, but recon they still had the standard injector in there, which is pants, its that old washer under the spring trick, in the fuel pressure regulator. Like Ive said, thats not tuning, its fudging!!!! and no way to get the best out of what you got.

[Faultless]

but if this ecu isnt a mne101070 then will it need coding to work with my car. I have a factory alarm but its currently broken lol. so due to me having an alarm will this allow me to do a straight swap.

thanks again Lee