11 replies to this topic

[knowrung]

Hi guys, I am having some huge problems with my spi 94 plate cooper. I have read through loads of the previous posts and tried nearly everything I could find!! I will start at the beginning so make sure you are sitting comfortably.

I was an idiot and accidently ran my mini with very little oil, it made some very unhealthy noises. After pulling over and stopping the engine I was horrified to find the damn thing would not start. I assumed it has seized up. I got a friend of mine to fully dismantle the engine and give her a rebuild. Replaced the piston rings and reground the crank, along with the usual stuff (so i am told). Everything was going brilliantly until it came to firing her up. It would not turn over so got towed around a bit, loosened the engine up a bit. Got it turning over, and running kind of. The problem was that at low revs the engine was backfiring, and there was loads of fuel around the injector.

I have replaced the lambard sensor (on exhaust deals with o2 levels I think), I have also fitted a second hand known to be working injector and manifold, also replaced the vacuum pipes the short one the one to the ecu and even the one leading to the air filter, also indexed the stepper motor. These things allowed the engine to idle and now it sometimes does not backfire but it is still not running quite right. I checked the sparks and 3 out of the 4 were covered in soot.

I have no idea what to do next apart from try another ecu.

Somebody please help me!

[Sprocket]

Did you replace the clutch at the same time as the rebuild, or is it still the original clutch?

[knowrung]

Did you replace the clutch at the same time as the rebuild, or is it still the original clutch?

yes i have replaced the clutch, the only thing that has not been touched is the gear box as that seemed fine.

[Sprocket]

Did you replace the clutch withthe correct injection clutch?

If you did, its still worth checking to see if the crankchasft position sensor is lined up correctly with the reluctor in the flywheel.

You need to set the engine to Top Dead Center, remove the crank sensor located under the starter motor and with a torch and a mirror peer into the hole where the senssor used to be. You will be able to see the teeth of the reluctor in the flywheel. There should be one missing right in the middle of the hole with the engine at TDC, if there is no missing tooth there, the clutch is the wrong one for the engine. The teeth are spaced 10 degrees apart so the there should be 20 degreess between teeth at the missing one

[knowrung]

Did you replace the clutch withthe correct injection clutch?

If you did, its still worth checking to see if the crankchasft position sensor is lined up correctly with the reluctor in the flywheel.

You need to set the engine to Top Dead Center, remove the crank sensor located under the starter motor and with a torch and a mirror peer into the hole where the senssor used to be. You will be able to see the teeth of the reluctor in the flywheel. There should be one missing right in the middle of the hole with the engine at TDC, if there is no missing tooth there, the clutch is the wrong one for the engine. The teeth are spaced 10 degrees apart so the there should be 20 degreess between teeth at the missing one

Thats brilliant, thanks for the help i will check when i get some free time. and keep you posted, thanks again for the suggestion.

Edited by knowrung, 04 May 2008 - 01:27 PM.

[knowrung]

I double check and it is the correct clutch, i also checked the crank position sensor and that seems fine. What else could be the problem be do you think?

Edited by knowrung, 05 May 2008 - 09:41 AM.

[knowrung]

I dont know if this is relevant but i can add it anyway. I have connected the car to a snap-on piece of test equipment to see if any sensors were faulty, and the machine did not recognise that the ecu was connected. Even though the Rover MEMS ecu type was listed on the compability sheet. As i said before i dont know if this helps but i though as much information as possible would be useful.

Edited by knowrung, 07 May 2008 - 11:19 AM.

[Sprocket]

Is this a aingke or two plug ECU?

Have you set the dizzy correctly and is the firing order correct and conttected to the relavant plugs?


Yoou have connected the fuel lines to the correct ports on the Throttle body?


The tight engine worries me. is this a problem of the starter electrics being poorlly maintaind or is it because the engine itself is tight. If the engine is tight, you have to ask why. The friction of the rings is not enough on their own to prevent the starter from turning it over. Ddid you dry build the engine to make sure it was not tight?

[knowrung]

Is this a aingke or two plug ECU?

Have you set the dizzy correctly and is the firing order correct and conttected to the relavant plugs?


Yoou have connected the fuel lines to the correct ports on the Throttle body?


The tight engine worries me. is this a problem of the starter electrics being poorlly maintaind or is it because the engine itself is tight. If the engine is tight, you have to ask why. The friction of the rings is not enough on their own to prevent the starter from turning it over. Ddid you dry build the engine to make sure it was not tight?

In answer to you question about the ECU, it has a single electrical type connector on it as well as the vacuum pipe leading from the fuel trap, or thats what i think its called. That would lead me to believe it is a "aingke" type ECU, its number is MNE 101070. The fuel lines are corrected correctly, they are exactly as they came off, and i assume they were correct when they came off as it was running ok. The engine is no longer tight. It will now start itself (with me turning the key obviously) it just needed a little loosening to begin with.

Thank you very much for your suggestions. They are greatly appreciated. Please keep them coming.

[knowrung]

Is this a aingke or two plug ECU?

Have you set the dizzy correctly and is the firing order correct and conttected to the relavant plugs?


Yoou have connected the fuel lines to the correct ports on the Throttle body?


The tight engine worries me. is this a problem of the starter electrics being poorlly maintaind or is it because the engine itself is tight. If the engine is tight, you have to ask why. The friction of the rings is not enough on their own to prevent the starter from turning it over. Ddid you dry build the engine to make sure it was not tight?

This may sound like a really silly question and i suppose it is. Is this setup correct? just to confirm i have not made a stupid mistake?

http://img.photobuck...Firingorder.jpg

p.s. the image has been found via a google search, thank you whoever posted it.

[duncancallum]

yeah that diagrams right the dizzy runs anti clockwise.


also check your dizzy drives in right its really easy to put it in wrong I did it and is gave me a head scratchin moment

[knowrung]

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that posted a reply. My baby appears to be running without backfiring. I knew it was a simple problem. 2 things that were wrong, both my fault!! Dizzy was not on correctly also i connect the HT leads wrong. I connected them back to front!! It sounds as though the engine is running rich, but as its due a MOT so I will know for sure once the emmissions result are in. Thanks again to all that posted You were all amazing!!!

Regards

Khaleel

Edited by knowrung, 21 May 2008 - 08:03 PM.