In reply to Jesse Ransom :
It's a handsome design.
In reply to Jesse Ransom :
It's a handsome design.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I wish it ran.
In reply to eastsideTim :
I agree.
Well the cam and cranks sensors are two more things that aren't the problem.
This weekend I washed the MINI and posted it for sale on facebook marketplace. So far I have received the expected replies to an ad with the first line of "not drivable, must be towed." Mainly, "does it really need to be towed?"
But looking at it all cleaned up makes me want to figure out what is wrong and drive it. I've been trying to go over what would make it run lean (better with additional fuel added or the fuel trims maxed out positive) but the plugs and o2 sensors are black with soot after running very briefly.
Possibly ignition? I tried a different coil and we tested spark and deemed it adequate. Are there other tests I could do on the ignition system?
I may try to smoke test the exhaust to seek how many leaks there are in the manifold.
How does it run with the cam sensor unplugged? We never tried that...
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
No change.
I just went back and re-read the entire thread. Were you ever able to borrow/acquire a different ECU? I just had a thought. Maybe someone loaded a tune to the ECU when it had a modified engine. Someone could have blown a cammed/pulleyed engine, and just thrown a stock replacement into it without going back to a stock tune. I'll defer to Pete and others with more experience as to whether this could make sense.
ECU has been a thought but it isn't easy to change. It needs to be programmed to the VIN and aligned with the body and immobilizer modules. Theoretically I have all the software to do it but from research it seems like there is a not small chance of it going wrong.
EvanB said:ECU has been a thought but it isn't easy to change. It needs to be programmed to the VIN and aligned with the body and immobilizer modules. Theoretically I have all the software to do it but from research it seems like there is a not small chance of it going wrong.
Makes me wonder even more if it has been tuned, and no one wanted to go to the effort of replacing it.
EvanB said:ECU has been a thought but it isn't easy to change. It needs to be programmed to the VIN and aligned with the body and immobilizer modules. Theoretically I have all the software to do it but from research it seems like there is a not small chance of it going wrong.
What happens when it goes wrong? You have a MINI that doesn't run? Oh wait.... =)
In reply to wae :
Well, when you put it that way...
Well I ordered a used DME today so I can go through the adventure of trying to make it work. Programming the VIN seems like the easy part, the more difficult to figure out will be making it work with the EWS immobilizer module.
The one thing I never did figure out was why the LTFT isn't moving. If I get it running long enough to get into closed loop the STFT goes up and it will run and idle fine but the LTFT never moves from 0 to compensate for it on the next start. Maybe that is something in the DME that would be fixed with a replacement?
It's really weird... it makes the plugs sooty when it gets "enough" fuel, which usually screams atomization issue on a carb, or weak spark.
The reason I was curious about the cam sensor, was if the cam signal was somehow inverted, which I don't even think is possible on a three wire sensor, spark would still fire at the right time because it's waste spark, BUT the injectors would fire 360 degrees out of phase, which would definitely affect atomization. Usually the injectors fire on a closed valve so the valve heat helps atomization, firing into an open valve at low flows results in a badly stratified charge that might end up nowhere near the spark plug.
Which would also explain why it ran okay for the first few seconds, as usually (usually) injectors run batch fire until the cam syncs, then it switches to sequential.
LTFT might take a long time to change. Or it may not change if there are faults pending/present. Motronic is a a-hole for playing nice at telling you what is going on.
I smoke tested the exhaust today. There are a ton of leaks around the aftermarket cat (pretty much smoke pouring out everywhere) directly behind the front O2 sensor. There were no leaks from there forward which I was somewhat surprised by. Still not sure if that is a contributing factor or not but I am going to look harder at sourcing a factory manifold/cat to get rid of the whole aftermarket mess.
I haven't done enough research and playing with the software yet to attempt swapping the DME.
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