Stocky
9 posts
Joined: 02/06/2010 20:09:22
Location: Colchester United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Mini 1000 wont start after distributor cover installed
basically i bought a rubber distriutor cover for my 1970 mini 1000, i took all the leads of including the coil lead and then fittted the cover and put them back in the same order ( i think) i then turned it over and nothing, i then cheched the coil lead (to distributor) by holding it about 5mm away from earth and then tapping the points together, it arked and sparked fine, (so do the points btw) but when i connect any of the leads to a spare spark plug it wont spark at all, it cant be all the leads surely, also can someone tell me the order because my hanes bok was completely different to how it was on there when it ran :S, it used to run fine, any help would be appreciated
Posted: Jun 07, 2010 09:50 PM
Angel
2 posts
Joined: 24/02/2005 17:18:51
Location: Bedford, TX. United States
mini in the wet
Here in the USA when you go buy groceries they ask you if you want to take home your groceries in a paper bag or plastic bag. I alway choose plastic. Then after I unload the groceries at the house, I put a cuple of these plastic bags in my Mini. So at the 1st sign of rain, I pull over and cover my distributor with one of the plastic bags. Shut the hood and keep on motoring. It always work, its inexpensive (free when you buy groceries) and you can remove w/o any problems. I also use them when I take my car to the car wash. I cover the distributor and then wash the engine and the underside and it always starts right up.
Posted: May 06, 2005 03:48 PM
Peter Lester
7 posts
Joined: 02/02/2008 17:53:51
Location: Orpington United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Keeping my dizzy dry.
Hi all, my '92 British Open has of late suffered with a wet distributor in bad weather. I hate the thick plastic shield supplied by Rover. Awkward bloody thing. I made a perspex panel up which I affixed to the inside of the grill with screw's which work's up to a point but I was wondering if there's perhap's a cover similar to the one that fit's over the coil to fit over the dizzy?
Posted: Apr 07, 2013 04:36 PM
Eric
222 posts
Joined: 21/06/2007 10:12:29
Location: Cranbrook United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
ignition problems...(damn rain)
Apart from the cover where the leads come out the sides, I can't see a rubber distributor cover on this site - can you post a link?
However, I did find this - http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=33225. They say they were produced prior to the large plastic cover - I wonder if they point to the coil being the main vulnerability, rather than the distributor? I think I might be tempted to get a couple on my next order from this site - and in the meanwhile maybe cover it with a sealed plastic bag.....
Posted: Jan 10, 2008 03:30 PM
shorty
25 posts
Joined: 16/12/2004 21:41:18
Location: United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
tryed it
i took the spark plugs out they was covered in a black deposit cleaned it up and done the gaps put them back in put still nothing i also put my original mayfair carb on with the clubmans float assembly and that made no difference another question is how do u check that the right spark plug is on the distributor and also is the firing order number 1 being nearest the radiator 1-3-4-2. i have thought of calling a exorcist as i think this mini is cursed.
Posted: Dec 19, 2004 04:08 PM
Owen L.
12 posts
Joined: 31/12/2004 08:10:59
Location: paola Malta
from malta too
aw guy.... im a mini owner living in malta (from paola) too. Ive seen people cover the spark plugs and distributer area with a modified floor mat :S. Did you catch that mini show at Mdina a week back?
Posted: Apr 25, 2005 01:38 PM
Stuart
243 posts
Joined: 17/05/2005 11:14:28
Location: Frome United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Rain, rain, rain!
Sounds cheap but try it: A washing up glove, cut the ends off the fingers and thumb, and slide it over your distributer cap and feed the leads through the finger bits. works a treat for me. Or try www.minimine.co.uk for the full protective cover £18 for the cover and £7 for the fitting kit. Loads of colours to choose from Stu
Posted: Mar 31, 2006 09:07 PM
Barry Brown
511 posts
Joined: 23/06/2008 12:08:31
Location: New Barn United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
1993 Spi mini will start but not run after a fresh O/H
Hi, you say you have checked the cam timing twice - what about the distributor drive or the plug lead order? It is possible to have this fitted out of alignment so that the spark is not going to the right cylinder at the firing stroke. If you still have the dizzie fitted then use the old lightbulb test method to check the points opening(and spark) to each cylinder is happening at the correct point in the compression cycle - you'll need the rocker cover off and the plugs out to test this as you need to see the valve positions as the cylinder rises to confirm the compression stroke.
Posted: Dec 16, 2013 09:41 AM
Matthew
75 posts
Joined: 06/02/2006 18:29:39
Location: Sandwich United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Wet mini!
HI, I had the same problem too, I usually give mine a dusting of wd40 over the necessary parts if it is wet out, also i have a plastic bag over the distributor, but am also looking to buy a splash cover. Good luck! Matthew
Posted: Mar 31, 2006 11:01 PM
Rob
34 posts
Joined: 17/09/2004 20:29:45
Location: Wellingborough United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
unable to get engine to fire up...
I had same problem after installing my newly built engine. The way I sorted it was to set the engine to 5 degrees before TDC on no 1 cylinder ON THE COMPRESSION STROKE (the way to check this is to take off the rocker cover and check that both valves on no 1 cylinder are closed) otherwise you will be trying to fire the engine 180 dgrees off. Then fit the distributor so that the points are just about to open on the plug lead for no 1 cylinder. This should be enough to get the car running so you can get a timing light on it and adjust it dynamically. I spent a week of head scratching over this and then discovered Id set the distributor with the points just CLOSING instead of opening. Hope this helps Rob
Posted: Aug 14, 2005 03:45 PM
AJ
3 posts
Joined: 01/06/2005 09:57:58
Location: Guisborough United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Engine cutting out
I Have a problem with my 1991 mini city E 998. This problem has been ongoing for sometime but I cant nail it down as the circumstances change. On some occassions my poor mini loses power around 50 - 60 mph and cuts out - I have to perform a rolling start or start the engine again. Sometimes I even have to wait for a couple of minutes before the engine will turn over. Other occassions it will be completely fine then all of a sudden when pulling away at traffic lights the engine cuts out and I have to restart again. A couple of weeks ago I took me an hour to travel 1 mile home due to this cutting out problem. Then I can maybe drive the car the next day and it will be fine. Problem is I cant use my mini as its now unreliable and Im stuck. I have replaced the points, distributor cover, air filter rotary arm, ignition points, ht leads. This problem can happen in damp and dry conditions. Can anyone help? - I miss driving my mini to work. (Oh, and I used to have a K&N air filter - I have now reverted back to the standard one)
Posted: Nov 03, 2005 09:34 PM
Tim
1849 posts
Joined: 18/10/2004 09:40:59
Location: Bournemouth United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Reconditioned engine or stay with old one ?
Frankly, transplanting a totally different engine is likely to prove more unreliable in the long run, and reduce the value/collectability of the car as well.
Problems with wet weather are well known, and it's really a question of replacing all the suspect parts and keeping the electrics clean and dry. If the timing is slipping, then there must be a reason! Assuming the distributor itself isn't rotating, there may be a problem with the vacuum advance, or the weights inside the body. They're simple enough to work on, so take it apart and have a look.
As for the slight oil leak - most people learn to live with it until it becomes embarassing. Most likely culprit is either the oil seal where the crankshaft pulley emerges from the timing cover, or the oilseals where the driveshafts exit the gearbox. Both are relaltively easy to change. It should be possible to see where, although you may have to give the engine a good clean first, take it for a good run, and then have another look.
Posted: Jun 22, 2006 09:25 PM
Will a homemade Rain/Splash guard cause my engine to overheat ?
Hi,
If its covering the whole grille there is a chance that the air flow will be restricted and the engine will get warm, but your cooling system should cope OK. but if your just covering your distributor cap, then you'll have no problem. saying that there's no reason for it to be any bigger than you're dizzy' cap and starter motor.
Stu
Posted: Jul 10, 2006 06:24 PM
ALEX'S'30'
10 posts
Joined: 19/07/2008 12:59:42
Location: BILLERICAY United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Timing
The setting is 8-10 Deg BTDC @1500 RPM with the vacuum disconnected. The timing marks on the cover are 0 Deg at the top then 4,8,12,16 & 20 respectivley. Remove the grill to make this easier. Point the timing light at the timing marks the dimple on the pulley should line up with the 8 deg marker. Adjust by turning the distributor body. Mark sure the points are set correctly, use a dwell meter if possible.
Once set reconnect vacuum pipe reset idle recheck the timing marks and gently increase engine speed the marks should move 'further apart' This makes sure the vacuum advance is working.
Alex
Posted: Feb 19, 2009 08:50 PM
miniswordsman
214 posts
Joined: 11/12/2006 18:57:13
Location: Colorado springs United States
engine bay
The best way that I've found is to cover the distributor and airfilter/intake and degrease the whole motor with some chemical or other that will do the job and spray it off with a power washer.
-James
Posted: Apr 28, 2009 08:33 PM
Not starting & Misfiring through throttle body - SPI
bulb test for static timing.
open the timing plate cover to see the timing marks on the flywheel or using the tag on the timing chain cover. with the engine off put the car in gear and bring the timing mark to the correct alignment as specified in the handbook. select hanbrake & neutral again. now slacken off the distributor pinch bolt so it lightly grips the housing. remove the coil lead. connect a spare indicator bulb between the black/white LT ignition cable and the lead for the condenser. Now turn the ignition on but don't crank it over. If the timing is correct the bulb will light up. If it isn't then rotate the dizzie body until it does. This is static timing and gives you a rough 'starting position' when rebuilding the engine and ignition. It's also good if you forget to do the dizzie bolt up and knock it out of alignment (whoops)
You can then use the strobe light to set the timing more accurately as per normal tuning.
Posted: Mar 11, 2011 02:59 PM
distributor problem
Hi, I think what Tim refers to is "have you rewired the coil correctly?" You should have a plain white wire from the ignition protected feed to the fuse box (terminal 1) that goes to the "+ve" terminal of the coil. The "-ve" terminal should have a white wire with black tracer going to the flying lead on the points. (the second white/black should go to the rev counter module)
It is not unusual to new components to be faulty these days, especially condensors and rotor arms. I've had several bad condensors that only last a few miles so I always keep the old ones as emergency spares if they are known to be working. Black rotor arms these days are made with carbon to make them black, which is self defeating as they then conduct electricity rather than insulate and can cause the problem. I've started using the red variety of rotor arm but apparently the Chinese have begun counterfeiting those with poor quality imitations as well.
I'd put all the original parts back on and then as Tim says, use a mulitmeter to work out what is live and what isn't. Be careful checking the coil output though to the distributor cap as that will be fatal to the mulitmeter if you have the wrong setting.
Don't forget to check the small earth strap inside the distributor as the metal strands can snap inside the fabric cover and although they will work at low revs, when you open the throttle and the vacuum advance moves it the contact may open and you will lose the circuit.
Posted: Jan 06, 2015 04:34 PM
Baza53
14 posts
Joined: 11/03/2013 18:23:59
Location: Spilsby United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
mini timing
Yes that is what I am saying 180% out is the only way to fix it by taking the timing cover off and rotating one of the pully,s
Positions should be as described in Barrys' post; the only reason they would be out is if someone has previously inserted the distributor drive spindle in the wrong position.
Are you saying it's 180 degrees out?
Best Regards
Posted: Jul 06, 2013 09:06 AM
The engine runs only on two cylinders
Cylinder 1 is next to the thermostat. Firing order is 1,3,4,2.
Cylinder 1 & 4 move at the same time. Cylinder 2&3 are 180 degrees after this.
So when #1 is rising to fire #4 is rising to exhaust. When #3 is rising to fire #2 is rising to exhaust.
Check that you have the firing order correctly setup for the distributor leads and that you have a spark at each plug. If the lead positions are ok then check that you have the distributor in the correct way. The 'key' where it sits in the camshaft drive is offset to prevent this so it may be that you have the camshaft drive out of position and therefore giving the wrong position for the distributor.
If that still doesn't work then you need to take the plugs out and remove the rocker cover. crank the engine over by putting the car in 1st gear with the handbrake off. When the rotor arm position for the #1 lead on the distributor cap is in the right location you should see both valve springs for #1 cylinder in the raised condition ready for that cylinder to fire. If you don't see this then the camshaft may be incorrectly timed. Check all 3 other cylinders to confirm which one thinks it should be firing to prove this.
Posted: Oct 18, 2013 09:54 AM
C. Barron
332 posts
Joined: 04/05/2006 21:28:31
Location: Mid Calder United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
timing help
It's covered in the manual as far as I remember.
Basically to adjust the timing you slacken the bolt locking the distributor in place and turn the whole distributor body one way or the other....clockwise to advance the timing and anticlockwise retards it.
if it's the case that you just want to get it running to get you about for a short while then the old fashioned method of advancing the timing a couple of degrees at a time until the car starts 'pinking' or 'knocking' when under full load and then retard the timing back a little, works as well on mini's as any other car.
You will need to remember to get the timing confirmed afterwards either at a garage, or by using a timing strobe light.
Using the method above, and for the carb using the method desbribed in the Haynes for adjusting the mixture My emmissions were tested on the MOT a couple of days ago at 3.52%, where the limit is 3.5%....but it's important to note that it doesn't actually mean the engine is running at it's best, to do that you need to make use of the proper test equipment.
Good Luck
Chris
Posted: Sep 26, 2006 08:36 PM