SimonJ
49 posts
Joined: 31/01/2006 11:40:27
Location: South Glam United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
there
there are loads of mini suppliers and engine builders who can supply you with a lead free stage 2 or 3 head. Expect to pay £300+ for the head. Dont forget, you will need a head gasket, manifold face gasket, best to have a new thermostat, antifreeze and an oil change. You will need the car set up on a rolling road to get the engine to run properly.
Posted: Mar 21, 2006 10:33 AM
taffy1967
1783 posts
Joined: 27/09/2006 18:58:07
Location: Rhondda-Cynon-Taff United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Re:
No I believe the only wiring you'll have is for the low oil pressure warning light? Apart from that, look to see if there's a temp sender near the thermostat housing on the cylinder head.
Posted: Feb 21, 2009 12:54 AM
abs
98 posts
Joined: 08/11/2007 20:20:11
Location: cornwall United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Re.
Engine numbers starting with HE are unleaded and started to appear around 1988 but Check the oil way behind the thermostat housing at the top of the head, if it has a blanking rivet in the end opposed to a brass plug its very possible its unleaded(well its worked 5 out of 5 times for me).
Posted: May 09, 2009 10:26 PM
aaron thompson
1 posts
Joined: 09/10/2011 17:46:48
Location: Braintree United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Oil blow out and lack or power
Hi everyone, 1st time on here so here goes, took mini out to a meet last night, all good, on way home running at 70 mph on open road and then started to have lack of power like fuel was running out, slowed down to 30/5 and cleared it, but noticed lack of poet over 3k revs. Got it home at low speed as 1 min away, popped bonet and oil is all over pully fan thermostat underside of car, oil looked ok in rocker cover. I do reg checks on oil valves timing mixture dash pot etc..... Don't know if it's oil seal or head gasket??? How do I start? Many thanks aaron
Posted: Sep 06, 2012 06:53 AM
Tim
1849 posts
Joined: 18/10/2004 09:40:59
Location: Bournemouth United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
dash light
You dont say what model youre driving but I would assume the orange light is your oil pressure warning. Most probably the pressure switch has packed up but you ought to replace it to be sure! Before removing your fixed fan make sure that the electric one is actually working - i.e. cutting in at the right temperature, and it wouldnt be a bad idea to fit an override switch just in case the thermostat packs up (which it will do, but only on a hot day when youre stuck in a 10-mile traffic jam!)
Posted: Mar 22, 2006 09:20 AM
28 posts
Joined: 07/04/2005 16:50:12
Location: Woodford Green United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Possible explanations
Hey everyone, Thanks for all the suggestions. I have now replaced all of the ignition parts except the dizzy and coil but not had a chance to get it upto and over 70 mph yet as I live in Central Croydon and the nearest big road is M25. Took it down to Croydon Mini Centre and the guys their suggested I marked up the dizzy and engine block, slacken the dizzy securring bolt and turn it back a little bit at a time, test it and then adjust accordingly. I will also try cleaning the carbs out as suggested and as the guys at the Mini centre said, will be topping up the dash pots with engine oil and not the 3in1 I was using. The thinking behind that being that the dashpot was rising too quickly with the thin oil especially once it had heated up and thinned out / evaporated even more. This would have the effect of leaning out the mixture too much as the revs increased. Just another quick question: I have vacuum pipes connected from the dizzy to the thermostat housing, from there to the drivers side twin carb and off into the passenger side wing into what I can only guess is the charcoal filter. Is it okay to blank off the filter vacuum pipe and the thermostat vacuum inlets and run the vacuum pipe directly from the dizzy to the carbs? My engine bay seems to have more pipe work than a bathroom! Cheers for all the help . Its greatly appreciated. Tim
Posted: Jan 16, 2006 03:17 PM
Mayfair86
95 posts
Joined: 02/11/2006 22:43:12
Location: Sandy United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
engine running bad
unfortunatley its already got a new thermostat, it does seem to be getting very hot tho, there was steam comming out of the heater valve thing, there is also alot of smoke comming out of the oil filler when the cap is removed. it runs sweet as a nut when its cold but it warms up quick, and i also noticed that the LCB manifold was glowing red!! surely it shouldnt do that??
My dad wants me to take it to somewhere but i darent drive it and i dont think it would get there.
thanks for your help so far
Josh
Posted: Jan 21, 2009 05:40 PM
ChrisKE
Joined: 14/06/2005 07:25:56
Location: Ashford United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Thermostat blanking sleeve
I have an MPi which has a supercharger fitted, but its running slightly too hot (temp guage at approx 3/4) when driving faster than about 60mph. All the obvious thing have been done (thorough coolant flush, has a new rad fitted, new expansion tank + cap, new water pump, changed thermostat for 74'C one) Its fine driving round town (hovers about 1/3 of the way up the guage). Water/coolant is clear without any trace of oil, rust etc. The car has a 13-row oil cooler fitted also.
I was considering removing the thermostat to increase coolant flow to see if that helped, but am unsure as to whether I need to fit the thermostat balnking sleeve, as I know the MPi coolant flow system is different to older cars, and I couldn't really see from the design of it how it would affect flow in my head.
Can someone confirm for me whether or not i do need to fit the blanking sleeve?
Cheers
Chris
Posted: Jul 02, 2006 03:30 AM
Barry Brown
511 posts
Joined: 23/06/2008 12:08:31
Location: New Barn United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
1982 mini city 998 engine cut out
clothes peg = usual condition. new choke cable cures it for about a week...
speedo - don't put oil or WD40 in it. you have to use graphite in the phosphor bush. use very soft 12B pencil and sand the lead to make graphite dust (wear mask). putting oil in it will gum it up even more.
temp gauge could be wiring or faulty sensor. no heat could be blockage or the previous owner has removed the thermostat. when starting from cold does the top hose warm up quickly or wait 2 mins and then get really hot? (if latter then thermostat fitted)
ignition problem sounds like broken wire or contact in lock barrel. only way to diagnose is to try hot wiring it but that means some partially destructive cabling work but at least it willprove ignition barrel
Posted: Nov 19, 2010 07:29 PM
C Green
3 posts
Joined: 10/02/2009 19:26:25
Location: Portsmouth United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Breakdown
Help, my '93 1275 Sprite broke down yesterday for the second time in a week. Everything was ok until 10 miles from home when I accelerated up to 50 in 3rd and it lost all power and there was a burning smell. Having jumped out I found that the usual oil etc that is on the underside of the tranmission tunnel was smoking (but not alight) which in turn was coming into the car. i'm assuming from this that the cat' had got so hot that the heat had got past the heat shield. So, my question to everyone (anyone!) is does this mean that the cat' is shot and when warmed up is blocking itself up so stalling the engine or given that it occurs at increased rev's (and therefore vacuum advance) that the Purge Valve on the cannister under the NS wing is faulty and responding incorrectly to the increased pressure. Or (stay with me) is just the vacuum advance valve on the thermostat housing done for and misbehaving when hot as when the engine has cooled right down it restarts and I can drive home. Few people seem to really have a handle on these 'crossover' Carb/Cat models so any words of wisdom would be gratefuly received. thanks
Posted: Mar 31, 2009 07:09 PM
low oil pressure. HELP!!!
ive fitted all new bearings, oil pressure switch and oil pump. Ive also fitted the ball bearin insted of the bullit type oil pressure valve (havent changed the spring tho??). its ok on start up but after a few miles or a motor way blast, it comes on jus under 2000rpm.
The relief spring should work cold or hot so i doubt it is that but a stuck spring isn't unheard of. This is more suggestive that the oil may be getting too hot and thin or something is causing loss of pressure when warm. Have you changed the filter/cartridge again? Do you have an oil cooler and does it have a thermostat? If so it could be an airlock in the oil cooler which causes pressure drop when the thermostat opens. Or you could have a cooler pipe that is kinking or collapsing under heat because it is curved too tightly.
Is your crankcase ventilating properly? There is a possibility that it is building up pressure and blowing the oil back out of the galleries once it warms up and preventing it getting to the sender unit.
I agree that a proper gauge is the way to go. Most sender units only come on at around 10-15psi by which time the engine is cream crackered, especially if it has been tweaked.
Posted: Oct 20, 2009 02:34 PM
Andy McDonnell
Joined: 01/07/2019 12:55:09
Location: Naivasha Kenya
Slowly over heating Mini
Hi, I am having an over heating problem with my mini, it’s a 1275cc pre A+, built for classic rallying so has rally cam, high lift rockers, runs twin 1.5”SU LCB etc. I set the timing static as run with old school points and condenser. The radiator is the special 4 core from Mini spares, new water pump and hoses and 5 blade hot climate fan, it has the bypass hose fitted but I run with no thermostat, the climate I am in is 30 to 35oc during the day so hot anyway, if I run at idle or just above for 30 mins or so it wont go over 90oc (I run a electric TIMs gauge) but when I drive fast it slowly creeps over 100oc when it gets to 110oc the cap starts letting fluid past (It opens) if I continue to run fast the head gasket just burns between 2 and 3 (I have been through 2 head gaskets but the head and block have been faced and are straight), if I slow down and drive gently it slowly returns to 100oc, I run with coolant and the brakes are not binding. I do not run a heater and this is just blanked off, I do run with an oil cooler too, is there something I have missed? Should the bypass be blanked off if no thermostat is fitted? I’m thinking to run the heater matrix but in the front to give additional cooling as am at a loss right now? Any advice?
Posted: May 04, 2024 02:03 PM
Suzy
142 posts
Joined: 08/09/2004 21:50:17
Location: Woolavington United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Silly question - have you got plenty of oil in the car?!!! May be worth an oil change and get some fresh stuff in there. If the car is running cold, again, it may be the sensor packed up. (screws into the head just below the thermostat housing, with 1 wire on it). Buy a new temp sender the same time as you get the oil pressure one. Make sure you get the correct one for your car, cus I believe there can be different ones that give too low/too high readings (or are those Mk1 type?). The second fan is presumably the one wing-side. This is there for additional cooling, (e.g. overheating in traffic!). If you remove the belt driven one, your water pump will no longer go round and your car will get very hot very quickly!! :)
Posted: Mar 23, 2006 11:12 PM
Sprite2
Joined: 20/10/2004 17:30:33
Location: United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Mini Sprite stalling when warm
My girlfriends 1275 L reg Mini Sprite (one of the llast carbed cars) has started stalling at idle when warm. Even stopping to reverse it will stall. It has had a recent ignition service, the plugs look fine and Ive topped up the carb damper oil. Any thoughts what it might be? Out of interest, what is the vacuum device screwed into the thermostat housing? It has two vacuum connections, the lower one of these goes off to the vacuum unit on the dizzy, the upper one has a T-piece with pipes going to the carb and disappearing into the nearside inner wing. I guess it adjust the amount of vacuum advance with temperature but can someone elaborate?
Posted: Nov 23, 2005 09:07 PM
Gaz
50 posts
Joined: 16/02/2006 16:06:42
Location: albrighton United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
re:
Generally getting the fan spinning faster isn't any more effective...actually it usually does the opposite! if you have real problems then you could fit a tropical spec 4 blade fan. alternatively you can use a heater matrix as an auxillary radiator or plumb in an oil cooler to come at it from a different angle!
It's also a good idea to drill some holes around the perimiter of the thermostat to aid coolant flow
Posted: Dec 19, 2008 10:25 PM
Roobz
223 posts
Joined: 15/12/2005 01:31:36
Location: Redbridge United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Head gasket leak?
i "think" on that side of the cylinder head theres a tiny little rivet looking thing on the underside behind the thermostat housing and near the water bypass hose. its basicaly where they cast the head, the oil ways had to be cleared out so there was a little hole left, that they filled with this rivet.. they can sometimes but VERY rairly leak.
also worth checking is the rocket cover gasket (these things are crap on all older cars) and the timing chain cover gasket..aswell as the tappet inspection covers on the back of the block behind the exhaust downpipe. as the rubber gaskets in these go hard with age and dont seal.. so leak oil. Heres a pic of that little rivet im on about.
Posted: Dec 14, 2007 10:56 PM
808 Rocket
10 posts
Joined: 02/06/2009 23:30:08
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii United States
Fast and hot!! Mini overheating.
Aloha once again from Hawaii!
Well the mini's running stronger and smoother than ever. But I have a problem I cannot figure out so I turn to you my mini experts! My mini overheats after about 10 minutes at constant highway speeds (50-60 mph). I have already checked my hoses, replaced the thermostat, flushed the system, and changed the radiator cap. The funny thing is if I turn on the heat it or go on surface streets it cools down and operates within perameters. I have already done a compression test and compression is up! I have noticed I am running lean according to my spark plugs which I replaced. It's an SPI so I don't know how to richen up the mixture. I have replaced the fuel filter and checked the pump and tank for blockage. I also have run fuel system cleaner and flushed and changed the oil. I'm at wit's end because I daily dove the mini for 5 years with no problems overheating often maintaining speeds of 65mph. Aaarruuggghhh!
Posted: Jun 02, 2013 09:03 PM
overheating with rusty/brown water in the radiator
OK, now we're getting somewhere. If there's no white 'gunk' in the oil or on the filler cap, then you probably haven't got a leaky head gasket. The cause of the overheating could be a number of things: radiator/engine blocked internally; radiator blocked externally with leaves/mud; faulty thermostat; wrongly set ignition timing; weak fuel mixture; etc.
I would start by removing the radiator completely. Flush it out by running a hose into the bottom pipe and letting the water run out of the top, until it runs clear. Then use the hose to blast the outside of the radiator, to clear out all the crap between the coolling fins. Flush out the engine block as well. Then put it all back together, using a new thermostat, and fill with correct antifreeze mixture. Then check ignition timing and carb mixture.
Posted: Jul 09, 2009 12:48 PM
Coolant/water leak
The thermostat gasket is a good place to start, but beware of corroded nuts and studs when you undo it - soak in penetrating oil for 24 hours first. Apart from the hoses, the only other place you're likely to see water escaping is from the water pump spindle - if you do, replace the whole pump.
Make sure that water isn't escaping out of the radiator overflow pipe - if it is, then you may be suffering overheating.
If you're still losing water after that, then it's most likely the cylnder head gasket, I'm afraid.
Posted: Sep 10, 2010 08:17 AM