1st Gen R50 Cooper Urgent help needed!

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by RallyMini370, Jul 25, 2015.

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  1. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    I didn't get 200yds from the hotel this morning on the way to the rally when the engine went on 3 cylinders. up to then the engine had been running the best ever.

    what changed? nothing apart from I filled up with fuel the night before and drove about 3 miles back to the hotel.

    what happens: I can start the engine and it idles perfect. I rev up to around 3000rpm and keep it there for a few seconds then the engine goes onto 3 cylinders and the CEL flashes on and off . Then stays on 3 cylinders . I can switch off the engine and on again and the engine is back to all cylinders and at 2500 to 3000 the engine goes to 3 cylinders and sometimes 2 cylinders.

    always switching off and on restores the cylinders . The wide band meter reads around 15.2 and goes to 17.0 very lean as soon as the engine goes to 3 cylinders.

    What I have done: first I changed the sparks plugs which seemed to help. then I drained the tank and found the fuel to look like orange Gatorade and had some water in it! Fuel here looks like amber bock beer.. So I changed the injectors, fuel pump, cleaned the fuel filter and put good fuel in the tank. Still the same issue. The parts I put on are the working originals from the Mini that I took off to replace with newer parts.

    sometimes I can rev the engine through the rev range for a few minutes but then when I stick at one rpm the problem returns. Scan tool code only reads P0300 , Multi cylinder miss fire. no other codes.

    the strange thing is the engine was running fine the night before , it took 4 hours to drive here. Now I have to figure out how to get the Mini back

    How can I check the injectors are good? is there a limp mode on the Mini? the engine will idle without problem only when rev'ed the engine goes to 3 cylinders .

    For who don't know , this is a MC

    Hopefully someone will have a few suggestions? I check back a bit later.

    Thanks
     
  2. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

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    Maybe a coil or coil pack. Sounds electrical to me.
     
  3. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    opps forgot to mention I changed coil pack too. What if the 02 sensor got fouled up by the Gatorade fuel? I'm hanging by the computer tonight .
     
  4. Steve

    Steve Administrator
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    This is the only question I can answer. Yes, I usually hear it called limp home mode. I think it's officially called failsafe or emergency mode. There may be more than one of these, limiting the engine in different ways...I think that's right.

    I'm clearly not helping but figure a bump couldn't hurt.

    You might also try this thing: MINI Engine Management Overview

    I don't expect it to help either, to tell the truth. I found it when someone else asked about limp/safe mode but it was just too confusing for me to get anything out of it. Your mileage may vary.

    Good luck.
     
  5. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

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    Sheesh...for a second, I thought you had gotten one of those new 3 cylinder MINIs....:arf:
     
  6. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
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    When my R53 went into limp mode a couple years ago, I had a bad MAP sensor. As I remember there are two sensors. If you can get a code reader it'll help to pinpoint for a better diagnosis.
     
  7. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    I have a code reader. The only code I get is P0300 and sometimes P0313 which is low fuel.
     
  8. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

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    What's the pressure reading at the fuel rail? Maybe a problem with the fuel pump?
     
  9. Goldsmithy

    Goldsmithy MINI Alliance Ambassador
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    Chris, I am here to lend moral support as I'm not a teck...but I've been 'down on the side of the road' a few times when driving air cooled VWs. IT SUCKS... May the MINI Gods smile on you.
     
  10. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Too bad it is not an air cooled VW, you could fix that with a rock, so simple.

    Chris I'm not a tech either, but I'm sending good thoughts your MINI engines way, hope it helps. :fingerscrossed:
     
  11. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    What year is this car?

    If you had water in the gas have you tried adding a can of Heet or something to eliminate it?
     
  12. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    #12 RallyMini370, Jul 26, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
    Thanks for the good wishes. 2004 MC ....The Mini is home thanks for Visa and flat bed truck....there went $400! was an expensive weekend..LOL more on that later.

    I completely drained the tank and replaced the pump. Strange thing is I get the fault , check while the engine is running which cylinder is bad by pulling the plug wire. First is #4, stop the engine, switch on and the cylinder is now #2, repeat and I get #3 repeat #4 repeat #3 repeat #2 never seams to be #1 but I didn't test that many times. I'm going to test the fuel pressure tomorrow as I tired of the Mini today...haha
     
  13. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
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    You may want to try changing the fuel filter. They say lifetime, however they really are not. Mine ('05 R53) was desperately in need of changing at 62,000 miles... It's under the rear seat on the passenger's side.
     
  14. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    I had a spare one so I changed that. actually this is the second filter in 4000miles. Also the tools to adjust the springs seats on a coilover work great to pull apart the filter housing.
     
  15. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
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    ^^^ and did this have any positive effect?
     
  16. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    nope, just the same. everything I changed did not approve the problem
     
  17. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

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    Wish I could be more help Chris. Good luck.
     
  18. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    Could the 02 sensor be the problem? I think the issue is fuel related as the wideband gauge goes lean. I'm guessing the bad fuel could have damaged the sensor?
     
  19. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    Things it could be:
    Upstream O2 sensor, MAP sensors, crank position sensor, cam position sensor....
    You can swap the upstream and downstream O2 and see if that changes anything.

    Can you test fuel pressure with a gauge?
    Sounds like a fuel starvation problem...
    Fuel pressure regulator? clogged fuel system somewhere? Is the vacuum hose attached to the fuel pressure regulator? (check both ends)
     
  20. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

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    I have a fuel pressure gauge so I'll start with that tonight. I pulled the regulator off and cleaned the little filter and the line looks fine. I did check for leaks. the strange thing is when I drained the tank using the fuel pump I saw a lot of crap come out into the container which should not be the case because the filter should catch that.
     

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