1st Gen R53 Cooper S Inconsistant power?

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by plasticknives, Apr 15, 2010.

  1. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    Hi all,

    I've noticed that my car will pull very hard sometimes, throwing me back into my seat, while other times it is not nearly as strong. The car is an 02 MCS with a catback, 15% pulley, Conforti ecu flash, and Detroit Tuned BPV. Brand new OEM plugs, cylinder compression is perfect, get a steady 15-16 PSI of boost. Gas is always premium 93, top tier.

    Just today after the car reached operating temperature, I was cruising in 4th gear at 3000 rpm and the car would pull pretty good at partial throttle. Not 20 minutes later after some highway driving, I noticed the car wasn't pulling nearly as hard under the same conditions. This happens under partial throttle as well as WOT, which leads me to believe it's not an oxygen sensor problem.

    This has been happening for a couple months now (ever since I bought the car back in January). Does anyone have any suggestions as to why this would happen?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

    Mar 30, 2009
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    There is the ubiquitous any codes question first...

    So, Any Codes?

    You say the plugs are new. Have you checked the coil. The number 3 electrode seems to be notorious at times to be the first one to cause issues. I'd take a look there just to at least rule out something easy.

    OEM Wires and coil work and are less expensive than some of the fancy stuff out there that have yet to show any gains IMHO.

    While you're at it make sure all the plug wire ends are firmly on the plug.
     
  3. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    No codes.

    The contact ends on the coil all look good. How would I go about checking it to make sure its functioning properly? I have a set of Kingsborne wires on the way, to serve as a starting point for diagnosis.

    If there were an issue with spark, though, wouldn't it be present all the time, not just periodically?


    One theory on another board is the Shark "tune" has too much timing advance so once the car is at peak operational temp, the IAT is too warm, causing the car to misfire and the knock sensor kicks in.
     
  4. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    May 4, 2009
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    If you have the ability to revert back to the "stock" ecu map try it. As the plug-in tunes do have a tendency to not be optimized very well for some cars.
     
  5. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    Unfortunately I don't. The flash was done back in 2003 in-house, so no Shark Injector was used.

    I took the car for a 10-15 minute drive this morning starting with a cold engine. Did a few good pulls around town. Pulled back into the garage and pulled the plugs and this is what I found (plugs are in order 1-4)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Looks like a lot of detonation to me, correct?

    I think I'm going to have the dealer reflash the ecu back to factory settings. My strongest guess right now is the timing advance is just too much, causing detonation.
     
  6. Eric@Helix

    Eric@Helix New Member
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    May 4, 2009
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    I would try to loose that Conforti flash. The only times (2) I've seen a blown bottom end of a motor on a street MCS is with the combination of pulley and Conforti flash. Those plugs look pretty white. Run away.
     
  7. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    Whats strange is the old plugs that I pulled are a nice brown.

    I do plan on removing the Conforti though. Any idea how much the dealer would charge for this?
     
  8. Dr Obnxs

    Dr Obnxs New Member

    Jun 11, 2009
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    This is the Shark....

    if you still have the unit you can plug it in and press the button again, and it puts the stock map back in.

    Dealers vary, but shouldn't charge you more than 1/2 hour (shop min) to 1 hour of labor to do it.

    Matt
     
  9. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    The flash wasn't done with a Shark injector. It was done by a shop back in 2003 so I have no way of reverting back short of the dealership.
     
  10. Nitrominis

    Nitrominis Banned

    May 9, 2009
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    I went through the same thing with my 02.
    There are numerous reason why but if you are able to read your timing you will see that your current ECU mapping is pulling timing based on the temperatures of your Mini i.e. IAC,coolant.Which are constantly changing even with a constant driving condition like highway travel. I recommend getting a more current flash direct from a tuner. (not a remote) Or if you can at least a JCW re-map from a dealer. The stock mapping is not the way to go with your 02!


    The plugs look slightly on the lean(?) side but it is hard to say because you have idle down showing as well which changes the complete plug readings! Although these are great shots you can not get a really good idea what is going on plug wise without a power pull reading.
     
  11. Thumper460

    Thumper460 Active Member

    May 26, 2009
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    I agree detonation... all else considered, I strongly recommend a water meth system!!
    Go 1 step colder on the spark plug, and find a good water-meth system. I use "Snow Performance" others out there Devils Own is good also...cost anywhere from 350.00 to a grand.. they all work the basic same by cooling the chambers and allowing more power!!

    ANYwhere hot ( like here in Fl) and NO aftermarket Tune ( Mynes).. the water meth is a great safety!! Just a thought .....yes??

    Just me...................................

    Thumper
     
  12. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    I called up my local dealer than they said "reprogramming will take up a good portion of the day so I need to bring my car in the morning"..

    Sounds like they're trying to rip me off..
     
  13. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    I'm going go try colder plugs and see if that helps at all.
     
  14. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

    Jan 25, 2010
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    A reflash is a QUICK thing!!

    Which one....MOP or the one in RI (they are very good dealing with modded cars...better than MOP...and you MIGHT get a dicount if you mention MMC. You will on parts....
    I would strongly recommend you stay away from HerbChambers....
    A reprogram is like a max 1 hr job.....should be less, but that is the min charge for many.
     
  15. mini_racer

    mini_racer Well-Known Member

    May 4, 2009
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    Before you spend $$ for a reflash, can you correlate higher IATs with the symptom?

    So, does it always pull strong when the IATs are cold?

    Also, do you have any means of getting some data logs from via the OBDII port?

    Is it possible to contact the previous owner and ask a few questions, you have nothing to lose really. Can the symptoms be traced to the Conforti flash or maybe some other change to the car? This could be one of the reasons they sold it. Just ask!

    Sure it certainly could be the ECU yanking timing due to an aggressive tune, and some of the canned tunes out there are known to have very aggressive timing, I am just saying to try to collect as much data as possible before you start throwing money/parts at it with the hope of getting lucky.
     
  16. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    it was actually New Country Mini/BMW in Hardford.

    Don't really have any means short of buying a Scangauge2. However, considering the car was still showing this problem back in January, I don't think outside temp has much to do with it.
     
  17. plasticknives

    plasticknives New Member

    Apr 15, 2010
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    2 Months later...........

    I just installed my Alta intake and Brisk DR12S plugs last night and this is what my BKR6EQUP's looked like. I haven't pushed the car at all over the past month, just normal driving really. These have about 3000 miles on them. There are about 6 darkened threads on them, so I was in definite need of colder plugs.

    The pics probably won't tell much since I didn't do a hard accel/kill prior to pulling them.

    [​IMG]

    I'm curious about the inconsistent coloration on the ceramic from plug to plug.

    What I have noticed is much smoother performance and quicker throttle response with the intake and plugs. The car did still feel slow, however. Ambient temp was 85 out, so maybe that accounted for something.

    Also, check out the discoloration on the insulator. 2nd from bottom one:

    [​IMG]

    What is that about? Just too much heat?
     

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