Whats up guys & gals. First post here other than the intro thread. Bought my first MINI about 4 months ago and have loved every minute of it. I used to be in the vw/audi scene so I'm no newbie other than to this engine itself. I started modding the moment the car hit my driveway. Listed here: Alta 15% pulley, Alta CAI w/ tube, Alta IC diverter, magencor wires, msd coil, brisk colder plugs, catch can and just recently performance header & race cat. Now on to the troubles, my serp belt snapped leaving me stranded about 2 months ish ago. I decided that would be a good time to upgrade the pulley and ignition. Upgraded to the previously stated kit and everything went great. I had a small idle issue following that. Never effected drivability until now. Installed the header / cat combo an the problem is now more pronounced. I do believe the headers have any correlations other than it being louder. I took to autozone and got the codes pulled and they were both for the throttle body P0222 and one other. Pulled the TB apart and cleaned it. It was pretty dirty but I feel like it is the TPS, which would have to replace with a new TB. Before I go off and order a new TB I want to be sure that is the problem. Anyone have any suggestions on what I could test or what I could do? TIA For the record, I have been "searching" for days now **** Well so far no luck. I got the new throttle body in on Friday, installed and instantly made an improvement. Drove perfect for the next hour until I hit traffic, then again it started. It isn't doing it as frequent but the problem is still there. It was a brand new TB so no chance it is the problem now. Today I went and cleaned both tmap sensors and still no better. I've checked all the connections that I would have ever messed with on the car and can't find anything loose, missing, broken or anything along those lines. I have a new crank pulley coming in which I'm replacing next weekend but I really don't believe that is the problem. My codes were p0122 and p0222, both dealing with the throttle. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated, I'm looking to get my car to the track whenever I get it fixed. -Nick
:cornut: Welcome to MA. Judging from the info you gave, Throttle Body and smaller Pulley, you have an R53 2002-2006. How many miles on the odometer? Pull the plugs to check for fouling. If they are fouled go back to normal temp plugs. Air filter clean? These are the easy things, let's do these and get the exact year and mileage and go from there. Jason
Yes you are correct, I have a 2006 R53. Mileage is at 63,xxx at the moment. I didn't notice any fowling of the plugs and had already tried switching back to the stock plugs. I had actually put the entire stock coil, plugs and wires in with no luck. The air filter is clean as well. Both codes are dealing with the throttle position and are reading low voltage. I heard the TPS sometimes goes bad which is in junction with the TB so I replaced that, but that must not be the culprit. The other sensor is the pedal assembly itself. Which I am leaning towards next, but I don't want to keep throwing money for replacement parts with out actually getting anywhere.
:cornut: Check your battery with a volt meter(if you don't have one, go by AutoZone or other parts house that caters to 'shade tree'ers') to ensure that it's not going bad. Is it ball park 4yrs old? Surprisingly strange things happen on a MINI when the battery starts going out. The really bright MINIac mechanics will be along shortly. Jason
Have you checked the vacuum lines to make sure they are all connected properly as well as in good shape, as in not cracked. Might want to think about a smoke test to determine if the lines are all good.
I will have to check on that, never had a problem starting or anything but I have read a few threads saying to check the battery. Nathan- I checked all the lines I could think of along with connections. Even sprayed some cleaner to check for any leaks.
Got my scanner in today and I also thru up code P0133. Looking that up it is a fault in the oxygen sensor. Cutting fuel, ect ect. I just put the headers on along with a J plug, thinking now, I probably do not need the J plug pre cat as it should still read fine. Post cat I could see as there is no more catylic converter. The car is on jack stands and just waiting for the exhaust to cool down
Well folks, that'll do it. Took out the j-plug out of the header, installed o2 back in. Cleared the codes, ran the piss out of it, and she is golden. So after a 300 dollar TB, lessoned learned lol Makes sense now though, the o2 regulates fuel and so on,so when it didnt read correct flow readings it was stalling out and cutting fuel. Wished the bone head at autozone told me o2 code. Could have saved me time, money and headache.
Word of advice, remove the MSD coil and put the OEM one back on before you cook your ECU. OEM is the best coil, plugs and wires for your car period. Even high HP cars making over 400 whp run OEM not MSD or the screamin deamon garbage. Many have had issues with MSD coils cooking ECU so you have been warned. What header did you buy that came with a J plug for the second o2?
Well thanks for the advise. I had purchased j plugs separately as I thought I needed both, kinda got cross referenced from when I used to have my v6 audi. Just thought I was saving myself some headache when I really just made it. I'm running a test pipe so I installed them so I wouldn't throw cat codes, not realizing precat wouldn't matter.