1st Gen R53 Cooper S Morning Hard Starts & Now, 1-3k RPM Hesitation/Yoyo/Hiccup

Update:
What happened to me yesterday might have just explained half my issues. The hesitation might be a solved mystery.
Took the MINI to work yesterday. Car started the usual w/ a few tries, drove fine w/ very faint hint of hesitation...must be a good day, me thinkin'. I usually run A/C to kick the highspeed fan on since my lo-speed resistor hasn't been resurrected yet.
Suddenly, I lost A/C cold air, hmmm, batt light on, another hmmm. Scangauge reads 11+v. Switched A/C off, batt light goes off w/ it, Scangauage reads 12+v instead of the usual norm of 13-14+v. Did it 3x more, same results. CRANK PULLEY. Gotta get myself home quick & weave thru city traffic, I thought. Got home w/ temp gauge @ usual midpoint but scangauge read 234F/112C, exact temp trigger for the high speed fan. Engine bay emitted a very very light haze w/ a rubbery smell. Confirmed w/ Keith my suspicion before digging into it. Glad I had a crank pulley puller ready. This is when forum-generated paranoia becomes a good thing.
Attached pic shows a totally separated damper. Miraculously, my newly installed OEM belt,stock idler/alternator/A/C pulleys & tensioner were all unscathed. I'm blessed. It somehow cushioned the blow of frustration on why this car suddenly decided it wants to get sick.:confused5:
I'm looking at the bright side always. I'll be doing all these repairs & maintenance at 1 time to get it back better, more enjoyable. These unplanned expenses are like Pacquiao blows! Painful, frustrating, takes the air out of you. Fortunately, I've patience to rope-a-dope w/ an old reliable RAV filling in as my daily.
Thanks to M/A & the kind members of this community for being my shot of anesthesia! I'll keep posted on the healing process!:wink:

 

Haha. How many are those they say? CVT, Fuel filter,PS, S/C, Tranny/charger/PS fluids,& so on. BMW made sure MINI remains truly British.:lol:

 

Yeah, I've been bracing for this since I saw a friend's 05 w/ just 21k mi break. Fixed that w/out a proper puller & t'was hell. Learned from it. What damper do you guys have on?

 

Seems to be the most popular choice. How many miles on it, Nathan? I'd like to believe those should be a real "Lifetime Part". Prior to damper failure, I noticed some significant drop in mpg on the OBC. I presumed t'was due to a lot of stationary idling while observing the engine's behavior on varying rev ranges. I definitely was never running rich. Anyone observed the same?

 

Haha. Was never enticed to put on those solid ones. Cost-wise, they're tempting, but I plan to keep the car & maybe hand it over generations down.:wink:
Some good insights there, Keith.
Thanks all!

 

solid damper

I'd probably go for that!

 

Hi guys, sorry,it has been awhile. Work & travel cut the momentum. Here's a premature update- Finally put on the ATI damper an hour ago. Have yet to take it for a spin. 2 weeks back, replaced the fuel filter & the torn passenger side inner CV boot that I'd just wrapped w/ rolled, ziptied garbage bag to keep dirt & water off that joint. Amazingly, the bag held on well! As expected, the old filter was black, & the housing had some gunk in. Twas a struggle to unscrew the untouched 10yr old filter housing, still managed to finish in less than an hour. Oh & my battery lost all its juice with the long hibernation. It tested OK, & was recharged.
Took quite a number of cranks to get it started after sitting for almost a month. It felt fuel-starved. When it finally fired, felt some misfire. Turned off, checked all plug wires, then attempted to restart. Took about 3 tries again to get it fired, idle smooth! Checked the hesitation, less noticeable but still felt it. Got better as car warmed up though. I suspect the hard start issue is still there, will have to observe before digging further. For now, just glad to have all these maintenance, repairs out of the way & to have put it back on its feet. Pump seems to prime well, pressure yet to be checked. Have fuel rail pressure regulator, injector o-rings ready to go in if diagnosis would point there. I'll get back after I take it for spin & maybe a fresh tank of vPower.
Simply followed all the comprehensive DIY How-tos archived here in M/A. All very helpful! Appreciate all your help & inputs! What would I have done w/o your guidance? Thanks guys!

 

After taking the car for a spin, here are my observations:
1. Sub 2-3krpm hesitation/yoyo still very evident. It's driveable & bearable but it just isn't normal.
2. After turning the engine off, restarts are never 1 click regardless of engine temp & pump priming. Usually have a few false starts, falls flat & dies. Every successful crank always results in perfect idle though. The new fuel filter seems to have done no improvement here.
3. After idling a lot & observing the different rev ranges & behavior in different gears, OBC MPG just hovers around 10ish???? ECU must be adjusting to fuel starvation symtoms?

In the recent coupla months, the ff maintenance/mods/replacements have been done on car:
1: Oil change w/ OEM filter & Castrol Edge. Never consumes oil between changes.
2. New OEM coolant temp sensor. Had 1 around & also to rule out temp error induced start problems.
3. New belt
4. New battery
5. New strut mounts & reinforcement plates
6. New coolant expansion tank to replace the yellow brown 1.
7. New plugs
8. New wires
9. New fuel filter
10. New ATI damper
11. New passenger inner CV boot
I'm just hoping it's not anywhere near the pump. Too pricey a part in such a short time span! & The filter was such a hassle. I still have to check fuel pressure & have the fuel rail pulse/pressure reg, its o-rings & injector o-rings ready. Will follow what Keith said on the pressure check.
Keep those ideas coming. Most of done items were maintenance necessary so I never looked at them goin to waste.
Help still needed at this point.
Thanks guys!

 

Anyone please point me to where the MAP sensor is & how to clean it? Worth trying? thanks!

 

Ok guys, here's a follow up. With the persistent symptoms, I had to gather enough courage & tools, of course, to get down to fuel rail pressure testing. I was bracing myself for low pressure ( no pun intended, heart & prayers to all of Sandy's victims). Somehow, with all these unrelated issues popping at same time, I'm beginning to think there's some truth to "the Law of Attraction". Unfortunately, I'm attracting all the negatives lately...need to think more of happy motoring than maintenance-needed-next, I guess.
Anyway, here are the results:
1. Key at 0: 0psi
2. Key at 2, pump primes: 22psi then drops back to 0 instantly after pump off
3. Engine on after a few tries: 22psi across any rpm
4. A lot of headscratchin!:confused5::confused5::confused5:

All these & no codes. New rail pulse regulator doesn't hold pressure & 22psi is way low in comparison to Keith's guide. Pump relay was switched w/ headlamp washer one, no effect. The Pump? Uh oh, there's your 'Law of Negative Attraction' proof. That's the 1 I feared most. It's supposedly an R56 thing!:confused5:

I've never felt such a mixed bag of emotions(thrill, anticipation, disappointment, triumph, frustration,relief, fun & scalp itch. In no particular order) dealing w/ a car. Those emotions are usually reserved for WaGs, right?:wink:

Anyway, just sharing my 'fun' troubleshootin' adventure. Of course, your thoughts, inputs are all welcome & will be appreciated!

Oh, by the way, after a day's worth of motorin' struggle dealing w/ hiccups, low end power & constant rev matching, I ended w/ a new issue. Chatter on the passenger side of engine that drowns itself when revving...What the??? Head spins! After gatherin' myself, stethoscoped both sides of the charger 1st. Whew, smooth. RELIEF! Checked the new ATI for wobbling- NONE. Scoped the tensioner, THERE! The strut lost 1 bushing. Ziptied it shut temporarily...SILENCE finally.

Sorry for the long post. Your turn, guys. Thanks!