New sensor and ignition key ordered and should be down here by Thursday if all goes well. Thanks Eminiparts!
If anyone ever deserved an award for sheer determination and perseverance it has to be you !! Hopefully this doesn't go full circle back to the ECU because you have no control over it as you have to trust someone else's work. Once again good luck !!
Thanks, I'm a little skeptical regarding the sensor but it is worth a try. Ultimately I believe the ECU is the issue and as you say I have to believe that they know what they are doing. At least I have this weekend to do more testing because I love that! not. Reading the crank sensor issues I have most of those. The crankshaft position sensor records how fast the crankshaft is spinning. This speed is then used by the car's internal computer for proper fuel injection and ignition. There are actually two parts to the sensor: a disc that rotates and the sensor which remains in place. The most typical type of sensor works off of the Hall Effect which uses a magnet. Many of the failure symptoms are similar to issues that other parts will have when they fail, so often times it can take several tries to uncover whether it is sensor that is the problem. 1 - Check Engine Light This can be frustrating as the check engine light can obviously turn on for many different things. Your mechanic will need to hook up to your car's internal computer to determine that it is the sensor failing. Many times this light may go off when the car is running, but when you start the car again after it has been off for a while, the light has turned off. This occurs when the sensor stops working due to high heat levels. Once the vehicle cools down it will function again. 2 - Cylinder Misfiring Only one of the cylinders needs to misfire to cause a problem. Many times misfiring is due to issues with the spark plug, but if the sensor fails then the computer is not getting the correct information on piston position. Many people will not check the sensor, but if you have fixed everything else and there are still problems, checking it should be next on the list. 3 - Acceleration Hesitation This is also similar to the cylinder misfiring. If there is some type of hesitation in acceleration, then the computer is not getting the correct information on the position of the cylinders when the car is running. There is a lag between the computer receiving data from the crankshaft position sensor and applying it, so it takes the car that little bit of time to accelerate. 4 - Intermittent Starting This is the most serious of the symptoms that could occur. When the sensor completely fails then the internal computer will have a malfunction code. If the car continues to have difficulty starting and you do not have it fixed, then one day it will not start at all. Many times this type of failure is because there is a problem with the electrical connection. There may be a problem with the circuit. If the signal to the computer begins to fail then this can cause the spark plugs to fail and eventually damage the engine. 5 - Engine Vibrations Once the sensor fails then the position is not monitored, so you may find that the engine starts to have very strong vibrations. This will in turn affect the engine power and can also stop the mileage from recording properly. 6 - Backfiring and Stalling Your car may stall from time to time. It can stall a few seconds after starting or quite some time after starting, and the same goes for backfiring. You will also notice that the car keeps backfiring frequently, not just every so often. 7 - Irregular Car Function Basically you will notice that regular engine workings will start to become irregular, such as speed fluctuations, irregular acceleration, idling fluctuations, and more. If you start to notice a lot of odd and irregular workings then have your crankshaft position sensor checked.
On an E30 325is I had once I chased problem for weeks and could not find it. I had my multimeter out checking every thing but it all checked correctly. One day I was out side going through it agin when my neighbor came over and asked what I was doing. I told him, he was standing on the other side of the car. When I finished he looked down and said, do you know this wire has a cut in it, No I say. I go to his side and sure enough it has a small cut in it, it was the crank shaft sensor! I had missed it for weeks. It would run fine the start missing, when I tested it it would test correctly. I hope after all this, some one doesn't walk up and say "hay Chris did you know this wire has a small cut in it?" Lastly I don't mean to put pressure on you but you really need to hurry. Rally season is soon to start. We need you to carry the Mini banner! Good luck.
Hahahaha reminds of a co-worker with a Saab, He had a fuel leak issue for weeks , he asked me and I looked under the hood and saw a tiny leak. job done. The rally season down here is yet to be decided so I have time. I suppose reading this thread at some points you must “what is this guy doing?†My background is textile based so since I was 16 I have gained my automotive experience by reading and asking. I have worked on more 50 cars of all makes, Alfa’s, Ford, MG, Fiat, Peugeot, Mini, Land Rover, Suzuki, Subaru, Lancia, Citroen, Hillman, Vauxhall, Volvo to name a few. Building engines, diffs, gearboxes etc I started building rally cars back in 1987 with some good championship results. One thing I admit is I’m not an electronics expert and I know that has not helped me with this issue but having sent the Mini to the dealer for2 weeks and a BMW expert confessed to not knowing the issue that gives me a little confidence that this is a complex electrical issue. Traveling back and forth has not helped either, all I can do is keep going and hopefully have a result soon.
Well you've gone to far to give up now. Besides its to entertaining for us. Its kind of like the guy fighting agents the odds. I was thinking why not rip the fuel infection out put a pair of side draft Webers on on it. rig a good old distributor and trash the ECU. I had a 79 Alfa spider I built. The Webers made it run like a scalded dog. And it sang a great Italian song.
Over the weekend I got the Bentley manual out and went through the sensors to check the voltage etc. I also swapped the new crank sensor back. All checked out good so I checked the fault issue again and found the range now had narrowed to 3200 to 3500 and took about a minute or so to kick in. Then I decided to reset the system several times as I read an interesting article on Friday that even though you have changed parts to resolve an issue the ECU memory still retains the error and after a reset the ECU needs to learn new parameters based on speed, driving style etc. Seeing as the Mini never moves an inch it was time to wash the body work and take the Mini for a good trash! I got ready to go for a drive when the engine at idle went to 2 cylinders and a strong smell of fuel. I pulled the plug leads to find 3 and 4 not running. I pulled out the plugs to find #3 wet with fuel which was strange. Anyway after some checking I found #3 injector stuck open dumping fuel out with no control. I spun the cylinders to blow out the fuel, fitted another injector(I have plenty!) then all was well. Then I did some blasts around the local roads with the locals thinking there was a race going on! I did plenty of driving at 3000 to 3500RPM in 3rd, 4th up hill/down hill and no fault. I drove to work this morning. Nothing. Drove like I stole it. nothing. It's early days yet and time will tell if all is well. I have the new Crank sensor and key coming Thursday which should improve the issue. Good to be back on the road!
Thanks everyone for sticking with me on this long road. The frustrating part is not knowing exactly what the issue was. I believe the main problem was the fuel and the 4 hour long drive at high RPM. I believe the old battery ruined the alternator/kill switch which also destroyed the pulley rubbers. I think putting on the shorter V belt was the last nail in the coffin to throw the pulley off balance. All of these issues happened at once causing one big issue. The good thing is the engine runs better than before! and I learned a lot, drank a lot and laughed a lot! Pura Vide as they say here.
Chris, I think the one thing you can take from all this is that now, you KNOW your car inside and out! Congratulations! Now, get that heap back on the circuit! :ihih: