Could the bad gas have coated the intake their by causing the coating on the plugs. Could the intake need cleaning?
I took a look in the intake, there is black tar just around the intake ports on the head and the plastic intake is wet with some sticky stuff. The ports leading up to the valves have patches of brown film that also coats the valves. I can see the aluminium head in places but mostly the ports are covered in a brown film. I suppose it would not harm to try to clean out the ports.....any suggestions? Remember I'm in CR..LOL Total have been in contact so I'm going the push for a complete fuel system replacement. Pump, filter, injectors, 02 sensors, plugs .
are you sure you got all the bad gas out of the tank? I'd imagine that would require dropping the tank and opening it up. Orange sounds like varnish, you get that if you store gas a couple of years (less if in a really hot climate) my other thought it might be worth a shot to do an ecu reset.
I'm currently working with Total to see what can be done to gian new parts because I think I've ruined all my injectors as the mixture on the wideband gauge is all over the place. 13.2, 14.3, 15.7 at idle. It used to be 15.3 to 15.6 Regarding the fuel. I used the fuel pump to drain that side of the tank and then took out the pump and filter to gain access to drain the remaining fuel, There was a very small amount of fuel inside the tank. So to be sure I'm going to drain this fuel out too and add some from a local gas station. Also I brought some injection cleaner and some carb cleaner. I was going to take the intake off and spray the carb cleaner into the ports, leave it a day and try to clean the brown film but I was worried if the cleaner gets into the cylinders and ultimately into the oil. Maybe a soaked cloth would be better.
I've pretty much gave up on the problem until I can replace the fuel filter, 02 sensers and injectors. I've to a point where I have the fault on #3,4 cylinders but swapping injectors does not help because I think all the injectors are bad. I drained all the fuel out over the weekend and replaced it with local fuel. The strange thing is a ton of crap comes out into to container. Surely the filter should catch that? So until I can replace the filter etc I'm not wasting any more time. I have a meeting with Total CR today so I hope they will do the correct thing and replace are the parts. Another interesting thing is the Gatorade fuel is now clear but with several droplets of water in the bottle. I'll let you know how the meeting goes.
I was under the impression the meeting was regarding an insurance claim which I had supplied documents for but when in the conference room it apparent this was a well set up bully boy corporate meeting of 3 executives to harass and intimidate a concerned customer. To be honest I was disappointed with the whole meeting and the accusations that I had fabricated the whole story to discredit Total and receive money. I was amazed and totally surprised that a well-respected company like Total would take that approach. Regarding the Mini. Game over for me. I cannot find the problem with the limited equipment that I have so I'm taking it to BMW to have them hook up the engine to their computer. I think in the long run this will be the cheapest and quickest way to have the Mini back. Also I leave for the US on Saturday and return a week before the next rally.
no luck this time. The Mini 1 driver 0 It is so frustrating as the engine runs perfect at 900rpm and at 4000rpm and up. I can blip the throttle no problem but at any constant rpm between 1500 to 3500 the fault happens. I should set the idle at 4000rpm and drive like that LOL
Booked in at 10am at BMW today. They can do it...I hope. I bet it will be something that makes me go DUH! why didn't I see that.
Hope it all works out well. I know how your feeling and sometimes a fresh set of eyes can really make a difference.
hahahahahaahaha I corrected the time. They emailed me yesterday to say the engine did not have a problem even though I sent (you know me) a very detailed email on the fault. So I sent another email on how to find the fault....bingo! an email came back saying the engine goes on 3 cylinders! so they were pulling the injectors to test for flow and pressure. Also they wanted to know what shop worked on the car? I'm sure they think Gringro's can't have the brains to work on their own cars....I put them straight on that subject. Actually I fear more someone else working on my car. They should feel honoured. LOL Regarding the cost: I really don't want to think about that. The poor Visa is squeezed enough already....Might have to do the Kidney thing LOL
yes, I'm sitting here, thinking what they are doing to it. Just having the body shell repaired presented a ton of little issues to fix. Regarding Total: I'm still active on that issue. I emailed their boss in France about the appalling customer service so I hope there will be some come back. Also the media here have some interest based on other incidents. I doubt they will do the right thing but if they get some hassle like I did that will be enough.