Starting and misfire
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"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."
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I want to thank you guys for the help and info sorting out my mini. The car runs at a proper temp and its a blast to drive. Next thing will be installing a tach.
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Guys, I figured it out. I ordered a new alternator and it was basically the same as the one I had but didn’t have the + post on the back. I installed and the charging system works like it should. I also did the valve cover gasket like it was suggested and it no longer leaks.
I'm now working to sort out another problem. When I first got the car I was told that the clutch had been replaced. I discovered that when driving on the highway in 4th, if you gave it full throttle, the clutch would slip a little. In my haste I decided to change out the clutch. Why I didn't think of adjusting it first I can't remember but off I went. Its not that fun of a job considering the difficulty of reaching some of the bolts. I replaced the kit with an orange dot and to my frustration had somehow put it all back together with the old clutch disc. The new one still sitting in the box. I was using the old one to mock up and make sure everything was flat and forgot to swap in the new one when I did the install. I did notice that the old clutch looked good and was pretty much the same thickness as the new one.
Longer story short, got it all back together and followed the clutch adjusting procedures and it still slipped. I was able to adjust it by feel and get it to where it wouldn't slip but the engage point is right off the floor and its hard to get into gear when stopped and reverse is a bit of a grinder. I put in a new clutch arm yesterday and I now can't get it to not slip at any adjustment. It has an adjustable slave cylinder pushrod and I can't find what the stock length should be or the proper way to measure the adjustment. Is it overall length of the rod or how much it sticks out of the slave cylinder? Anyways, I've done a lot of reading and I have ordered all new clevis pins for the upper and lower clutch arm and the clutch pedal and a new SC pushrod. If I can't adjust it after that I may need a new clutch disc. I don't know. At that point I'll need to have a shop take over. Once frustrated I start to get sloppy. Don't think I have it in me to do an “in car” clutch job again.
Presuming you have are-verto clutch (????) :
1. take the big nuts off the the release bearing carrier (at the base of the clutch arm);
2. remove the spring from the top of the clutch arm;
3. pull the top of the clutch arm away from the slave.. Is there a gap between the clutch arm and the adjusted bolt?
4. if there's no gap, wind the adjuster bolt until there is ..Doesn't matter how big the gap is ..as long as there is one...
5. pull the rubber boot back from the end of the slave cylinder ;
6, have able assistance push clutch pedal to floor.. Does the slave piston come out far enough to hit the C clip stop??
7. if No, have AA pump clutch a few times and push to floor ..Does the slave piston now come out far enough to hit the C clip stop??
8. If No, try a test drive... does clutch still slip??
9. report back....
It might be worth actually measuring how far the top of the clutch arm moves at 7. Just short of an inch is good...
Good luck, Ian
PS Do NOT re-attach the clutch arm return spring before trying test drive....
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Guys, I figured it out. I ordered a new alternator and it was basically the same as the one I had but didn’t have the + post on the back. I installed and the charging system works like it should. I also did the valve cover gasket like it was suggested and it no longer leaks.
I'm now working to sort out another problem. When I first got the car I was told that the clutch had been replaced. I discovered that when driving on the highway in 4th, if you gave it full throttle, the clutch would slip a little. In my haste I decided to change out the clutch. Why I didn't think of adjusting it first I can't remember but off I went. Its not that fun of a job considering the difficulty of reaching some of the bolts. I replaced the kit with an orange dot and to my frustration had somehow put it all back together with the old clutch disc. The new one still sitting in the box. I was using the old one to mock up and make sure everything was flat and forgot to swap in the new one when I did the install. I did notice that the old clutch looked good and was pretty much the same thickness as the new one.
Longer story short, got it all back together and followed the clutch adjusting procedures and it still slipped. I was able to adjust it by feel and get it to where it wouldn't slip but the engage point is right off the floor and its hard to get into gear when stopped and reverse is a bit of a grinder. I put in a new clutch arm yesterday and I now can't get it to not slip at any adjustment. It has an adjustable slave cylinder pushrod and I can't find what the stock length should be or the proper way to measure the adjustment. Is it overall length of the rod or how much it sticks out of the slave cylinder? Anyways, I've done a lot of reading and I have ordered all new clevis pins for the upper and lower clutch arm and the clutch pedal and a new SC pushrod. If I can't adjust it after that I may need a new clutch disc. I don't know. At that point I'll need to have a shop take over. Once frustrated I start to get sloppy. Don't think I have it in me to do an “in car” clutch job again.
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"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."
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For your test, take a 12V lamp (a dash light bulb or running/indicator lamp bulb) and solder wires to it. Connect one wire to the small terminal on the alternator, the other wire to a 12V supply. Temporarily you can connect it where the brown wires are on the starter solenoid.
As soon as both wires are connected the test lamp should light. Start the engine. The test lamp should go out. If it doesn't, post back and let us know. Now measure the voltage across the battery. With the test lamp off (and engine running) the battery should measure about 1.5V higher than you measured with the engine NOT running.
As soon as you are done, disconnect your test lamp from the alternator and solenoid.
This is what I found this afternoon. Running the engine with the alternator hooked up like it should be I get 12.7V everywhere I checked. The unused post on the alternator only showed 0.5V - 1V. When I unplug the alternator and run the engine I'm getting 14.8V from the alt.
I plugged in the alt while the engine was running and immediately the engine bogged down. I turned off the engine and noticed that the plastic 3 pin connector had melted around the biggest brown wire. I'm not sure why but it seems like I have a short somewhere.
In diagnosing the original problems I replaced the battery, replaced the starter and moved one of the ground straps from the clutch housing to where the upper engine steady mounts to the block. In the 1.5 years I've had the car I have never had a working red ign light. I can't remember if it had a bulb in it or not but I replaced the bulb and it lights up with the key. It doesn’t go out at any RPM. I haven't done any other electrical changes. I did unplug the rally lights to remove the grille, but I don't think that would have any effect.
If I get sometime tomorrow after work I will try your suggested procedure.
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For your test, take a 12V lamp (a dash light bulb or running/indicator lamp bulb) and solder wires to it. Connect one wire to the small terminal on the alternator, the other wire to a 12V supply. Temporarily you can connect it where the brown wires are on the starter solenoid.
As soon as both wires are connected the test lamp should light. Start the engine. The test lamp should go out. If it doesn't, post back and let us know. Now measure the voltage across the battery. With the test lamp off (and engine running) the battery should measure about 1.5V higher than you measured with the engine NOT running.
As soon as you are done, disconnect your test lamp from the alternator and solenoid.
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I checked the battery while running and I only had 12.8V. Checked the spades on the alt and barely got any movement on the needle. Could it be it needs rebuilt?
Is there any trick to keep the valve cover from leaking oil? It has leaked ever since I had the car and even though I've changed the cork gasket a number of times, it always weeps out. Don't really want to use RTV, but is that the only way?
Yes, there is a way to prevent the valve cover from leaking. It does involve RTV but probably not the way you think. I've posted this before... here it is again....
- Remove the valve cover. Clean its gasket surface to remove every trace of old gasket and sealer.
- Clean the top of the cylinder head the same way.
- Apply a thin smear of grease to the cleaned top of the cylinder head. Smear the grease everywhere the gasket will sit.
- Press the new valve cover gasket onto the head where you spread the grease. Make sure it is flat and in contact with the head everywhere.
- Apply a THIN bead of RTV to the sealing surface on the valve cover.
- Place the valve cover on the gasket
- Tighten the valve cover hardware FINGER TIGHT (no more than finger tight).
- Wait 1/2 day, then torque the valve cover hardware to its normal amount.
Doing it this way you have a perfectly flat gasket surface that conforms to the cylinder head. The RTV seals any gaps between the top of the gasket surface and a (likely) distorted valve cover. With this method the valve cover can be removed and re-installed multiple times without damage and it won't leak.
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Idled the car for 15 min and the temp never went over 90 degrees. Would of passed that easily before so early results look like a complete upgrade of the cooling system is doing its job. Now that I changed the bulb on the ignition red light, and its working, I noticed it was not going out once started. I checked the battery while running and I only had 12.8V. Checked the spades on the alt and barely got any movement on the needle. Could it be it needs rebuilt? Jeez, starter, head gasket and now alt all basically at the same time? Oh well, I guess its good to get it all sorted now while the rally lights and grille are off.
Is there any trick to keep the valve cover from leaking oil? It has leaked ever since I had the car and even though I've changed the cork gasket a number of times, it always weeps out. Don't really want to use RTV, but is that the only way?
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Thanks!
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Terry
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Thanks!
Scott | 1963 Austin Cooper | 2003 MINI Cooper S | 2018 MINI Cooper 4-door
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Now I just have to fix this stubborn leak at the water elbow.
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Got the engine back together. Cranked it until the gauge showed oil pressure and then plugged in the coil and it fired right up. However, the engine raced up to 3000+ RPMs and stayed there. I checked the throttle and choke linkage and everything seemed right. Tried adjusting the idle screw and nothing changed. I turned the fuel screw both ways and no change. I used my spray bottle to spray water and look for vacuum leaks but couldn’t detect any difference while I sprayed. I noticed after about my 3rd attempt that the middle exhaust pipe was starting to glow red. I only ran the car about a minute each time so the exhaust was getting hot very fast. I haven’t messed with the distributor and the timing since it was running correctly. The shop I got the head from said my BDK needle should work with the 'stage 2' head I now have. Seems to me like it is running lean but I can't seem to figure out why.
Oh, and I can't seem to get my water inlet elbow to not leak. Tried 2 different gaskets and leaked both times. Didn't tighten hard. Book say 6 to 9 lbs. Might have to try some RTV silicone.
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Yes, there will be a raft of dissenters, but I've never had an issue.
If you do go down that route, do the nuts one at a time after slackening them off. Having a second go with a torque wrench and heaving till it clicks can often over-tighten them.
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