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OhCrikey
Member
| Joined: | Sunday February 17th, 2008 |
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| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: Sunday February 17th, 2008 08:04 pm |
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After owning our new cooper for less than 3 months I took the decision to take it off the road due to highly alarming tram-lining which got worse when I had new a539's put on the rear ( to match the fronts ).So it remained on the driveway waiting for me to get round to fitting a pair of adjustable suspension tie rods. There was also problems with the immobiliser, a new battery in the fob has helped.
So. After 6 weeks or so, despite being cosy inside it's fitted cover, it does not want to know. If anyone can suggest remedies or have experience of problems with 'laid up' Mpi's we'd be overjoyed ! I am not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I am fairly practical...Cheers 
1/ The clutch pedal will not budge at all ( stuck in the up position )
2/ With a fully charged, new battery the engine turns on the starter, but very reluctantly. It seems to fire on one ..perhaps two cylinders but the exhaust smoke fills the engine bay !! It seems to come out from the injector / manifold area. There were no leaks at the manifold prior to the car being stood. The engine spins well on the starter with all plugs removed.
Any ideas anybody ????
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hawaiianblue
Member
| Joined: | Saturday June 2nd, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 214 |
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Posted: Monday February 18th, 2008 03:39 pm |
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Ok, clutch is easy, all minis will do this if stood for a long time.
The Clutch and the flywheel rust together, also the plunger that operates them can rust too. under the bonnet below the brake servo and ECU you can see the clutch slave cylinder and the arm which it operates. Drip some oil down on to the pivot points and the attached plunger (has a 'big' nut on it).
Then with a good battery fitted, select 1st or reverse (depending which way the car is facing) and jolt the car along with the starter while pumping the clutch pedal, ususally the jolts will free the clutch.
The reluctant cranking with the plugs fitted and back draft through the inlet manifold suggests a sticking valve or somthing. But usually the clutch sticking is the only real problem on a car thats been standing, generally an MPi will just fire up after a few extra cranks.
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Monday February 18th, 2008 08:51 pm |
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This is the actual arm in question and sometimes you can get away with tapping it from the left to the right to free it up. Then after giving it some lubrication as described above, just keep on pressing the clutch to free it all up: -
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OhCrikey
Member
| Joined: | Sunday February 17th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: Wednesday February 20th, 2008 06:58 am |
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Thanks chaps....that clutch seizure looks simple enough. Your help is appreciated !
I'll let you know what happens.
Meanwhile, why would I have a stuck valve all of a sudden ? Are there any checks I can do to see if this is the case and if so...what's next ? Would there be any other reason for exhaust gases to puff back through the inlet manifold when you try (unsucessfully) to start an 'off the road' Mpi ??
It occurred to me that the local yoof might have stuffed summit up the tailpipe...perhaps a wee bit far-fetched, I know !!!!
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DaveShreeve
Administrator
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Posted: Wednesday February 20th, 2008 01:05 pm |
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| Not common, especially after only 7 weeks. If it's a sticky inlet valve then back through the inlet manifold is the obvious place to go. To check remove plugs and rocker cover and check valve clearances - you're looking for the one with excessive clearance. If it's really bad you may be able to see it just by turning the engine over. Has anything been touched in the 7 weeks? Same effect could be caused by a valve with no clearance.
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hawaiianblue
Member
| Joined: | Saturday June 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 214 |
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Posted: Friday February 22nd, 2008 02:05 pm |
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One thing you shouldnt allow to blind you though, is the fact it's an MPi, the basic engine and transmission are just standard mini systems.
TBH as far as i can think of there's nothing along the lines of engine managament that could cause those symptoms. In which case you can treat it as almost any A series engine.
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OhCrikey
Member
| Joined: | Sunday February 17th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: Friday February 22nd, 2008 02:24 pm |
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Thanks again for all the suggestions
Here's an update : I saturated the clutch operating arm pivot points with WD two days ago and again this morning. The clutch pedal still won't depress at all !! Rock solid 
I'll start working through all the basic checks on Saturday...weather permitting.
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Saturday February 23rd, 2008 01:01 pm |
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| Try tapping that clutch arm from the left to the right with a hammer.
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OhCrikey
Member
| Joined: | Sunday February 17th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: Tuesday February 26th, 2008 01:34 pm |
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After using a carefully placed pry-bar as a drift, together with my medium 'persuader' I tapped the arm in and out a bit and.........
Hey presto MY CLUTCH IS WORKING
Great stuff ! Ta for the advice everyone.
Now for that blow-back through the inlet and, as it turns out a seized rear brake drum too. I'm really longing to hear that whhhharrrrp again when we go for our next sunny sunday blat.
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Tuesday February 26th, 2008 03:35 pm |
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Glad it's sorted mate.
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hawaiianblue
Member
| Joined: | Saturday June 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 214 |
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Posted: Tuesday February 26th, 2008 06:54 pm |
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So when you say a seized rear brake drum, i assume you mean you left the car stored with the handbrake on, rather than just in gear?
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OhCrikey
Member
| Joined: | Sunday February 17th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
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Posted: Tuesday February 26th, 2008 07:46 pm |
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'Fraid so.
I'll whip off the wheel and give the drum a good hard tapping with the plastic-faced mallet. I suppose a good clean up with the brake cleaner spray inside both the drums wouldn't go astray and the good old WD40 plus a finger-full of grease on the handbrake cable guides on the rear subframe ?
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severnmini
Member
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Posted: Tuesday February 26th, 2008 08:36 pm |
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 HI this may sound silly but is there any chance the plug leads could be the wrong way round as this used to be a favourite outside my local on Saturday nights if not do you know someone with a compression tester my mpi whent down with a similar problem which was a sticky valve but would start and run a bit lumpy until i decided to strip it then it cleared as i pulled in to the workshop no problem since may be you should threaten the same
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Wednesday February 27th, 2008 06:48 pm |
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This is the correct HT Lead sequence anyway: -
 Last edited on Wednesday February 27th, 2008 06:48 pm by taffy1967 |
DaveShreeve
Administrator
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Posted: Wednesday February 27th, 2008 07:54 pm |
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| Taffy, don't think you'll find one of those on an Mpi!
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Thursday February 28th, 2008 04:19 pm |
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Oops!
My bad!
 
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Current time is 02:34 am | |
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