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Car Forum / MINI / November 2003Grr, start you @+$@$? !!
Hi, OK, so for 2 days Ive been trying to get my Mini to fire up after about 18months, 2yrs. Turbo engine, HIF carb, electonic ign (no engine management unit though) pre-engaged starter motor. All in all a pretty 'standard' turbo. I've just changed the head gasket, bores seemed fine, new plugs, HT leads and coil. Cleaned up the head, etc, all bits asnd pieces (e.g. carb) seem to be OK. Cleaned the deposits off the dizzy cap points and the rotor arm. Turn the key.... the battery's likely to be dead (it can't turn the starter motor) so I've been jumping fom a Ford Focus, connected to the Mini battery. The starter motor turns but sounds as though it's on a lifeless battery. At one point the earth strap from the electronic ign / starter relay (not solenoid) got, er, rather warm. The engine turns but no very quick. Petrol seems to be geting in there, and the plugs are sparking OK. I fudged the jump leads onto the 'large' nut on the back of the starter solenoid (where the battery cable goes) and the -ve onto the 'collection; on dangly free bits that need earthing (starter relay, elec ign earth, and earth strap fastened to the 'block) and it turned over much faster and, oooooo it almost fired. At which point it stated raining, I was covered in muck and cuts so I called it a night. It was running well before I took it off the road which makes t even more infuriating (I have better things to do on it that try and fix something that I din't think was broke!) Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. Hi, Did you drain all the old petrol out of the tank and system? Old petrol loses all it'svolatile constituents, and although the engine will run on it when it is hot, it can be a ba***** to start when it is cold. Keith > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. Odd, my original post doesn't seem to have appeared on this page?!? Actually the fuel's the original stuff from 18mth/2 yrs ago - so loss of the volatile ingredients is a definite possibility! Off to the petrol station with a jerry can tomorrow.... Cheers Keith! Dave > Hi, > Did you drain all the old petrol out of the tank and system? [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > > > > Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. > Old petrol loses all it'svolatile constituents, and although the > engine will run on it when it is hot, it can be a ba***** to start > when it is cold. I'll second that. I once flattened 2 batteries trying to start my Westfield kit car after about 6 months off the road. Next visit I drained the old petrol and added a gallon of fresh LRP and it fired first time. Don't forget to empty the float chamber of the old stuff. Shaun. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. It could be the jump leads themselves. I had some pretty decent looking jump leads that I'd been given as a present, and when I came to try and jump start my mini, the engine would turn over (fairly slowly), but wouldn't fire. My inquisitive neighbor came outside to offer his advice, and lent me his much more expensive (they had their own special box which they were kept in!) jump leads. I connected them up, and the starter turned much quicker and she fired instantly! Ben.  Signature????`????,,,,????`????,,,,????`????,,,,????`???? Please reply to the group Replies to this address will bounce! ????`????,,,,????`????,,,,????`????,,,,????`???? > Turn the key.... the battery's likely to be dead (it can't turn the starter > motor) so I've been jumping fom a Ford Focus, connected to the Mini battery. Jumper leads have a significant resistance. Add the resistance of the rather long positive lead in a mini to that and you're losing a lot between Fiesta and starter motor. > The starter motor turns but sounds as though it's on a lifeless battery. Which is what I would expect. Instead you should.... > I fudged the jump leads onto the 'large' nut on the back of the starter > solenoid (where the battery cable goes) yeah, thats what you should... > and the -ve onto the 'collection; on dangly free bits that need earthing (starter > relay, elec ign earth, and earth strap fastened to the 'block) and it turned over > much faster and, oooooo it almost fired. Connect the negative jumper cable to the engine somewhere such as one of the lifting brackets if they're present, or the cylinder head. I'll second the "dump the old fuel" suggestions. Since the car almost started with the jumpers connected to the starter solenoid the jumper cables are probably ok. The differenc in cranking speed between the battery connection and the solenoid connection indicates a poor connection somewhere. A corroded connection on the engine earth strap will cause it to heat up. Also check the earth connection in the boot. You probably have both fuel and connection problems. Cheers, Kelley >Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > >Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. hiya I made my own jump leads from arc welder earth cable, they are about 8 feet long so u dont need to get that close with the other car and remain flexible even when they have been in the car boot on a frosty night. Most of the leads you buy from accessory shops are not much better than speaker wire for jump starting. If you find you have to wait for some charge to get accross, the leads are not good enough. fragged > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. > hiya > I made my own jump leads from arc welder earth cable, they are about 8 feet [quoted text clipped - 48 lines] > > > > Thanks in advance for any help, Dave. Hi, I have some REAL jumper leads! They are made from Vulcan bomber battery bowser starter cables, about 1/2 inch diameter copper wire, and heavy duty welding clamps on the ends. They are very heavy (not the sort of cables to carry far) and the voltage drop is about nil. Keith And k was sitting next to Elvis in the spaceship, which I thought was kinda strange, but then they turned to me and said: > I have some REAL jumper leads! They are made from Vulcan bomber battery > bowser starter cables, about 1/2 inch diameter copper wire, and heavy duty > welding clamps on the ends. They are very heavy (not the sort of cables to > carry far) and the voltage drop is about nil. The electrical supply cart was used to power up the plane's electrical systems (including the engine starting igniters), but the engines weren't electrically started - compressed air from a blower cart did that job. Once the first engine was started, there was provision to cross feed compressed air to spin up the other three, one at a time. Signature(-AD-) <uniqueid 'at' lineone.net> http://website.lineone.net/~uniqueid/ Come to Sunny Morecambe! > And k was sitting next to Elvis in the spaceship, which I thought was > kinda strange, but then they turned to me and said: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > http://website.lineone.net/~uniqueid/ > Come to Sunny Morecambe! Hi, Well whatever they were used for, they are BIG cables. My brother used to work at an airfield some years ago and he told me that was what the cables were used for. Keith And k was sitting next to Elvis in the spaceship, which I thought was kinda strange, but then they turned to me and said: > > > I have some REAL jumper leads! They are made from Vulcan bomber battery > > > bowser starter cables, about 1/2 inch diameter copper wire, and heavy [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > work at an airfield some years ago and he told me that was what the cables > were used for. Takes a surprising amount of power to spin up a large gas turbine - probably much more than you could conveniently provide through electrical means. The standard starter cart used by the RAF for V-bomber airfields contained a Blackburn Palouste gas turbine rated at approx. 275 SHP - imagine the size and weight of a 275 HP electric starter motor bolted into the aircraft... The exception was the HP Victor, which was equipped with its own internal auxiliary gas turbine powerplant, to facilitate the aircraft sitting for long periods at dispersal at an alert ready state. I believe this small engine was started by an electric motor. Signature(-AD-) <uniqueid 'at' lineone.net> http://website.lineone.net/~uniqueid/ Er.. What was the question again? |
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