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Classic Mini MPI Starting Problem

PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 11:00 pm
by murf1981
Hi Guys,

New to the forum and to the Classic Mini World... I have bought a 2000 reg Cooper Sport that I am working on restoring. She was running and 'kind of' driving when I bought her, clutch master cylinder needed replacing... anyway... replaced master but soon found that the slave needed replacing too. All that now done and dusted... no more leaks... but now the car won't start. She will swing over, thought it might be the battery as she hasn't really been driven much so used jump leads off the daily car... no go... I did need to remove the ECU to get access to the Master & Slave cylinders, could this be the root of the problem? The ECU was out and disconnected for 2-3 weeks while I waited for parts, etc.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Niall

Re: Classic Mini MPI Starting Problem

PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 11:33 am
by irlmin
Hi Niall
Welcome to the site , as the mini was running before you took the clutch hydraulics off to replace I would think the problem is related , no 1 Jump leads are a 'time bomb' and any 'arcing' when connecting can fry the ECU . I would check all the ECU connectors and use some 'contact ' cleaner on both sides and watch for earth lead , is the engine earth connected ? check wiring and fuses related to fuel pump etc , have you checked for fuel flow ? switch on ignore to 1st position and listen for pump to 'buzz' it will only last a few seconds so have someone help with this . try that lot and see how it goes .G

Re: Classic Mini MPI Starting Problem

PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:32 am
by murf1981
Hi Ger,

Thanks for the reply & the warm welcome! One thing I did notice was that the 'buzz' when turning the key to position 2 was missing. I couldn't remember if it was there before or not... I went through the engine bay Saturday checking all relays & fuses were OK and connected properly [which they were] and then moved to the internal fuse box. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and found it to be OK too. Checked the rest, all fine. Turned the key and that 'buzz' came back and then she fired up!

Now I'm not overly electrically minded but from what I see, all I really did was pull the fuel pump fuse and put it back. Could this have possibly 'reset' something? Or 'released' a 'trapped' signal of some sort? I really don't know... but it worked...

Regards,
Niall

P.S. Are you guys working Ger or are you 'temporarily closed'? There is other work I need to do but wouldn't take it on myself...