SupraDan24 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I've had it over a year and its never run right. Its had new plugs and HT leads, new engine steady as the other one sheared off in the head, cracking the carb against the firewall making the car run absolutely terribly and missfire like crazy. So i replaced the carb and had a garage fit a new throttle cable and fuel tank sender at the same time as setting up the carb for me as it was way off. Just picked it up from the garage, it idled fine but soon as i moved off it was back kangarooing down the road and missfiring terribly again Its horrible to drive AGAIN so i' debating torching the bloody thing and getting a different car. The biggest shame is before i owned this car i absolutely loved Mini's and it was my dream to own one, now i just hate getting in it as i know it will be horrible to drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike33 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 When i had a mini cooper with twin carbs. I had mine missing like crazy. I take mine to an old boy who was a mini fanatic and i think he worked with john cooper. It ran like a dream. If you can find a mini club near you and someone will love to sort that out for you. I had four minis in all all all were brilliant. Just another quicky Is the distributor and points ok only i had kangerooing before and that was my distributor doing it then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Thats the next thing on my list to change. If i change the Dizzy and it isnt that then i offically give up lol. I just want to be able to drive it and not have to worry about running badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Old school mini's are amazing. My first 4 cars were mini's. Admittedly I did blow them all up and my ownership of mini's lasted less than a year between them all lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy442 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Sell your Mini for cash, get an AE82 Corolla and never look back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTurtleshead Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Whereabouts in east anglia are you? Have you changed the rotor arm, cap, condensor, or tried setting the points gap correctly? We have an old school mini, its so much fun! However it is an old car and you will not just be able to get in it and go without lifting the bonnet at least once a week and having a check Ignition problems on old cars are nearly always points or condensor related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 Sell your Mini for cash, get an AE82 Corolla and never look back! Haha Coralla Whereabouts in east anglia are you? Have you changed the rotor arm, cap, condensor, or tried setting the points gap correctly? We have an old school mini, its so much fun! However it is an old car and you will not just be able to get in it and go without lifting the bonnet at least once a week and having a check Ignition problems on old cars are nearly always points or condensor related I live out in Norfolk, near great Yarmouth. The dizzy is on my next thing to check/change. I havent checked the condensor or setting the points cap because i dont know how haha. I'll look into it though, i can normally figure things out after a poke around the engine bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous brain Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Mini's are notorious for getting water in the dizzy so might be worth taking it off and giving it a damn good drying out and cleaning up the contacts inside it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Mini's are notorious for getting water in the dizzy so might be worth taking it off and giving it a damn good drying out and cleaning up the contacts inside it. I'm going to get it into my garage tomorrow and have a gander mate. I'll change the cap and rotar arm if i need too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westcoaster Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Mini's are notorious for getting water in the dizzy so might be worth taking it off and giving it a damn good drying out and cleaning up the contacts inside it. What he said. I used to have a fairly new Mini Mayfair back in the 80's and it wouldn't run in the rain! It ran with yellow marigold gloves over the dizzy cap as a temporary measure, but binning the points and fitting an aftermarket electronic ignition set up, eventually cured it for me. Then I just had the rust to cope with........................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I am one of the few forum participants old enough to be truly familiar with SU carbs, Lucas disis, and suchlike, If i can help, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 I am one of the few forum participants old enough to be truly familiar with SU carbs, Lucas disis, and suchlike, If i can help, let me know. If you were closer Chris i'd drop it off with you and hand you the keys, really miss driving this car already. It drove a bit better today, despite really struggling to start so i'm hoping its just water in the dizzy. What do you recommend i do Chris? Change out the dizzy cap was my next port of call, and clean the contacts? Moneys not the issue, i just want it running how i think it should so i can get back enjoying it again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Whiffin Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 If you were closer Chris i'd drop it off with you and hand you the keys, really miss driving this car already. It drove a bit better today, despite really struggling to start so i'm hoping its just water in the dizzy. What do you recommend i do Chris? Change out the dizzy cap was my next port of call, and clean the contacts? Moneys not the issue, i just want it running how i think it should so i can get back enjoying it again Where abouts are you Dan, I've got a fair bit of experience with Minis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Where abouts are you Dan, I've got a fair bit of experience with Minis! Yeah, i remember Paul i spoke to you at SupraPod about your mini racing days when i picked up those bonnet stays I live near Great Yarmouth fella, so still a few hours away from your place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keefred Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Have you checked to make sure the dashpot has enough oil in ? If not the piston will be flapping up and down like a flappy thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Dashpot has oil in it but its 50W at the moment, im going to pick up some 3in1 tomorrow and swap it out for that. I dont think thats whats causing the problem though tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 I've ordered a new dizzy cap, points set, condensor and rotar arm for the grand sum of £18 sterling delivered, the love for the mini is coming back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Check the grounding wire inside the disi that grounds the movable baseplate for the points, to the main part is intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Check the grounding wire inside the disi that grounds the movable baseplate for the points, to the main part is intact. I'll have a look for that when i take it apart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Finally got my new Dizzy cap through the post today so i took the old one off (i have an electronic ingnition btw), took off the rotor arm, replaced it then put the cap back on and replaced the LT leads like for like. Now the car wont even start, it sounds like it wants too but something is stopping it. Does it make a difference what way up the Dizzy cap goes, as it wasnt identical to the one i took off? Or does it just depend on where the leads go? If your looking at the engine i have the lead from the left most (furthest from oil cap) plug going to the bottom left point on the Cap, then i have number two lead going to the top left point on the dizzy cap. Number 3 lead is going bottom right, and number four LT lead (nearest oil fill cap) going to top right. HT lead is going to the coil as normal. I dont want to start randomly swapping them about incase i make the problem worse, it definately wont start though, i tried 4-5 times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 The rotor arm needs to point to No. 1 cylinder in the cap when at TDC no 1, both valves closed, then the leads continue in the firing order, whichever way the rotor rotates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Can you elaborate Chris, do you mean the Rotar arm should be poining bottom left towards the point in the cap where the lead from SP No.1 goes too, or do you mean it should be pointing towards the plug itself, so effectively the 10 o clock position, as thats where it was facing when i took it off and put it back on again. Also, how do i make sure its at TDC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Sell your Mini for cash, get an AE82 Corolla and never look back! An AE86 will feel very dull after driving a mini! (and I'm a big fan of AE86s!) I reckon a Peugeot 106 1.3 Rallye would be a good alternative, or either a 205 1.6 gti or mk1 Golf 1.6 GTi if you want something a bit quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 I have my Supra for speed mate, i'm not looking to swap the mini for anything, i just want it running right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraDan24 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 So i changed out the dizzy cap and rotor arm and put in a new set of Plugs, managed to get the car running again once i found the firing order in the Haynes manual and realised the rotor arm spins anti clockwise. Took it out for a spin yesterday and the missfire is still there which i was gutted about. I'll try again tomorrow as i have a set of HT leads to fit in the morning once i've picked them up from the post office. Is there anything else i should be looking into changing, maybe the coil? I've ordered a Mulitmeter so i can take a voltage reading at the coil feed to determine whether i need the ballasted type or not before i order one. If it helps i can describe the conditions that lead to the missfire. At revs above 3k it doesnt missfire at all, its when i'm poodling along between 2-2.5k revs (which unfortutely is most of the time in a mini as its around 30mph in 3rd or 40-50mph in 4th) that it starts to missfire like crazy, you can hear the popping from the engine and the car violently jolts. Also, if i rev right up to near redline and change up a gear, there's a very noticeable power drop for the first 1-2secs, then the engine picks up again. Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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