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2002 R53 Cooper S - Engine stutter

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Jinkz 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone

I'm fairly new to the world of Mini and need some assistance with a problem I've got.
I've had a good look on this forum and on others and I can find very similar problems but not exactly the same as mine.

I've just purchased a R53 2002 Cooper S.

I picked up the car a few weeks ago. It's got 107K on the clock, and a full service history (albeit many of the services were done at a

Mercedes dealer!), unfortunately I don't have all the receipts for any work that's been carried out.

When I test drove the car I didn't notice any real issues with it, however the test drive was in a suburban part of London so I couldn't really give it any beans!

A few days later I noticed a particular problem when gently accelerating up through 3rd and 4th gears. The engine would stutter from about 3000rpm all the way to about 5500rpm.
This happens when GENTLY accelerating, basically if you were driving normally.

HOWEVER, what is strange though, if I do full acceleration right from low down revs in 3rd and 4th gears then the engine is extremely smooth all the way through the rev range and picks up speed very quickly!

Obviously I can't drive with it on full throttle all the time! :big_grin:

Because of these problems I started to do try a few things.
I have done a full oil and filter change.
I've change the spark plugs for iridium ones (The old ones were pretty knackered)
I've put a K&N air filter in (the old filter was very dirty)
I've changed the MAP sensor (not the TMAP)
I've changed the HT leads.

I progressively did all of these changes and I noticed that the stutter got more pronounced each time I did something.
Don't get me the wrong the engine is so smooth now on idle, on full power and in low gears, but the problem in mid-range with 3rd and 4th gears is really noticeable now.

I've seen many others saying very similar things but what I find strange is that I don't get the issue at all when on full acceleration!

I do have the issue of a rusty 3rd terminal on the coil pack which I know is a common problem. I have cleaned this up the best I can with wet/dry sandpaper and it looks clean again. However it is a very dark colour compared to the others.

I'm looking for help from you experts out there?
Do you think this be a coil pack issue? Could it me a faulty TMAP sensor?
Or is there something else I need to be checking?

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
 
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