[Vegasphil]

Hi,

Having an issue with my Mini Cooper s petrol with cold starts. The car is a late low mileage 2013 car with 36k on the clock.

The issue lasts for about a minute after starting from stone cold.... it starts and idles ok. When you move off it bogs down and lurches along.

I can’t get the fault to repeat at all after that. Only when stone cold. No warning lights and performance seems ok. I’ve read about fuel pump issues, but that seems to be on older cars.

It has an approved used warranty from a sukuki dealership so will ring them up on Monday. I’m just concerned that they will plug it in and not be able to find anything.

 

[mike1967]

would start off with coolant temp sensor if faulty can show hotter than what really is ie colder the more fuel etc, hot less fuel as when engine hot it is controlled by the 02 sensors in the exhaust system,, might even be a throttle body needs a clean,, or a fluffy spark plug maybe,, or maf/map sensor needs a clean or any of these could be faulty, also if the ambient temp sensor for cars temps out side temps if this is showing very hot out side and engine is very cold as such this could also give the cars ecu a brain fart

 

[mallettsmallett]

Phil, did you get this diagnosed?

 

[Vegasphil]

Hi Matt. I tried, it went to Portsmouth mini and they “couldn’t find the fault” and suggested we took it away to “develop”. It still does it every time for us on a cold start but no engine lights are on, so nothing is recorded.

Do you have the same?

 

[mallettsmallett]

Kinda. I have a thread going currently further down. I was advised that if the hpfp is on it's way out, the fact that it could be over fuelling or worse, running lean, could cause damage. It's a pain in the arse that these seem to drag their death throws out leaving no codes, until.it gets really bad

 

[Vegasphil]

I’ve seen that thread and it sounds like similar issues to mine. Is yours the same engine as in my hatch?

It pulls and lurches quite a lot until it settles down after about 30 seconds. Fingers crossed some light will pop up on it soon. Annoyingly this car does lots of little journeys from cold too as the wife drives it. She just jumps in, presses the button and drives straight off ha. I always ask how it is and she says “lurch” then fine.

Fuel pumps an issue on older cars, from what I have read mini had them sorted by this age.

 

[mike1967]

no mini has not fixed the later pumps they just replace them under warranty from what i have seen in the US 10 years or 100k someone wrote on here awhile ago, but mini did want a £160 diagnostics fee to prove that at fault,
wring signs of fuel pump failures the main one that cannot miss is this, cold start first start of the day car will fire up then fluff then dies off you might need to repeat this 5 times or 100 times before finally it will sort of run but takes a further 2-5 minutes to settle down after this it will drive sort of ok saying that live data shows its making t run lean and rich and flicks between,, keep driving like this it will hurt the engine and cat and 02 sensors at best at worst could wash bores with fuel and hurt pistons rings over time,, you a few options bmw want well over £1000 just for the pump, there is a ebay seller who only sells bmw parts around trade price £418 NEO BROTHERS ,,
or the way i always do as its based on price and very good service and never seen a pump back after, once again there is a guy on ebay who reconditions the old pump with new seals ie latest spec ones, link below

| eBay

 

[mike1967]

added note like said before it pays to diagnose it and keep a open mind to where the fault lives,,

 

[mallettsmallett]

Mike, is there any way of properly bench testing a pump that is intermittently causing isssues?

 

[mike1967]

Pressure should be
5bar ingition on
50-60bar on idle.
100-130bar acceleration under load.
done with diagnostics tool, and live data, would be worth you contacting that refurb link and ask that guy he's really helpful, i just had one done on a n14 turbo engine had same issues as yours was all part of the engine blow up it had as owner just kept driving it with a number of issues ie timing chain stretched, high pressure issues and the rocker cover pcv valve had split dumping oil n to number 1 cylinder etc, bmw want nearly £300 for genuine rocker cover and its a known issue the pcv valve fails, all fits the picture of fleecing the customer, especially when a after market can be found for £50 and will do same job,, same as pumps i'm a fan of refurb been hand built by someone who cares about doing te job right,
also on live data from cold would read temp sensor at cold to when gets hot, ie cold should be near ambient temps and rise to 112c when fan cuts in,, if find when cold its reading 30c on a 15c day that will be part of it,, also when hot on live data the 02 sensors on perfect engine will run around 0,45v on both but upstream one working faster,, if both read same and change voltage at same time them cat has gone, unless its been mapped out of course,

 

[mike1967]

added note i would first off try injection cleaner through the system clean it out,, bmw do a in house one i believe and in their service notes for these issues they mention it ie it tells tech to if car under 50k try the cleaner before diagnoses etc, i use seafaom and tectron injection cleaner , the seafoam will while in the system lubricate it better and you will notice a wisp wispy while smoke from exhaust on idle untill all out of system on petrol's this will clean the whole lot out including the 02 sensors and cat,, ie 1/4 to half tank of fuel and go drive it out as such, o tend to use 3000 revs or over while doing this process so the heat and pressures are high helps burn crud off better,

 

[mallettsmallett]

I've heard some warnings about seafoam, is there anything to worry about?

 

[mike1967]

I've heard some warnings about seafoam, is there anything to worry about?

yep i've seen the stories as well, the i used seafoam in my oil and my engine blown up,, then when asked more about well how did you treat the engine,, they replies i just stuck on a engine with 100k and not had oil change for 20k and they are surprised that filter got overwhelmed by the carbon,, where some with a few brain cells have worked this oil that good idea is drop oil and stick some really cheap oil in and add seafoam then run it for a hour on the spot the first time,, then at next oil change stick half can on 50 miles before change and the other half just before and run for a hour,, i have used this stuff for 30 years on cars trucks and boats even never had a issue caused by it,, also someone will have a broken engine worn out rings that are help together by dirt and when dirt clears they get issues,, ie it wont fix wear it only fixes the dirt that causes the wear, also the idiots that can a can and pour in to the breather straight in the inlet all kinds of stupid, use inlet spray clever way to not hurt it, its not designed to spray in the inlets of diesels some have done this then blame the product... its funny internet full of people who forced a regen on a dpf filter and vid the car go bang, hat the dont tell you the car already had big issues or turbo failure etc,, but then the internet comes back with people who have no clue telling people they should never force a regen on a diesel etc, this all said seafoam is a trade product from the states used correctly well like said been using t for years never had a issue with it,, what i have seen is cars with injector reading all over the place stick a can of full tank of fuel take for a hour drive come back plug in to see the readings balance out again ie with tolerance,,

 

[mike1967]

added all based on 10k oil changes

 

[Vegasphil]

Kinda. I have a thread going currently further down. I was advised that if the hpfp is on it's way out, the fact that it could be over fuelling or worse, running lean, could cause damage. It's a pain in the arse that these seem to drag their death throws out leaving no codes, until.it gets really bad

By way of an update this issue seems to be getting better, rather than worse. I've been using v power fuel for the last 3 or 4 tanks. Juddering is better and the wife thinks things have improved too.

Will stick to v power for a bit and see if we get some colder weather. It's been very mild recently.

Any developments on yours?

 

[mallettsmallett]

Not really. It's in next week to have the hpfp tested but I dont hold out much hope. It's not got worse and if anything its improved, but with no change to fuel. I've put this down to the only thing I can thing of as a variable which is the ambient temp had increased.

I have noticed the oil smells of fuel but I do a lot of short runs so this isn't surprising.

 

[Vegasphil]

Not really. It's in next week to have the hpfp tested but I dont hold out much hope. It's not got worse and if anything its improved, but with no change to fuel. I've put this down to the only thing I can thing of as a variable which is the ambient temp had increased.

I have noticed the oil smells of fuel but I do a lot of short runs so this isn't surprising.

Ah OK let me know how it gets on. Is that at mini?

We use it mostly for short runs too. But with both our cars I make an effort to take them out and fully warmed up regularly.

 

[mallettsmallett]

Independent mini specialist. Will do.

 

[mike1967]

sounds like high pressure fuel pump ie if hard to start ie takes a number of times to get running and when does run for first few minutes the throttle it trys to die out will be high pressure fuel pump as fuel level within it has dropped,, bmw want £960 for a pump plus labour and £180 for diagnostics as well,, i use a guy on ebay he refurbs the pump he's really good helpful guy as well link below,

1.6 THP High pressure fuel pump, Mini Cooper, Peugeot RCZ, Citroen DS3/4 repair | eBay

Or take a chance on a used second hand unit including the ones from China. As well as service and repair. On receipt of it,we will service and repair it back to its original working condition.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[mike1967]

need a live data scan at cold start up low pressure fuel line 5bar, running on idle 500bar -+0.2 running at 3000 revs 700bar ish on cranking 130bar