R53 Mini Troubleshooting

In reply to MrChaos :

It probably wouldn't burn due to lack of fuel.

Well it isn't the fuel injectors, they all have a nice spray pattern and volume. Fuel volume also seems reasonable. 

Some other things were found that need more investigation. 

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

Well it isn't the fuel injectors, they all have a nice spray pattern and volume. Fuel volume also seems reasonable. 

Some other things were found that need more investigation. 

Well, heck.

But I'm curious to hear what happens with the "other things."

The throttle body was also not the issue. New one has exact same symptoms. 

All I've got at this point is an encouraging "it's going to feel so awesome when it's fixed!"

It was a long shot that I didn't think would work.

The other thing is a wonky waveform on the crank sensor signal but Pete knows more about that than I do.

Have you tried an exorcism yet?

Not yet, haven't found a priest willing to come near it. 

For the curious who spend the $20 per month for an iATN subscription.

iATN TechHelp - 2004 Mini Cooper S 1.6L No Start, Poor Idle Quality, Stall - For Pete Remner

For the ones who don't.

Besides that crank pattern looking like E36 M3, with a few teeth not fully reporting for duty, the crank and cam are not in alignment.  One of the benefits of being an iATN member is access to a vast user-submitted waveform library.  Comparing this to known-good, the crank is 2 teeth (60-2 wheel, so 12 degrees) advanced relative to the cam.

Cam timing appears correct relative to the actual pistons.  Can't know for certain without pulling it apart, because cam timing is set by colored links on the chain.   But there is a mark on the cam sprocket that lines up with the valve cover flange when #1 is at TDC.

The timing being off of known-good, and the teeth on the crank wheel looking like a badger chewed on some of them, makes me THINK that something got in there and boogered the crank wheel, and also it slipped on the crank.  This should not be possible because it's bolted in, and would make a huge amount of iron crud in the oil if the bolts backed out due to the way it's bolted in.

Either way, next step in diagnosis is pulling the chain and making sure it is lined up right, which is both incredibly easy and stupidly involved, and then pulling the oil pan if/when that doesn't do any good.  If the crank wheel is boogered, the engine has to come out.

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

The throttle body was also not the issue. New one has exact same symptoms. 

Looks like I'm putting a Link ECU on the Quantum!    Unless you want to keep it for reasons.

I do now have a buyer account set up for IAAI. It seems that running R53s with body damage aren't uncommon. 

Either way, it isn't getting fixed immediately and I have a RX7 to put back together...

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

I do now have a buyer account set up for IAAI.

Don't say things like that in public, man.

Bringing this back up partly to remember what I did before. 

The timing marks on the chain line up and the crank trigger reluctor wheel is fine so that rules out the last two things I had to check. 

In reply to EvanB :

Well, heck.

Could it possibly be the crank position sensor? I don't see how that would cause it to be out of sync but maybe would explain the bad waveform? 

At this point I am hesitant to put the engine back together without new seals since there were a number of oil leaks but I don't want to spend the money on new seals if it is going to continue to not run. 

If the waveform is bad but the wheel and timing is fine then it has to be the sensor or some issue with wiring, right?

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I imagine scoping the cam and crank signals at their connectors would give an idea if it is the wiring or the sensor. I haven't been able to find any reference to back up that a failing sensor would cause a bad waveform and bad sync. The computer is also not giving any codes for loss of sync. 

I'm mainly just procrastinating on putting it back together but there is nothing else to be seen while it is apart and no sense on paying for new gaskets if it isn't going to run. I was hoping to find something terribly wrong so I could just buy another engine and swap it out. 

Despite all the troubles, I have found the MINI very easy to work on and would really love to have a running one. 

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

The waveform wasn't "bad" so much as "off time" compared to a known-good waveform I'd found on iATN.  It suggested that the cam and crank were out of correlation.

Evan, under no circumstances ride along in John England's Mini.  It made ME want one.  Berktacular slot car, even on the awful site we were running on.  It was like riding in Draco's Evo except a lot smaller, and it sounded like a drill and not an Evo.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

At this point I just have no idea how the cam and crank could be out of correlation other than a bad sensor. Or maybe something bad in the DME? It is very close to getting parted out though, unless I can find one that is wrecked in a way that could be fixed with parts from mine. 

In reply to EvanB :

i wish I could get down there and dig into it some more.  I have some things I wish I could see for myself.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

With the engine apart or not?

In reply to EvanB :

Apart.

I'd want to roll the engine around and see what those teeth with the weird pattern look like in real life.

Then I'd want to hold the engine still by the crank snout and try to rotate the toothed wheel, or vise versa.  This would kind of be a two person gig. 

I might be able to come down tomorrow morning if you're going to be around.  I have a trunk full of stuff I need to do an emergency brake job on a family member's car tomorrow afternoon.

I'll be around tomorrow but I'm not in any hurry. I'm fine to let it sit a bit as it is.

I did grab the crank reluctor and try to move it around and it seemed solid but I didn't put enough force on it to move the crank. 

I'll try to be by before 10.  This will require a bit of automotive shuffling since I am not driving the Volvo on long trips for wheel bearing reasons.  (I'm getting about 5000mi from aftermarket wheel bearings before they start making all the noise, and so far I've been too cheap to buy genuine Volvo, because right now I need THREE of them, and it's all a hassle, doing the rears is way more involved than it should be.... anyway I have an RX-7 that runs and has cold A/C)

<eats popcorn, waits for updates>