desperate plea for help!!!

[aliceinwonderland]

Hey all. Some of you might of noticed i havent been on here in a while, main reason, I'm selling Alice. but before i can do that i need some help actually getting her to start!!!

About a week before the snow, she just cut out and died never to start again.
My boyfriends had a good ol' look over it and can't figure it out, he has told me it needs to be timed, there will be more details to follow (he will be on here later to post up details)

So it's now currently sat outside my fella's house with no luck or hope in her starting. I would really appreciate any help that can be offered, I'm completely lost.

Many thanks for all the help. ( as always! )

[Miniböttcher]

it could be a number of things but start with the simple things first then work from there,

what have you tried ,know it works, or any new parts

most of the time its down to electrics, and damp,
check all connections make sure they are connected tight, clean, and the cable are not corroded,
check all the fuses, there also inline fuses in places,
make sure you have a good earth, on the battery, and the engine,
makes sure both cables are on the coil, many people in the club have had them work there way off over the years
make sure you have power to the coil, and also have a spark

if you have a spark we will go one way, if not we will have to go backwards, and check other things,

if the dizzy has not been touched and it run before, then it should start, but jo may be right that it needs timing once its going again to run properly

[MiniGT5]

What do you think would cause the timeing to move? assuming it was in the correct place to start with?

Basics first have you got fuel?
Have you got a spart?

N.

[aliceinwonderland]

Course its got fuel lol ;D
It broke down while i was on a junction at a roundabout and then hasn't run/run properly since.
Nothing should of caused the timing to move, the last thing that a machanic said was wrong with it was that the carb was freezing over, put a post about that up here a while ago too. At that point the car would drive for 10mins and then cut out and not start again.

So not sure if that has anything to do with the problem now?!

[MiniGT5]

I meant is the fuel getting to the carb... not is there fuel in the tank.

Take a spark plug out and check it is getting wet then crank it over with the sparkplug earted (dont hold it) and check it sparks.

N.

[aliceinwonderland]

also things that have been suggested,A) the fuel is bad....and tank needed draining
B)the carb is stuffed, we changed the SU carb, the top is off the original (so its got the proper needle) and the bottom is off another, so the mixture and the ideal screw are not set up for a mini so needs setting up but the fella cant get it set up and it wont seem to start so dont know if its the fuel or carb....

[MiniGT5]

So does that mean the spark plugs are dry? and you are getting a good spark?

If so disconnect the fuel line to the carb crank it over and see it it pumping fuel... if not it could be mechanical fuel pump.

N.

[leon]

Hi,

basically what has happened is:

The mini went into the garage as it was not running right,,, it was serviced and was running fine,, the mechanic called me and said that it would run fine for around 15 mins and then the carb would freeze over and it would die and would not start again for about an hour,

he suggested that it must be rubbish fuel or maybe the tank is corodeded and contaminating the fuel,,, he said drain the tank and have a look,

when it was home after breaking down half way we put a post up on this forum and another and one of kates mates suggested it was the bottom half of the carb messing up and causing the problems.

I took my SU carb off my SJ and put that in the mini switching over the top half of the carb so that it would still have the needle from the original,

it started but because the carb was off a different car the mixture screw and idle screw were obviously set up wrong, i for the life of me could not seem to get it set up right and it would either rev really high and then cut out or back fire or cut out

since that i have check the fuel pump is pumping which it is and the fuel filter always stays full, have also run it off an external fuel tank but that did not seem to make a difference.

i think it is a case that carb needs setting up by someone that knows what they are doing with SU's as i have never set one up before,

any ideas,,

Thanks guys

[MiniGT5]

Well you have exhausted my knowledge. I would probably concentrate on the electrics now...

Good luck

N.

[leon]

appreciate the input though,

Thanks

[Miniböttcher]

ok the reason for the the car not able to run correctly with the carb, is because it is worn,

i had the same thing on matt and lisa mini, it would either idle high or die if you went to lower the idle, and also back fire due to, too much fuel,

and that was of a worn carb,we changed it for a hif38 (which is for a 998- 1100cc)

your never get it running or set up right with a worn carb,
you can buy rebuild kits, but your have to have the the shaft for the butterfly that runs through thr body of the carb rebushed,

or try your luck at a good second hand carb,

[aliceinwonderland]

All fixed!!!!! Thanks for all the suggestions guys, was really nice of you all!!
Don't worry you wont hear any more from me and my sparking bolt!!!!! hehe ;D

Turns out after trying everything it was mainly the fact that it needed some more oil in the carb, not sure if there were other factors involved as we did change the carb as well....who knows! lol
Thanks again guys! xxxxxx

[Simon1275mpi]

Finally! After all your heart ache!

Hope you find a good home for the car