Hi people, I have been having trouble with my Mini car today, it wouldn’t start :-(.
It has a full tank of petrol plus I checked under the hood but couldn’t find any faults and when I got a friend to jumpstart it, it still wouldn’t start.
I spent about 15 minutes trying to get it started, I was pedal pumping frantically plus continuosly turned the key without stopping for a break.
Any ideas?
When you try to start it, what happens? Does the engine crank but just not kick over or do you just hear a click or does nothing happen? A dead battery usually will just click since it won’t have enough power to turn over the engine, but usually with a jump you can get it going. If you don’t hear anything then the starter is probably bad, though it could be the wiring to the starter.
If it cranks but just won’t kick over, it’s most likely either not getting fuel or it’s not getting spark (the old mechanic saying is an engine needs fuel and fire, with fire being the spark). The reasons for no fuel could be a bad fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter. No spark could be a bad ignition module or it could be a wiring fault. I’m just an idiot back yard mechanic and I’ve never worked on a mini so I’m not sure what type of ignition system it has. If one of our resident car experts comes in they can probably give you better info there.
Pedal pumping will cause the carburetor on an old car to squirt some gas into the engine. I’m not sure that it does anything useful on a mini.
Everytime I turned the key, the car just cranked but would’nt kick over, the sound it made is the sound a car makes when it won’t start, I hope that makes sense.
Makes sense, and I suspected that’s what you meant in your first post, but best to make sure.
So again, it’s most likely either no fuel or no fire.
What year is the mini?
Has it done anything weird lately or been making any noises?
On some cars, if it’s reasonably quiet, you can hear the fuel pump kick on if you turn the key to the run position but don’t try to start it. If you can hear it, then you can most likely eliminate the fuel pump as the problem. The fuel pump is inside the gas tank on most modern cars, but again, I’m not familiar with minis.
Is this an antique one or one of the new ones?
In the good old days, cars had carburetors not fuel injection. If stored a long time, the carburetor fuel would evaporate and possibly the carburetor float would stick in the down position. This can be remedied by tapping the float bowl on the bottom of the carburetor with a wrench or something. A friend once had a Simca and we ended up driving it 20 miles on country roads, with one person sitting on the windshield and dribbling gas into the carburetor from a coke bottle.
That’s a simple test - pour a bit of gas into the throat of the carburetor/air intake, and see if the engine turns over. if so, you’re getting spark, just not petrol. Watch out for the backfire; a friend tried this with his 70’s Charger and had flames shooting 3 feet out the carb throat.
OTOH, I had a 1985 Honda Civic and I found much later the dealer neglected to tell me the cam belt needed changing at 80,000km for cold climates. It snapped at 105,000km and the engine turned fine with the starter (perhaps too easily), but would not start since the valves weren’t being cammed. Meanwhile, I’d dinged several of the valve heads, it being a zero clearance engine.
Possible causes…
Air filter can cause this.
Fuel filter can cause this , and other fuel problems, eg bad fuel , water in the fuel, failed fuel pump,
failed or wet ignition leads - maybe a lead’s insulation has cut or worn through
Can even be because of a bad earth wire between engine and car body, as the starter motor doesn’t test this out.
Or it can be an Immoboliser problem ? In a car I had the key had a chip in it, and if that failed, the ignition (spark plugs) wouldn’t work.
There are numerous possible issues, the overhead cams may not be rotating with the lower end. (a failed part, or its position is not being reported…)
Do you have someone to do a code scan on its computer ?
Ignition leads… One thing that can happen is that the motors mounts, little blocks or cylinders of rubber to hold it without experiencing /creating excess vibrations…, can become old and degraded…
Then the vibration may cause a failure such as breaking or displacing an electrical lead, as these are often just hold on by friction (plugged on), or be attached to a little ring contact that isn’t meant to be particularly strong and durable…
After your extended period of trying to start the car, could you smell fuel?
Couldn’t hurt to check the fuses?
If it’s an old Mini the chances are it’s faulty electrics.
If it’s a new one it could be the sender in the key not registering and the computer will not let it start.