Hi All

I own a 1997 SPI Mini Cooper (Japanese import) have owned this for 2.5 years now, I use her daily and is a fantastic little car that puts a smile on my face.
Any issues I have had I have been able to repair along the way, and find forums such as this a great resource.

Since Friday last week I have started to come across an intermittent problem!
Friday car started fine possibly drove for a km and stopped for some lights and the car stalled, took a couple of times to get it going again and had to fluctuate accelerator to get the revs up as didn’t want to idle, managed to get going but anytime I was close to stopping it would want to cut out (didn’t want to Idle) Friday evening car started fine but when I pulled up at home and was getting ready to reverse back into driveway, car wanted to stall again but then came good.

Saturday
Started fine, first set of lights 500m down the road had to keep the revs up to keep her going ,and generally was not happy. Got home and started to check the obvious things, spark plugs fine and no abnormal deposits, leads all seemed fine, removed air filter housing and checked all the vac hoses, all were secure and no splits, Car was very hard to start an$ would be misfiring (while this was happening the rpms would not register on the tacho).
Started to look for other things then, checked fuses, looked at wiring on relays and checked inertia switch, hey presto she started first time and idled no problem, took for test drive and didn’t miss a beat.

Monday morning
Didn’t want to start, had to feather the throttle was misfiring and lumpy but then came good only stalled once. Similar thing trying to get home

Where to go from here
Will check all the wiring / relays but am starting to think this may be a coincidence that it started last time I fiddled with these, I really want to get hold of scan tool and do a proper diagnostic test to identify if it is a faulty sensor (crank, air, temp etc) or fuel pump on its way out or even worse scenario the ecu at fault.

I am based in Albury NSW and am reaching out to any one who may have a suitable scan tool that is compatible with the SPI Rover Mems ecu. Can arrange freight / deposit and fee as required.

Any assistance appreciated, even if you do not have a scan tool but have had a similar issue, and a possible solution

Cheers Seb

Hi Seb have a look at www.theminiforum.co.uk , they have a subforum on spi problems which will give you an idea where to look. The symptoms you describe suggest a vacuum leak .
At the back of the inlet manifold there 2 vacuum lines,1 to the air filter & the other to a small black box (the fuel trap,one line in & one out to the ecu). These vacuum lines connect with small plastic elbows which are notorious for small cracks that are hard to see.

There is also a metal pipe manifold that connects the engine breathers & the charcoal canister to the front of the throttle body using rubber hoses which can also crack & perish.
Another cause for poor running I have encountered is a build-up of debris on the crank sensor located under the starter motor. This is easy to remove & clean.
I hope this helps, Cheers Phil.

Thanks Phil

I will strip this down on Friday and have a good look, will keep you posted

Cheers Seb

Sounds like the cars stalling because the MAP sensor isnt getting a clear reading.
Theres a black plastic hose that runs from the ECU to the fuel trap on the back of the inlet manifold.
As mentioned above, the rubber connectors on these are known for cracking / leaking.
Best to order a set of new lines with the rubber connectors, and replace or clean out the fuel trap.

Should run like new after that!

Re: the scan tools, there are two basic (cheap) ones that do a decent job with the MEMS 1.6 (SPI/JDM) cars if you can't get hold of an ACR4 type device . If you have an Android phone there is one called MEMSDiag (http://memsdiag.blogspot.com/), or the one i use with a laptop is MEMS-Gauge/Rosco. These give you a set of gauges and measurement points and the ability to create output logs. Another program (MEMS Analyser) is used to plot the logs.

You will need to make a cable (the SPi/JDM cars have a round three pin connector) to use these programs. The instructions/parts are in the memsdiag.blog spot link above.

Might not be related but when mine starts to run interestingly, you can do a basic reset on the idler stepper motor. Key to accessories then from the engine bay, push the throttle connection full open/closed 5 times. The stepper motor then should make a whirring noise.

I bought a couple of metres of silicon vacuum hose and replaced the all of them at the same time. Works a treat.
Cheers Pete

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