99 Rover mini cooper problem starting

Hi,

I have a weird problem with my mini which developed a few weeks ago.
Basically sometimes the engine turns over but it does not appear that
any fuel can get to the engine, so hence it wont start. The only way you
can get the engine to start is by taking a wire directly from the
battery to the fuel pump, then turning the key and it starts, so I have
two wires in my boot with a fuse it case I can't get it running!

I took it into an electronics place to get it checked out on one of
their computers and they reckon it is either the ECU or a relay box.
They could not see any obvious faults. The problem is the fault is
intermittent, it happens once in a while so I have to use my wire to
start it, but then it seems ok for a while and starts prefectly
normally, then all of a sudden it goes again. It might be that once I
get the fuel pump running again it clears it for a bit, not sure.

Do you guys have any experience of this or any ideas as to what it might be?

Thanks,

Neil.

On Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:59:08 +0100, Neil Woodman
<arbs44 (AT) dsl (DOT) pipex.com> wrote:

Hi,

I have a weird problem with my mini which developed a few weeks ago.
Basically sometimes the engine turns over but it does not appear that
any fuel can get to the engine, so hence it wont start. The only way you
can get the engine to start is by taking a wire directly from the
battery to the fuel pump, then turning the key and it starts, so I have
two wires in my boot with a fuse it case I can't get it running!

I took it into an electronics place to get it checked out on one of
their computers and they reckon it is either the ECU or a relay box.
They could not see any obvious faults. The problem is the fault is
intermittent, it happens once in a while so I have to use my wire to
start it, but then it seems ok for a while and starts prefectly
normally, then all of a sudden it goes again. It might be that once I
get the fuel pump running again it clears it for a bit, not sure.

Do you guys have any experience of this or any ideas as to what it might be?

Thanks,

Neil.

I've had a similar problem on my '93 cooper, it turned out to be a
corroded connection near the inline fuse for the fuelpump.

I hope it's something this simple in your case as well ..

good luck,
Theo van den Bogaard

A friend recently had the exact same on his R reg 98 non cooper MPI

You should hear the fuel pump buzz for a few secounds when turning the
ignition on - priming. his didnt. after chasing a fault, he decided to
just clean every connector and multiplug connectors. after that it
started! - ie corrosion on a connector. i cant tell you where to start, but
that'll be it.

cheers
RS

"RS" <l400ras (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

A friend recently had the exact same on his R reg 98 non cooper MPI

You should hear the fuel pump buzz for a few secounds when turning the
ignition on - priming. his didnt. after chasing a fault, he decided to
just clean every connector and multiplug connectors. after that it
started! - ie corrosion on a connector. i cant tell you where to start,
but that'll be it.

cheers
RS

My sidewalk did this last year,

turned out to be a dirty fuse in the main fuse box,
same fuse controlled the main beam flasher, it knocked out the pump relay,
I had to wire a live from the numberplate light connector, straight to the
pump, put side lights on and the pump ran, this got me home,
Be advised this repair bypassed the inertia safety switch, so only use it as
a temp repair,
Fitzy

My 2000 Cooper did this as well, and it was only 400 miles old at the time!
They traced the fault to the loom into the relay box, which is the balck box
mounted on the bulk head just to the left of the throttle bodies. A mechanic
at Longbridge tells me its common fault, becuase when the looms are
deleiverd to the line they are rolled up in bags and if they sit at the
bottom of the pile the wiring can crack and this in turn leads to a fault
signal. The fix was to remove that portion of loom and re insulate it by
applying anothe rlayer of insulation. SInce it was done I've had no problems
at all.....

Now just to cure the dam temp sender which seems to fill up with crap and
gunge and then won't turn the fan off! I pull the plug of about every 3
months at the moment and clean and apply lanolin spray to the connections,
which seems to work.
"Neil Woodman" <arbs44 (AT) dsl (DOT) pipex.com> wrote

Hi,

I have a weird problem with my mini which developed a few weeks ago.
Basically sometimes the engine turns over but it does not appear that any
fuel can get to the engine, so hence it wont start. The only way you can
get the engine to start is by taking a wire directly from the battery to
the fuel pump, then turning the key and it starts, so I have two wires in
my boot with a fuse it case I can't get it running!

I took it into an electronics place to get it checked out on one of their
computers and they reckon it is either the ECU or a relay box. They could
not see any obvious faults. The problem is the fault is intermittent, it
happens once in a while so I have to use my wire to start it, but then it
seems ok for a while and starts prefectly normally, then all of a sudden
it goes again. It might be that once I get the fuel pump running again it
clears it for a bit, not sure.

Do you guys have any experience of this or any ideas as to what it might
be?

Thanks,

Neil.

Tim wrote:

My 2000 Cooper did this as well, and it was only 400 miles old at the time!
They traced the fault to the loom into the relay box, which is the balck box
mounted on the bulk head just to the left of the throttle bodies. A mechanic
at Longbridge tells me its common fault, becuase when the looms are
deleiverd to the line they are rolled up in bags and if they sit at the
bottom of the pile the wiring can crack and this in turn leads to a fault
signal. The fix was to remove that portion of loom and re insulate it by
applying anothe rlayer of insulation. SInce it was done I've had no problems
at all.....

Now just to cure the dam temp sender which seems to fill up with crap and
gunge and then won't turn the fan off! I pull the plug of about every 3
months at the moment and clean and apply lanolin spray to the connections,
which seems to work.
"Neil Woodman" <arbs44 (AT) dsl (DOT) pipex.com> wrote in message
news:jKudnc9IoOCQwhjZRVnytA (AT) pipex (DOT) net...

Hi,

I have a weird problem with my mini which developed a few weeks ago.
Basically sometimes the engine turns over but it does not appear that any
fuel can get to the engine, so hence it wont start. The only way you can
get the engine to start is by taking a wire directly from the battery to
the fuel pump, then turning the key and it starts, so I have two wires in
my boot with a fuse it case I can't get it running!

I took it into an electronics place to get it checked out on one of their
computers and they reckon it is either the ECU or a relay box. They could
not see any obvious faults. The problem is the fault is intermittent, it
happens once in a while so I have to use my wire to start it, but then it
seems ok for a while and starts prefectly normally, then all of a sudden
it goes again. It might be that once I get the fuel pump running again it
clears it for a bit, not sure.

Do you guys have any experience of this or any ideas as to what it might
be?

Thanks,

Neil.




Thanks everyone for the comments pretty interesting.

One thing I have also found is wrong, when you are taking a direct feed
from the battery to the fuel pump and driving the car round normally it
idles at about 1000revs, this is ok for a while, so when you change to
second gear the revs dip and sit at about 1000. Then after about 10
minutes or so putting the car into second when slowing down say the revs
dip to below 750 then return to 750, the car feels as if it's going to
stall and sometimes does actually stall, at which point I have to start
the engine again obviously and it keeps going. Could that be something
to do with the way the fuel pump is working plugged direct into the
battery or something more serious?

One thing I have also found is wrong, when you are taking a direct feed
from the battery to the fuel pump and driving the car round normally it
idles at about 1000revs, this is ok for a while, so when you change to
second gear the revs dip and sit at about 1000. Then after about 10
minutes or so putting the car into second when slowing down say the revs
dip to below 750 then return to 750, the car feels as if it's going to
stall and sometimes does actually stall, at which point I have to start
the engine again obviously and it keeps going. Could that be something to
do with the way the fuel pump is working plugged direct into the battery
or something more serious?

This just sounds like the auto choke kicking in at startup and when it is
warm its letting the engine idle at 750