engine wont turn over after removal/refit
Turbo Mini Forums

Iv had the engine out of my mpi cooper this week to sort out some gearbox problems. Hopefully they are now sorted. However, after getting the engine in today I have had a few problems.

To start with I had nothing. Not even lights. I checked the main green fuses and the lights came on – the fuses are ok so may be a problem with the wiring shorting on the loom somewhere? This has resolved for now. Everything works bar the engine.

When I turn it over it clicks lights also go out if on) , but the engine doesn’t turn. I didn’t touch the engine when out of the car, so timing etc should still be the same. There is however a small amount of smoke from the starter, and the terminals are hot to touch. Im thinking that the problem may be with the starter motor. Otherwise I would think maybe the battery has lost some of its charge (was new a couple of months ago and has never let me down). The battery terminals are tight. The earth straps and everything else is where it should be in the engine bay.

Tomorrow I will change the starter, if that doesn’t work I may try bump starting the car. Is there anything else I should be checking? Up until the start of the week the car preformed perfectly.

Many thanks

didnt leave a screw driver in there did you?

joking aside, can you turn the engine by hand?

if so, sounds like the starters fudged

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

will pop down tomorrow and have a look. put me in a foul mood though - i didnt even bother going to the pub tonight!

hopefully it will be a simple fix

Check your earths etc.

if the engine is solid get somone to press the clutch while you try turning it,

if it turns with the clutch down it must be a problem in the box.

Just thinking in terms of what you have disturbed,

have checked these jason. all good.

yes. the gearbox would turn through the diff to the drops and the other way around. it all seemed to be good. its a fair point though and will add it to the list of thing to check tomorrow mini13. thanks

mini13 i have just ran down to check this, as stated i rekon the gearbox was good when i put it together. as you said though it was disturbed, and was at the back of my mind. the engine wont turn over with the clutch engaged/disengageged so looks good - obviously doesnt rule out gearbox problems entirely but suggests its something else starter related. thanks for the advice

Ok,

as the engin hasnt been apart ?

i'm thinking it is somthing in the clutch area,

i'd drop the starter off and try turning thr engine, then pull the flywheel and see if it free's off.

the engine has been together for about 3000 miles and has eun faultlessly. i havent touched the engine since i put it together. just the gearbox/clutch and flywheel parts/ drop gears.

the clutch /flywheel assembly was left intact. i also put all of the parts back in there and its all gone back in properly. when i get the starter off tomorrow i will see if im able to turn the engine a little using the flywheel teeth. im pretty sure its the starter motor as iv had this problem on another car iv had. we will see though. definatly sounds mechanical to me. and it looks as though i will pull the flywheel and check that out again as a next step if the starter doesnt turn out to be the problem. thanks for your help.

You still havent answered the most basic question.

does the engine turn over by hand ? Until you answer that, anything else you are blabbing about is a waste of time.

And by trying the starter until smoke comes out, you've probably fried it.

Just put the thing in 4th, and push the car to see if the engine turns over, or turn it over directly at the crank.

More than likely a bolt in the wrong place locking the engine solid, or flywheel/clutch installed wrong ( if it was apart )

Edited by stevieturbo on 13th Mar, 2010.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

I would check your main engine earth, and maybe add another...

If the engine is locked solid, chances are its one of two things. Long engine mount bolts or long slave cylinder bolts. IIRC the starter motor bolts are the same thread as the slave cylinder bolts but one is longer than the other.

earth's

If it won't physically turn and the starter motor got hot enough to smoke, it is unlikely to be earths.....

Much more likely as Stevie and Sprocket say, wrong length bolts used in the WOK and fouling the flywheel. (starter motor are longer than slave cylinder and for the engine mount, it's easy to accidentally use say a diff side plate one).

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

If a normal engine ground starp is 99% of the time satisfactory, why would adding another make it any better? If it did, would that not suggest that the original ground strap was not as good and therefore, the problem.

Like Stevie has said, the engine needs to be turned over by hand first before going any further

hi, only just had chance to log on.

thanks everyone for ansering this post. its much apreciated.

it was the starter in the end. changed the battery first (as this is the easiest of the two on an mpi,

the engine would turn over by hand when on the bench. also one of the previous owners had added a second earth.the car is usually very reliable and used every day.

again thanks everyone. i can get to work tomorrow now!