intermittent stating problems. sometimes does not turn over
Turbo Mini Forums

so my not so trusty mpi cooper that I use daily has been playing up over the last few days.

you could sometimes flick the key but nothing would happen - all ignition on, but the engine wouldn't turn. just a clicking from the starter relay

if you tried again, it would fire up straight away on the second, and later the third or fourth try.

the battery was past its best so replaced this. cleaned the battery leads, they are on tight.

whipped the grill off, cleaned and inspected the starter wires, all seemed to be in good order. it then fired first time without issues

tried again an hour later and it would only spin intermittently again. this then changed to only turning over occasionally. or sometimes just turning over once, before stopping, before the engine could fire up.

so due to the intermittent nature I thought that there might be a dead short. firstly I replaced the starter relay which did not change things.

I whipped the dash out and the steering column shroud off to see if there was anything obvious with the wiring. there wasn't. also checked the connection to the mpi immobiliser box which was ok

but it now fires up first time. I moved the wiring looking for issues, im thinking that maybe a section of wire or a connector might be damaged?

as it works ok now that's ok - but have a feeling that its a matter of time before it lets me down again.

has anyone else has similar issues, or can anyone thing of anything obvious that I should be checking?

cheers, dan

Maybe a sticky solonoid in the motor itself
Is it whizzing over on it's own or just nothing st all sometimes

Sometimes just nothing. Are these known to go? The problem is the intermittent nature of the fault. Cheers, dan

if the wiring's all fine id definately say i'd be the starter

you may have sorted the problem dan ....... but as dev says quite possible

cheers gents. it was going well but wasn't happy again last night. will change the starter today, anyone else have any thoughts on what I could check? much appreciated, dan

Could it not be something simple like a poor earth ?

ive have experienced a solenoid with moisture in it, it became intermittent the fix was to whack it witch freed it up
had to keep doing this while a new one was on the way

manny things it could be just my two cents

Same issue here quick tap with a hammer unjammed the solenoid

Same issue here quick tap with a hammer unjammed the solenoid

just had a MPi with something similar. after changing the starter i could check the old one. the tiny wire that goes from the solenoid to inside the motor was broken just enough to make problems whenever it wanted to. right at the rubber cover where the wire comes through

cheers gents. have changed the starter, and also the engine compartment relay. hoping that this is sorted now, always a doubt in the back of your mind though.

not had a great month of motoring - got caught speeding a few weeks ago, went to repair a small hole in my wheel arch today and it turned out that most of the arch has gone, also on valentines night, taking my mrs out a massive and I mean massive fuck off dog ran into the side of my car when driving, smashing the arch. got out, dog ran off, no owner about. fucking animals! so in the process of sorting this too

this starts great, but earlier on one occasion It just clicked on the turn of the key. tried again and it was fine. so the problem is still there. im now thinking it could be ignition switch/a wiring /earth problem. not sure what else to look at to be honest. cheers, dan

Go through voltage checks/wiring checks if you know how mate.