I tried new fuel regulator and still the same problem. Tried a different coil too. No change. Will try fuel pump filter next.

 

Yeah, if my fuel regulator didn't resolve the problem, i was going to change the fuel pump and fuel filter.

But since now the regulator was the problem, i returned the fuel filter to my stockist.

 

great post, i will also swap my fuel regulator even though i am at 49000 miles on the warranty. Mini of Nashville has a Crap for maintenance support....opps did i just bad mouth a dealership...

anyway, thanks for your input and this is one reason i visit NAM.

 

No worries, information sharing benefits all.

 

It turns out that my long start issue was caused by two leaking injectors, which in effect flooded the engine. Once I replaced the two leaking injectors the problem disappeared.

There are two steps to checking for a leaking injector. First if your car belches black smoke at start and you can smell raw gas it is probably an injector. The next is to pull the fuel rail, keeping everything connected turn it so that the injectors are aimed up. Then cycle the ignition to on. This cycles the fuel pump and you can see if one of your injectors drips a little bit when the pump cycles. It helps to have a friend help you with this.

 

Sorry for the necro-bump but my S has always had this problem, i know it's not the injectors as i've just changed then for 440cc injectors, i've also changed the pressure regulator, so it can't be that. Has anyone else worked anything out to fix it?

Cold is fine and hot if try and start it straight away it cranks for a few seconds, if i switch it to position 2 so the dash lights up and then wait for everything to go out except the engine and EML light it starts quicker, but it's still longer than when it's cold.

 

Honestly, the problem just kinda went away by itself in my case. How many miles does your MINI have?

 

THERE is nothing wrong with your cars. Quit being babies because it takes an extra two seconds to start up. Both R53's I have owned would sometimes stumble on the first start, then stall. Then start fine. Dont forget your driving british, either.

 

What's British on these cars? The car was designed in the US by a Morrocan (Frank Stephenson). The engine is American, the transmission is German. For all intents and purposes the car is an American car with a German transmission (Built in Britain).

For what it's worth, long crank times during startup can be indicative of other issues. Some of these issue include compression problems, bad battery/starter, too rich, too lean, and a dirty fuel filter, etc. Seeing as how nobody ever changes the fuel filters in these things, I'd probably start there if you have anything over about 40k miles on your car.

 

There WAS something wrong with my fuel pressure regulator (relatively cheap fix), which caused me to take a much longer time to crank up. Once replaced, the problem went away.

 

My car used to have long cranking from time to time, but sometimes instantly. It disappeared after I changed the stock fuel injectors with JCW 380cc. Now I remember that this long cranking started to happen after the 15% pulley. I guess the engine was running lean then and the higher flow injectors resolved the issue.

Can't be happier.

 

My problem came back. I am begining to wonder if it is the fuel rail. I get a puff of black smoke and can smell raw gas when it starts after a long start.

 

im going to the dealer for this issue Tuesday. Ive read that it can be as simple as an ECU update/flash.

 

Run a compression check... you shouldn't ever see black smoke coming out of your exhaust. Thats almost always burning oil, and coincides with the hot start difficulty.

 

I thought black was fuel, and blue was oil?

 

[quote=rustyboy155;2187725]What's British on these cars? The car was designed in the US by a Morrocan (Frank Stephenson). The engine is American, the transmission is German. For all intents and purposes the car is an American car with a German transmission (Built in Britain). quote]


Apparently you've never owned a pre '02 Mini or you might have gotten the joke. Also that engine, produced by Chrysler, I would not call American for two reasons:
1. Produced in Brazil for the European market
2. Point to one car sold in the US, besides the 02-06 Mini lineup, that uses that 1.6L engine.

 

I have longer than normal starts, I don't remeber since when, but the '06 I had as a loaner once started very fast.

I'll start with the battery, it's the original one. Then the fuel filter. On that note, is it easy to get the pump cap off?

 

Just changed my fuel filter. Huge difference. HUGE!!! It is on the passenger side, be careful disconnecting the hose at is under pressure. I used the valve on the fuel rail to de-pressurize the system first. Then used hammer and screwdriver to turn of the locking ring. I got the filter kit from Autohaus AZ. There are 4 o-rings. 2 little ones on the nipple the the filter sits on, a big on on the cap of the part in the tank, an on on the cap into the tank. My filter was nasty dirty.

Today the problem seems to be gone.

 

Could you post pictures of the locations for the filter and fuel rail valve? Thanks!

 

No such luck on the fuel rail valve. It is under the intercooler on the driver side. I was able to get mine off without removing the intercooler, but I also have the AGS so my intake is gone. It looks like a large valve stem.

As for the filter. If you remove your back seat bottom. You will see to round black panels with 5 bolts each. The one on the passenger side is where the filter is located. Once you remove the line and the locking ring you can work it out. The filter is inside the white cylinder which is twist locked together. Once you have it partially out of the tank the top twists and seperates from the bottom. You will see the filter. After that it is pretty self explanatory.

 

So it's a case of unplug the battery, de-pressurise the fuel rail and then change the filter?

Does the petrol squirt out at all once the rail is drained?
I'm just thinking i might change the filter when i change the pressure regulator back from an adjustable to a standard one.

 

No, it doesn't squirt at all. It is really rather straight forward. Changing the filter can be a little messy. I did it with about a quarter tank of gas. THe worse part was the gas in the filter canister. Once you twist and take it apart there is some gas inside it. In some ways I am surprised my car still ran. It was that dirty.

 

Yeah, black is fuel whitish blue is oil.