I washed my MINI last Wednesday in the driveway since the temp got to 40. Pulled it into the garage.

Went out Thursday afternoon and My MINI would crank over but not start. I thought maybe something got wet, but I did not get anything under the bonnet wet, but...?

I left it till Friday. Still would crank but not start. It almost sounded like no spark or no fuel. Checked spark. Looked OK! Good spark to ground using a jumper.

Got out my Manual. Checked all the sensors and wiring harness connections for being secure and no moisture. Looked OK! Starter was starting to smell hot. Opps! It did pop twice-I thought it was going to start!

Waited till Monday to call roadside assistance. Thought whoever would have to come out needed a nice Christmas weekend. The MINI was picked up on Monday morning.

Tuesday, the shop said the starter tested faulty. They will be replacing and will let me know when the car was done. Tuesday-No Starter. Wednesday-No Starter till 4pm. I was called to be informed that the starter was not the problem. They suggested new spark plugs. I said, "Go ahead" thinking that this would not fix anything.

Fixed! The MINI runs good.

Humm!!! I have a 15% pulley with and Alta CAI. I put in Denso Iridium plugs at 17,000 on the recommendations listed on NAM for cars with pullies. I now have 35,000 on the car.

The dealer stated that the aftermarket (Denso) plugs were causing the problem with the car.

Everything was covered under warranty except the plugs, so I didn't push the issue of how this could cause a problem with the car.

I have not checked to see if they did any updating of my software, yet. The car does seem to drive a little different.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might have been?


This ought to be fun seeing what you all come up with!!

 

Take a look at the plugs working themselves lose threads. Seems like they also involve densos.

 

After doing the 15% pulley and software I decided to go with the denso plugs, after ONE week I went to pull it out of the garage and it was running real rough so I swapped back to stock plugs and started running fine. I know they are suppose to be good plugs but my first deal with them burnt me!

 

I have had 2 problems with Denso plugs. The first, in my 03 MC, blew out a plug after it worked its way loose. The second, in my 03 MCS, car started misfiring and wouldn't run right. At first I thought it was bad gas. When I got home and checked the codes said that cylinder 4 was misfiring. I pulled the plug and the center electrode was burned away. I am not sure what happened, I have a Pilo coil and Nology wires on it. It may not have been gapped correctly, since with the Pilo coil you need to gap at .065. I installed a set of Bosch Platinum +4s that I had and the car became a whole different car. Ran smoother, better acceleration and throttle response. I have now sworn off Denso plugs. I might try the NGK Iridiums, but thats only if I go from my 15% pulley to a 19% or if I add a crank pulley where I might need the cooler range plugs to prevent detonation.

I can't speak to others experiences with Denso plugs. I can only speak to mine and after bad experiences in TWO different cars they couldn't pay me to install those plugs again.

Hope thsi helps!!

 

Mind elaborating on this 'good spark to ground' technique?

And did you gap your plugs, or were that at denso factory gap?

 

I have denso Ik22's, when I start the car(cold) it works really stupid but when car heats up it is fine. But also one of my friends had the start issue with the same plug. interesting