I am experiencing a "stutter" when applying heavy throttle in all gears; when rolling into the throttle moderately, I don't experience much of the stutter/stumble. I recently bought the car and did not have issues for the first week or so of driving it. I replaced the belt with a Gates K060535 belt last night and plan on replacing the plugs today to see if that solves anything (however when I pulled them yesterday, they didn't look bad).

I am new to MINI's, but not to modified automotive. If this were my Subaru, I would say the stutter felt like a result of timing, but since everything was fine a few weeks ago, it is a new issue and the ECU has not been touched. I did reset the ECU to see if that would help, which it unfortunately did not.

2004 MCS. Current modifications are only an Alta 19% pulley and Alta CAI. Mileage is 91k. No CEL or EML on. Idle is not erratic and boost is steady- I am stumped.

Any advice or possible explanations/ideas/theories on what is going on here or how to solve the issue (if it sounds similar to what you were experiencing) is highly appreciated!

Thank you to any and all in advance!

 

sound like a fuel problem. Pump or filter?

 

Good idea; I will check the filter. But, it doesn't feel like a fuel cut stutter - I know what that feels like.

BUMP for anyone else's ideas? Areas to check?

 

How many miles are on it? At first I thought it was a fuel problem as well...lol

 

My suggestion....start by changing the 19% to a 17% or even a 15%.....very few cars that had 19% pullies installed kept them.....many issues.....like this.
Driven in town at lower rpms, a 19% is OK...but pushed hard...bad things start to happen.

 

I Have the same problem 2004 mcs with a 17% pulley and I called way and he said I need to get a new coil pack and wires he said he runs into this problem all the time mine is on its way now

 

Mileage is 91k.

 

Is what you are experience in all gears and when heavy throttle is applied?

Please let me know how it turns out with the new plugs and wires.

 

Mileage is at 91,000.

 

Yes it is very noticeable at wot but if you just casually speed up it isn't really that noticeable but it's still there

 

And yes it's all gears

 

Have you done an oil change, or checked your oil?
Sounds like your timing is off, and oil pressure/level affects timing on first gens.

 

That is EXACTLY what I have going on. Please tell me that the plugs and wires fixes your issues...

 

Really? This is a proven thing? I do have an oil leak below that I am trying to track down. I have been checking the level everyday and all is good...weird.

 

Check the connectors on the coil pack especially for #3 cylinder as Way mentioned. Stock CP's are notorious for this issue reason why my stock one sits on a shelf and the NGK one is in the MINI.

You can clean it up with the green scrounge side of a sponge, nothing harsher than that though. Some say to put dielectric grease on those connections but that goes against what I have read regarding the use of that product. ( only to be used at the plug end of the wires )

 

I will let you know if it fixes my problem when they come in after way told me I did check my coil pack and my number 3 was so badly corroded my wire doesn't even clip on anymore but if you want to see if I have the same problem I posted a video and see if yours sounds the same

 

I got my coil pack and wires today got them on problem is fixed! no more hesitation

 

I'm glad the members here helped you sort out your problem. It was very obvious from the video. It was for sure pretty bad.
Now you can motor on!

 

Well today while I was on the on ramp for the highway, the car spit out a p0302 code for a cylinder #2 misfire. The plugs I initially ordered just came in so I put them in, but I am trying to find a way to reset the CEL and take It for a ride. An ECU reset doesn't get rid of it. Anyone have any suggestions?

Btw that video you posted is the same thing I had going up until today when it threw the CEL.

Good to hear you solved the issue.

 

That's weird because Saturday mine did the exact same thing and it went into limp mode but I had a buddy that worked at autozone and he cleared it for me with their code scanner

 

Update time.

Yesterday I replaced the plugs with NGK Iridiums and checked all the plug wires. All of them were VERY clean surprisingly, so I just reseated them and reset the ECU. After resetting the ECU, the CEL remained, but when I took the car out, and the stutter was gone. I was hitting around 16-17psi and all felt back to normal.

Drove the car quite a bit today for work and everything was fine. After about 5-6 car starts, the CEL disappeared and I was beginning to feel relived that I found the problem.

When I left work tonight, I quickly noticed that the car felt low on power - Merging on the highway, the car only pegs about 12psi at WOT and then begins to creep upward to 15psi.

There's no CEL, and the stutter is gone.

Thoughts? Hunches? Bets?

 

Mine did the same thing after resetting the ecu but after a couple start ups it's back to normal

 

You had boost creep after you reset the ECU?

 

I'm not sure if I had boost creep but I know it seemed to have a loss of power but it is back to normal now... What pulley do you have on it

 

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