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Long story short, I purchased an ITG foam filter, used it for a year without issue in combination with 15% reduction pulley. Eventually the filter got filthy and I threw it away and switched to a paper cone type filter inside the jcw airbox. Yesterday I decided to create a new sleeve for the ITG skeleton from home AC filtering foam and installed in on the mini. No issues. I don't even know if this is related actually. I decided to have some fun with the car and started driving in a more spirited manner and in one of my pulls the car lost most of its power and my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Service Engine Soon light, MEL (or is it MLE), and the traction light all went on. The car went into limp mode and I had to tow it home. I checked my filter after getting home but didn't notice anything wrong with it so maybe its unrelated. I'm going back to the paper filter either way to be safe.
After getting home and reading codes the following appeared on my Cen-Tech reader:
P0638 - Throttle Actuator Control Range/Performance Bank 1
P1688 - Please refer to vehicle service manual.
P1229 - Please refer to vehicle service manual.
I've been doing research and I'm thinking maybe the ignition coil (p1688) or throttle body (P0638).
I cleared the codes and the car started fine but as soon as you give it some gas all the lights come back on. Any ideas?
P0638 Throttle Actuator Control Range/Performance (Bank 1)
P1688 Electronic Throttle Control Monitor Level 2/3 Air Mass Flow Calculation Error
P1229 Throttle Sensor Adaptation Failure
Pull the filter completely (run it empty) to make sure it's not causing the problem. (Just for a test run, not permanently)
But.. Odds are you just loosened something when you were doing the work, check the connections near the CAI.
But... it actually sounds like the electrical connection or vacuum to the throttle body, even if that electrical connection looks ok, un-clip it and clip it back in, this has worked before.
Let us know
Wow what a day... so to provide some background in case anyone has this issue (doubt you will however).
This is my design in refoaming the ITG filter..
Unfortunately, I had my gf help me glue it together and she gave it to me when it was done. It turns out that she left a piece of foam inside the tube (against the walls) and when I installed it on the Mini I wasn't aware..at least not until now.
I checked the spark plugs because it looked like cyl3 was misfiring, also checked the spark plug wires and even the coils. Everything checked out. It wasn't until my brother and I removed the hoses leading to the throttle body that we discovered this caught on the butterfly valve..
That's the piece of extra foam she left inside the tube which was sucked in to the throttle body when I stepped hard on the gas.Luckily we were able to recover it and put everything back together.
Problem fixed. I'm not messing with this filter anymore. Going back to paper for now.
I’d stick with paper and forget foam. Paper filters better. It doesn’t matter if a little dust gets through to your home AC coil, but it sure does if it gets into your cylinders.
