So i just recently got a 03 r50 manual. The problem i am having is when I go to take off it bogs down, then finally catches and takes off. This problem is worse when I put the pedal all the way down. I am also only getting 29.4 mpg. There's no burning smell so I am not thinking it is the clutch. Could it possibly just be carbon covered valves and injectors?

 

Nope...
Carbon is not an issue on the gen 1 cars.....
Any codes? Basic items done? Things like plugs, etc?
Some r50 cars do get into issues with valve wear, then misfires....they NEED 90+ (R+M/2) OCTANE, BUT MANY RUN 87...so the valves get burnt, then get soft, and wear fast...result is low compression, sometimes none, this misfires as it advances.
Other things that can make the takeoff feel slower are things like a lightweight flywheel, or heavy rims......

 

I have replaced the spark plugs and am using iridium plugs it had a mystery code I could not figure out for the life in me there was no information on it that I could find. No misfire codes though. Im am currently running some seafoam anf 91 octane fuel through it but i am still bogging just not as bad. I haven't replaced the coil pack or the wires yet though. Another thing it does is in the morning it starts up and idles fine. But after it has been ran for a bit it will start fine but then it drops to about 500 rpm then shoots back up to about 1000 and idles fine. Tomorrow i should be able to run a compression check. What should the compression be about?

 

I'm not sure what the compression should be, I want to say 180ish but I can't remember for sure. But your mileage sounds pretty good depending on how you're driving it. I do mostly city driving and very little highway driving and I struggle to get above 28mpg If I take the mini on a highway trip it'll get 32-33mpg.

What you describe sounds like my first mini which i ran alot of 87 octane in (I was a poor college student and didn't know any better) After 150,000 miles that car felt much lower on power than my current mini.

 

First thing i would check is the throttle pedal, its electronics and then a sticky throttle body. You might get a code down the road for a throttle position sensor fault,. or have one stored, get this and read the stored codes :

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d-q-and-a.html

 

Thank you guys for your help i really appreciate it. I will run higher octane fuel in it from now on. I am a mechanic at a shop so i am lucky enough to have access to a really good scanner and will check it today. No one at the shop has ever worked on a mini so i am kinda on my own. I actually really fell in love with it after I had to do a clutch swap in it. It's just a fun car to work on for me. I was also wondering will a r53 manual transmission swap over to a r50 engine block without much fuse?

 

They really are enjoyable to work on. The S 6 speed does bolt up to the r50 engine but you'll need to swap the flywheel, clutch, axles, shift cables, and quite a few other odds and ends. There are a number of great write ups on this available with detailed parts lists. If you go this route, it is worth it to get the facelift(05-06) transmission as it has better ratios for the r50 engine.

 

This happens to me, but only with the a/c on. It feels like the clutch is slipping/stuttering.

 

Alright i checked for codes and nothing. However i did do a throttle postion test and one for each injector. Seems to have helped but still have a bit of lag. I am going to clean the throttle body and map sensor next. After that new wires for sure but i seem to be gaining ground rather then lossing it.
Pikwit thanks for the info I will check that out. Do they sell performance transmission rebuild kits for the r50? I was thinking i could buy another mini with a bad transmission or engine and rebuild them for preformance. For this mini or the other one.
Thank you for the help again.

 

Many r50 trannys from 2002-2004 fail...they have a Midlands tranny...slightly newer ones have a 5speed getreg, 2005-2006 hardtop and cabrio till 2008...
Most folks deal with tranny parts sellers in England, so yes parts are available on the Midlands...but driven hard, they don't last....and CVT mini's get totalled out regularly from CVT failure at low miles...so all options...
Think at one point, helix in Philly was selling straight cut gears for a couple swaps for common track speeds.

 

P.S
the tranny is not a direct swap...the CV joint spline count is different....not sure about other things...

 

So all in all I should just swap out for a 05-06 tranny from a r53. I will just keep an eye out for a wrecked r53 from that year. Probably my best option. So i replaced my spark plug wires and it is lagging worse then before. I cleaned the throttle body and reset the computer. So i will see what happens. Im starting to suspect a dirty fuel filter.

 

What's wrong with 30 mpg? I struggle to get 22 city in my R53.

 

The R50 has come back to life. Take off is smooth and it is so much easier to get to driving speeds. Also alot easy to go over the speed limit. Turns out all i needed to do was clean the throttle body and maf sensor. I did however reset the computer after cleaning the throttle body.

Sevin, its not 40 mpg. I don't dislike the car because of that it just simply means there's room for improvement. I am going to be putting a cold air intake on and new exhaust system as well.

I do have a couple ideas other then that for increasing mpg while giving it a little more power.

In the end thank you to everyone's advice and information. You guys are a pretty cool group of people. I am just a static that my R50 has come back to life.

 

Nice , thanks for the update. Welcome.