Just bought my 2005 MCS pre-owned Friday. Saturday CEL came on Cylinder 1 misfire. Dealership changed spark plugs today, seemed better, but we are still noticing a loss of power at times in boost ... almost like a slip or a miss of sorts. This is my first supercharger, so I'm not all that familiar with the idiosyncrasies, but it definitely doesn't feel right. Any ideas what could have fouled one of the spark plugs and could cause this loss of power in the first place?

 

there are many different reasons why the engine may lose power... did the dealer do a compression, fuel, spark tests before replacing the spark plug. it may still be misfiring but you have yet to a get cel light.

 

Of course they didn't tell me what tests they ran ... I'm just a stupid girl Guess I'll give them a call. Thanks!

 

How many miles on the car? Could be a coil going out also.

 

found out they didn't really run any tests, just saw a fouled plug and replaced them all. the car has just over 47,000 miles.

 

Hey, did you buy it from Premier Ford in Orem? If so, I test drove that car on Friday! The suspension was a little too hard for my liking because of the spring upgrade, and I noticed that misfire under full throttle at higher RPM. Also it felt like there was some fairly strong exhaust resonance through the floor ...I'm guessing because it was an aftermarket system? Best of luck with the car... it certainly has lots of get up and go!

p.s. more experienced folks here will be able to give you some good ideas about the power delivery issue if they know about the Alta charger upgrade. I'm too new to be of much help with it.

 

Mine had a cylinder misfire the day after I bought it. I found out the car had been sitting for a long time and the gas had gone bad. I cleared the fault and filled the car with a fresh tank of super and it's been fine since. After a few days it started running better and better.

 

Good point... if it's the same car I'm thinking of, they've had it sitting at the dealership for a few months.

 

Excellent advice so far; probably stale fuel. Go out and drive the whee out of it, get yourself some fresh fuel, and it probably wouldn't hurt to dump in a bottle of injector cleaner while you're at it.
Oh, and welcome to the cult!

 

Yep, and when we test drove it, we honestly thought the misfire was wheel slip because the roads were a little wet :( Lovely ... everything else seems fine ... the dealership is being great with us though, seems like they want to make it right. Wish me luck!!

 

Yes, Friday was slippery alright. The salesman encouraged me to take it up Provo Canyon to the twisties, but it started to snow just as we hit Hwy 189. When we turned around at Vivian Park we certainly experienced some wheel-slip Best of luck with getting the little details sorted out. Great car!

 

The stiff suspension doesn't bother us because we AutoX, in fact we prefer that. But I do have a question for you ... did you bring the misfire to the dealership's attention?

 

I think it's a great AutoX car. You're the type of buyer I imagined being best suited to this one after I drove it. I'm getting older and my bones get rattled too easily . I drove three other MINIs on Friday, and they were all a bit 'gentler.' Yes, I mentioned the misfire, along with some rattles and squeaks from the dash. But to be fair, I was there on Friday mid-afternoon, and if you bought it later that day, they wouldn't have had time to do anything about it. The salesman I spoke with was Jay from Portugal. I found him very candid and helpful. Was that who you worked with?

 

Did you end up buying one of the other minis in town then?

 

Not yet... I've been looking on and off for months now, and I'm in no particular hurry. I drove the R56 Cooper and R56 Cooper S at the dealer in Murray, since I hadn't entirely ruled out the idea of a new one. On the way home I tried the 04 JCW in Pleasant Grove at the BMW dealer. I'll definitely go with an S, but probably one that's more or less stock. It could be days, weeks, or even months before I get one. I'll likely get a used one. From eBay it looks like all the best deals are on the east coast