First, sorry for such a long post but I want to give as much info as I can. My Mini is an 03 S. Here's the story;

I'm in Houston. The day after Ike I drove through some high water. 30 minutes later it over heated. I caught it as it went into the red. I let it cool down then drove it home (less then a mile). It didn't over heat again. I parked it until I could get to it which was about a week. Last weekend I took it apart, found that the thermostat was not working and decided that I may as well replace the water pump and ordered the parts. I had been planning to do several things and thought this would be a good time to do them all.

ok, on to the details. I replaced gaskets, basically everything having to do with the intake, supercharger and throttlebody. I cleaned the oil out of the intercooler and horns with carb cleaner. I put on a new detroit valve, thermostat and water pump. I replaced the stock SC pully with a 15% pully. I got it all back together today and it started, the rpm's went to about 2000, held for a second or 2 then it started chugging, died and hasn't started again.

I have verified spark and fuel to the fuel rail (I pressed the valve on the end of the fuel rail and got fuel). I then pulled the fuel rail and injectors, hooked up the fuel line, cranked it over to verifiy the injectors work. There was a very fine mist, not alot of fuel, at least not as much as I expected. I've gone back through it all, checked all connections and haven't found anything unconnected.

Please, if anyone has any ideas your help will be greatly apperciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

What happens if you disconnect the air intake and spray starting fluid down its throat while an assistant cranks the engine? If it attempts to start you may have a fuel delivery concern.

You also mentioned driving through water and overheating? Have you checked compression? Does the engine make any vacuum when cranking?
Could the exhaust or intake be blocked?

Just a few thoughts that come to mind. Also you did not mention how you verified spark.


if you have fuel and spark along with compression and the correct timing its got to start.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

Thanks for the help Frenchie

I tried the first suggestion, sprayed with starter fluid and the car fired right up so it is fuel delivery. The injectors were still in the intake manifold when I sprayed it down with carb cleaner to clean out the oil buildup inside. I'm guessing I damaged them doing it. Could it be they are just clogged and if so would soaking them in injector cleaner help? Is there any chance the ecu might have them shut down? I know I'm reaching here. I have a feeling I'll be needing new injectors but if there are any ideas I would love to hear them.

 

Lets start with the over heating problem. To your knowledge have the power steering fan and the radiator fan circuits been separated? If not then while the power steering fan was submerged the PS fan overheated and blew the fuse that both the PS fan and radiator fan use in common. If that happened have you checked to see if your car now has an operational cooling fan, could explain the over heating.
I wonder what else is powered of that common fuse. Have you checked the fuel pump relay? I don't have the schematics in front of me but I would place a bet that a power surge caused by the blown fuse would have done something to the relay. As to the carb fluid used to clean the intake having fouled the injectors,nope. Those injectors operate in a hellish environment that far exceeds any thing carb cleaner could do to an injector

 

Hi miminut

I haven't seperated the circuits and I don't think it was done before I owned the car. I don't know how to check if the fans are working without having the car running. I know the thermostat was bad and has been replaced.

The fuel pump is pumping, the fuel rail is full and under preasure. Very little is making it through the injectors, just a drop of mist after several cranks of the starter.

 

You may need to verify your fuel pressure and delivery rate to diagnose a pump problem.

An audible click should be heard from the injectors as they fire; use a screwdriver touching the tip to the injector and the handle to your ear (like a stethoscope) while an assistant cranks the car.

When it is quiet, the fuel pump can be heard running for the first two seconds with the key on.

The system will turn off the pump after 2 seconds if crank shaft pulses are not detected during cranking. (crank sensor)

You may also try picking up the rear seat and tapping on the fuel pump just in case it is worn and stuck, I believe it is located on the drivers side.

 

I checked the injectors for the clicking sound and it is there. It's more of a hollow ping sound, maybe because theres no fuel moving thru it? I can also hear the pump as you discribed.

What should the fuel pressure be? I think I'll try replacing the pressure regulator on the fuel rail and I'm trying to find a shop that has an off car injector cleaning machine to verify they are passing fuel.

 

The pressure should be 40.6 - 46.4 PSI @idle. With the engine off may be as high as low 50s. The manufacturer does not provide the flow rate. What is your battery voltage, have you checked for corrosion on the connector for the fuel pump?

 

Here is an update, after checking the fuel pressure, which was zero, I replaced the relay and now have the proper pressure. The car starts. I'm finishing everything up this weekend and hopefully past all the problems.

Thanks to you all for your help.

 

Thats good news; what is the location of the relay you replaced?