Hello, new here but have read many threads on here and a huge fan of this forum. Anywhoooo... I am going insane trying to figure my R56 Cooper NON S out, it will sit and crank but never turn over, I will get the odd puff from the exhaust but not often. I have just replaced the battery, pulled the fuel pump and tested it ( all good there ) tested fuel relay, pulled plugs ( kinda wet but not bad, cleaned and gapped properly ) there is good spark, air intake is all hooked up and clean. The main problem lies with the vehicle sitting for the last year and half ( financial issue and life.. ) so the gas is older but tried putting in octane booster. I have also pulled the fuel rail line off and tried cranking it and get lots of fuel flow. I hooked up my scanner and found a P0100 ( MAF code ) and P0015 ( cam position sensor over retarded bank 1 ) I cleared the codes and tried cranking it a couple more times, codes did not return but its still not running I also read up on the VANOS system and solenoids, I did pull both solenoids and cleaned them both.. still nothing, going to lose my mind here haha, any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

I think the 1 1/2 yr old fuel is your problem. Gasoline with ethanol doesn't age well. I'd try to get as much of the old gas out of the tank as possible and then add lots of fresh fuel to dilute what's left. You might get by with adding a couple cans of dry gas to absorb the moisture in the tank. Good luck.

 

If the plugs are wet.. thats not helping. "wet" at all = no starting.. we do this daily at work when its cold out.. our shop cars get short runs and shut down too fast before they self clean.

Pull the plugs, heat them with a propane torch... the electrode end.. get them RED HOT - you'll see yellow flames "puff" out - that's the fuel burning out of them. Keep pulling the flame away once red - if you see any smoke coming off the plug - keep going until its all gone.

Let them cool down, and reinstall them - can't hurt and its pretty much free.

A car sitting with 1.5 year old fuel (a modern car) is not a good thing - but its not awful either. Try diluting it with at least 5 gal of better (new) fuel.

 

I agree with that if my bike isn't used for a while the fuel goes off and won't start.

 

Ok thanks guys, I will give that a try. I asked numerous people and they mentioned it should still run even with poor fuel but that does make sense it being a high compression engine and requiring 91 from the get go. I know my bike would never start with poor fuel. So do you think the plugs would be wet from it trying to turn over and just dumping fuel in with no combustion ( due to poor fuel ) ?

 

" pulled plugs ( kinda wet but not bad, cleaned and gapped properly ) there is good spark "

Did you check the coils pack and also check all the fuses. I have heard of a main fuse blowing and then the electrical will not charge the coils.

Bad gas and sitting can be a issue, but I would check that spark again. I have seen R56 MINIs fire up after sitting for over a year.

Good luck.

 

Inquiring minds want to know: did you finally get it running or did you just go nuts instead?

 

Sorry for the delay guys, on vacation!! But, back to the real world now, but yes!! I did in fact get the beaut running! ( there is a god ) turns out, it was a combo of bad gas, and the plugs fouled, I tried what danjreed rec. by burning the excess off of the plugs, but ended up replacing them. New gas ( 94 octane ) with a fuel stabalizer/cleaner, cranked it a few times and boom! she fired right up. Thanks for all the help guys, I greatly appreciate it!!

 

That's great to hear! Glad it was simple.

-Luccia