Long story short, my mini was in an accident and instead of fixing the body and repainting the car I decided to buy a donor car where I'll swap my engine and anything worth swapping.

So I found a car for really cheap, was told that engine is shot and the car won't start. Brought it home and decided to see what exactly is wrong with it before doing anything.

What I did:

1. Charged battery, car cranks but won't start.
2. Checked compression, ~145 all cylinders (so the engine is somewhat ok).
3. Checked for spark, there isn't any.
4. Checked for errors, no registered errors (not a surprise, battery was dead for a while)

At this point, I assumed it could be related to the CAS/key but, when I insert the key in the slot there is chime, so from my understanding, it's ok?

5. I noticed that when car cranks, RPM needle doesn't move (on my other, working car, if I disable ignition and crank, the needle goes up to 200-300rpm), I assumed that it could be the Crank position sensor, replaced it, nothing changed.

A long weekend is coming so I'd like to dig in and solve this mystery box. Worst case scenario will have to move all wires and ECU's with the engine from the other car but ideally would like to fix this one as it seems to be an electric problem.

So if anyone is having any ideas what I can check next is absolutely welcome to share it.

 

Did you check power and signal to the coil?

 

Well, my theory is that there isn't any.
I switched coil packs between the two cars, the old car still starts, this one still doesn't have spark.

 

That would make sense. I'm lazy, I'd be tempted to just start swapping electronic components (with some logic applied) until I found the faulty piece.

I don't think it would be the key if you are getting a chime, but I do not know how these immobilizers function.

Edit To Add:

I was reading through this thread. There are some basic tests to run. How many of them are voodoo against how many might actually be good diagnostics is for you to decide, but it's somewhere to start with the immobilizer.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lp-a-noob.html

 

Moving you to Stock Problems/Issues area.

 

Quick note: your crank position sensor has nothing to do with the car "cranking". It sends magnetic pulses to figure out the rotation speed of the crankshaft, and in combination with the data from the cam position sensor, it helps the ECU time the motor. These sensors rarely go bad. Their o-rings are notorious for leaking, though. Trust me, from experience, don't just throw parts at these cars. There's a lot of "it could be..."s, you're better off researching the problem enough until you can get a nearly certain diagnosis.

Your compression is excellent, so I'd start by framing this as as an electrical issue. We know the battery is charged, so let's move on from that. How did you determine you aren't getting spark? Are your other interior electronics working? What about headlights? Door chime? Do you hear your powersteering kick on and start whining below the car when you turn the key to position 2?

 

I understand the purpose of crankshaft position sensor, but the fact that car doesn't show any RPM's during crank made me believe that it may be shot.

I'm not going to throw parts at it, if needed I'll swap them from the working car, but again, I want to diagnose it first so I'll not just spend time moving all possible parts from one car to the other.

For spark testing, took out the coil wire with a spark plug, grounded the plug, crank the engine, no spark.

All other electronics seem to be working, at least dash lights, interior lights, headlights, door chime if open. Didn't listen to the power steering sound though, will do that tonight. The only thing that would not work is the door lock from the key or from the central console, it locks the trunk but not front doors, passenger door will not lock at all unless pressed on the thing, driver door will lock only from the key in the door lock, but I assume it's actuator problem?

 

Hmm..sounds like you're right. My doors actually behave the same way...I guess a lot of our cars have finicky locks. Anyway, have you checked the main engine fuses? Is it possible the electrical system ever got shorted/battery got installed backwards for a moment? I accidentally installed my battery backwards last year and blew a main fuse, the car behaved much the same way.

Did you test all the plugs? How many miles on your car?

 

I did test all fuses/relays under the hood, not sure which one is the "main engine fuse"?
I know nothing about the history of the car, as far as I'm concerned it could've been shorted in some way.

I did test all the plugs, the car has 112k miles.

 

Here's a good resource.

Main engine fuses are under a cover on the underside of the engine compartment fuse box. Best accessed by removing the intake, ECU, and fuse box mounting bolts.

After testing it for continuity with a multimeter, if it's bad, any MINI dealership will sell you that fuse for ~$5. No auto parts stores in my area carried them, last I checked.

If starter voltage reads well, perhaps the ignition/immobilizer system is malfunctioning?

 

Don't have to go anywhere other than NAM to get some good fuse information. Try Item 0023 in the below thread.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4339982

 

And, just for the heck of it, you have verified the engine ground strap is tight?

 

Yes, I checked that and added one more ground strap to the other side of the engine just to be sure.

Thanks for the link, it is really helpful, will go over them tomorrow.

Thanks, will check tomorrow all fuses.


I suspect immobilizer to be a problem as well, but not sure how else to test it, connected to the car with INPA and it says that car is not immobilized, and reseeded ECM to the EWS, still nothing.

 

Thanks everyone for the help. After a gazilion liter of beer and a lot of parts disconnected/cleaned and reconnected, it’s alive. Apparently, connectors that were under the fuse box were corroded, cleaned them and got a signal to the coil pack. Then for some reason, it was showing that it has a half tank of gas while it was almost empty, added fuel and vroom.

Now after it started I found out more issues, such as coolant leak, bad wires from the coil pack to spark plugs, but those are easily diagnosed.

 

Good to know, I will add this to my list for future reference.

 

I know I’ve seen a lot on here about this but I’m still stumped. I just acquired a 2003 Cooper s with a built drivetrain. Current owner said he was driving and one day it just **** off and wouldn’t restart. P0340 code pops up for cam sensor. I’ve replaced the sensor and looked over the wiring and replaced the pigtail due to the wires showing. That is the only part of the harness i seen any issues with. I have also replaced the crank sensor as well for good measures. I’m stumped tight now and just need the car running. I have crank but no spark. Compression, and timing have all checked out. ECU is also good. Any help would be great.

 

Sorry if I missed it but do you hear the fuel pump relay click and the fuel pump prime with the key in position 2?

 

did you figure it out??