I could make a joke about seeing a Mini in its natural habitat, but I have never had one come in ot running, it had always been other stuff nickel and diming. Or more like twenty and fiftying. Strut mounts. Window regulators (OE only, aftermarket are built wrong). Shifter cables. Power steering pumps, after the power steering pump cooling fan dies. (LOTs of that one, makes me laugh a little when people use them to electrify an older car) Rear brakes are always balls of rust, because there is not enough weight in the back to get a huge brake hot.
I do like the front suspension geometry, and they drive really REALLY nice...
Cool, going to be great to see this one at the challenge!
Current status of the MINI. I took the intercooler off to replace the bypass valve and noticed the existing one had the vacuum line hanging free and a (loose) vacuum cap on the port. I removed the cap and hooked up the vacuum line and put it back together. Same issues but the bypass valve was actually moving and doing its thing.
Spraying more brake cleaner as it was running and the idle picked up while spraying around the flange of the bypass valve. I pulled everything off again and put the new one on. Started it up and same symptoms. Now spraying brake cleaner anywhere around the bypass valve or supercharger inlet has no change on the idle. Spraying it straight into the throttle body still gets it to pick up and run smooth.
When first starting it will run and rev fine with the throttle. After a couple seconds it drops down into the low rough idle and throttle application has no effect. I verified on my scanner that the throttle position is reading correctly as I press it. Only pending codes are O2 sensor heater circuit malfunction.
After some more thinking and research I started looking at common reasons it would go into limp mode. Since it will start and rev fine it seems to clear up as you rev it then there is a squealing noise and the throttle shuts off. Apparently a failed crank damper is very common and will cause that issue. I pulled the passenger wheel and splash shield and the crank damper rubber is definitely cracked all the way around. I haven't released tension on the belt yet but there is slight play in it when pushing on the top edge.
Next step is to get a belt tensioner tool so I can remove the belt and crank pulley to confirm that it is actually shot. Then decide which damper to buy for $250-350.
The crank damper was a dead end as I should have figured.
I did some more directed spraying of brake clean while it was running and there is still a large leak down near the inlet for the supercharger. Looks like the leaking bypass valve was part of the problem but not all of it. The next step is to put the front end in service mode and get the supercharger inlet off to inspect and replace or just replace the gasket at the supercharger.
Doesn't take long to get here:
The leak is definitely at the gasket to the supercharger on the top side. Either they reused the gasket or didn't install it correctly or both. The bolt holding it was replaced with a cut down oval head machine screw that wasn't even contacting the base of the tab so that probably didn't help. I'll remove the duct completely and get a new gasket to reinstall it with.
The end bay is the part of the garage where cars with wheel bolts go to have their front ends exploded all over the place.
And yup.... It doesn't take very long but it does look impressive. "the NOSE has to come off!!!" (it's eight bolts, five screws, and the fog light connectors)
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Yea i was kinda putting it off but from jacked up to service mode was about 10 minutes.
In between getting frustrated with the MINI I was able to finish painting the engine bay of the RX7. Now I need to get the rebuilt engine out of the basement and transfer everything over so I can drop it in.
Meanwhile in the Clapped Out Garage, I remove things from the old 13b to put on the new 13b.
I have found slight evidence of oil leaks on the old engine.
Many new vacuum, coolant and fuel lines are in my future.
Just FYI. The oil metering pump lines can be extremely brittle. Treat them extremely gently, which is fun when Mazda used banjo bolts on everything.
The older ones (two line units) used rubber hoses on the ends of the plastic, which would also fail, so technically the banjos WERE an improvement.
The RX7 engine is going back together slowly. Today I swapped on my spare OMP and lines after I broke one of the lines installing them 2 weeks ago. I got to the point where I was ready to put the upper intake manifold on and realized I had the wrong gasket. Mazda sent me one for a turbo engine.
After that I worked on building new mounts for the motor on my lathe so it will finally be operational.
I took advantage of the warm weather to drop the engine into the rx7. I should have plugged the fuel line after I tried to drain the old gas yesterday because it leaked onto the floor and now everything smells like nasty old varnish gas.
The RX7 is slowly going back together. Work this weekend included blasting and painting some random parts.
The fleet also gained a XJ Cherokee. I have been looking for one for a couple months to fill the need for a 4x4 utility vehicle. Also the 1-ton Express van is currently my only running vehicle and it isn't the most fun to drive all the time.
I initially passed on this one a couple weeks ago after seeing some pictures of the underside but after finding nothing with any less rust under $2k I decided to go buy it.
The main issue is on the driver floor pan, it will probably be replaced at some point but it's fine enough to drive it for now. It does have an issue somewhere in the transmission control but for now I can drive it with the TCU unplugged and shift it manually. For $800 I could have done worse. I have a junkyard list ready to see what I can find this week.
Proof that I have more than one vehicle that is drivable.
I replaced the driver side window regulator and motor today so now all the windows roll down. I'm still trying to figure out the transmission control issue. With the TCU plugged in it won't shift out of first. I have replaced the TPS and VSS with no change, it has two TCUs and both have the same symptoms. The fuse is good and the TCU is getting power. Next I'll have to inspect all the wire harnesses to the transmission to see if there are any issues there. I have been driving it around with the TCU unplugged shifting manually but it isn't ideal.
Over the past week I drove out to Colorado for vacation. The van made it up Pike's Peak (well to mile 16 since it was closed above that).
I got back yesterday and have the rest of the week off so time to get some projects done. For 7/7 I wanted to get some stuff done on the RX7. It has been ignored for the past few months so I got some more stuff installed, got the cooling system all together, started working on installing the new clutch hose and realized the slave cylinder is shot. Tonight I will dig through all the boxes of parts to see if there is a spare slave cylinder before ordering one. I also need to find the mounting bracket for the trailing coil. It is getting very close to the first start.
Also shown in this picture is the DR250 I picked up from paranoid_android. Hopefully street legal soon.
Mental note: Red RX-7s turn into shelves with great speed
More testing on the Cherokee as I wait for the clutch slave and master to come for the RX7.
Testing at the TCU connector (and verified at the connector under the hood), the shift solenoids 1 and 3 measure 16-17 ohms (spec is apparently 11-15) and solenoid 2 measures 106 ohms.
Gear selection vs solenoid power table:
1st gear - solenoid 1 ON, solenoid 2 OFF
2nd gear - solenoid 1 ON, solenoid 2 ON
3rd gear - solenoid 1 OFF, solenoid 2 ON
overdrive - solenoid 1 OFF, solenoid 2 OFF
So that could explain why it is stuck in first gear. Every other connection at the TCU plug tested within spec.
The Rx7 is mostly together and cranks. It is not getting fuel though, turns out the fuel pump is shot. Which isn't really surprising given how long it sat and the condition of the fuel that came out when I drained the tank.
The RX7 is alive!
It still needs a few things:
Temp gauge doesn't work (need to find the connector for the sensor).
A few other electrical connectors need to be hooked up.
Tach doesn't work (there is a single wire on the leading coil that I couldn't find a mating connector for, I assume that is it).
Oil pressure gauge goes to max with key on, possibly pressure sender or bad connection?
Various other assembly of engine bay things.
I got the shift solenoids for the Jeep along with the RX7 fuel pump today. Removed the transmission pan to change them, took off solenoid #2 and tested the resistance...13.8 ohms. huh.
Tested the other ones, all were the same, right within the spec. Tested at the connector under the hood, all good. Tested at the TCU connector, all good. Either I berkeleyed up measuring the resistance before or it magically fixed itself. Put the new filter on and put everything back together for a test drive. Nope, did not magically fix itself.
I guess the next step is to try another TCU, I'll have to see what I can find in the junkyards. One junkyard has a manual XJ but I'm not that desperate yet.
On the RX7 I found the coolant temp sensor connector and that works now. The single bullet connector on the coil is apparently a diagnostic connector so not the issue with the tach.
In reply to EvanB :
Check the resistance hot.
Sounds good! This brings me back to my FC days. The phone dials... They still call me.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to EvanB :
Check the resistance hot.
The resistance hot at the TCU connector is slightly lower but still within spec.
Junkyard TCU was tried with no difference.
Have you checked the speed sensor in the Jeep?
