Hey guys, another couple of questions...

When I was fooling about under the bonnet on the weekend I noticed this thing that appearer to be a button. My mate looked at it and said that he pushed it and it did nothing. I looked at it and pushed it but I must have pushed it harder because it did do something... It must have been connected directly to the starter motor because the engine turned over. For some reason I hadn't left the car in gear like usual which is lucky because it would have jumped forward and hit us both.

Are these buttons normal? It looks like it could have been a factory item but I don't see why it would be fitted. What is it's purpose other than to scare the crap out of people that are sitting in front of the car?
The button in question is circled in the pic.




Second question... my spark plug leads are all messy and are getting annoying each time I go to pull the bonnet catch. Should they be looking like that (in the pic) and being all tangled with the bonnet release?

It's the older type of solenoid, which can be manually actuated as well as electrically.

Some people like these because you can do compression tests etc where you want to crank the engine over while looking at what's going on under the bonnet.

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Bob Slattery
Duffman Says A Lot of Things - OH YEAH!!

Looks like somebody has kindly fitted an 850 starter button to your engine bay to help either thieves or mechanics.
Not normally located there.

Not an 850 solenoid they are different. It's a perfectly normal fitment to many Minis, as said its useful for cranking the engine without having to get an assistant or wire up a remote start button or use a screw driver. NLA now you can only get the 'normal' type without the button. Shame.

Thanks guys, we've cleared up the first question... now does anyone know how the spark plug leads are supposed to be held in place? They are all messy and, although not fouling the bonnet catch, one of them is getting in the way of it. I noticed another is touching the edge of a piece of bodywork, and if left like that, may start to abrade the insulation.

Anyone with a pic of their car in a similar pose?

Yea, those starter's are common and pretty cooll, mr's 13secmini's mini has one..came in handy to tune the car and get it started..

Leads look normal to me, you can also get like a cable management clip thing that keeps them all nice and neat..not sure what they're called.

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cable ties work

cable managment LOL getting a bit technical for a bit of plastic !

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Hmmmmm..... Jennifer Garner

Alright... I was just wondering if it was normal to have stuff all higgledy piggledy... I'm used to the engine bay of a quality Japanese car where the radiator is at the front, the battery is on the opposite side to the airbox, and the diff is at the back of the car.

Everything in the Cressida's engine bay is held in place by special clips. Every wire and every component has a specific place that they are firmly held.

One of them under bonnet starter switches is what I miss in my Mini's. My fathers Austin A40's have them, and it makes life that little bit easyer. Whether it hasnt been started for ages and you've just manually pumped the fuel pump (another feature that is nice), ya can turn the car over, while controlling the throttle and choke with ya hand. Also nice when doing the tappet clearances!

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it only starts the car if the key is at the ign or on position

you got a better name for it?

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hye molina post some pics of your beast looks nice, when did you get it and how much for

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Hmmmmm..... Jennifer Garner

I think he means beast

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Starlet Conversion:
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quiet you !

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Hmmmmm..... Jennifer Garner