hey guys ,

I been having troubles with my car starting , it seems like it doesnt have enough spark or fuel to crank over .Not long ago i have posted a thread about my alternator , soon after i have replace it and check the battery and its all good , but still find it hard to start , what could be the problem ?

fuel ?
Electrical ?
starter motor ?
leeds ?

can anyone help me ? should i adjust the air / fuel and run it richer ? the car use to start first goe when i purchase it 3 months ago but was wasting alot of petrol so got it adjusted and now its harder to start , I dont know if im making any sense, im new to the scene , and this is my first mini .

Hi minilee

Just to clear up the issue a little bit. Is it turning over ok (ie spinning up with the starter motor to normal cranking speed) and just not firing?

or

is it turning over really slowly?

_________________
Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

starting solenoid?

maybe ur mixture is out, running rich

_________________
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but a true friend will be sitting next to you saying "Damn...that was fun!"

Check the choke is working properly, all the way. If you have weakened the mixture to reduce fuel usage then a correctly adjusted choke is very important. Also check the battery is fully charged, maybe lost some charge due to the faulty alternator
Minis need a fully charged battery when the weather turns cold and it is quite surprising what a difference a fully charged battery will make.

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

What type of carby?

Is the choke operating correctly?

It's getting pretty cold and I find they really need that choke to get going.

_________________

68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

Just to be different. I dont need the choke to start, not even at Hay haha. just 3 second cranking and a few throttle light blips.

But yea, my thought may be that the choke is needed now that you've had the carby tuned

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-Motor mechanic - Proud owner of a '76 Clubman S and a Ford ef xr6 manual

when you say you got it adjusted what exactly did you do?

I have checked my battery and its oki , my alternator is only a month old , i really dont think its working properly since i installed it , The ALT light is flashing , even when the car is running .

I thing there something draining my battery , its sounds very flat when i try to start it , does that make sense ? it doesnt sound like it has enough spark to crank over , if this start problem continues would it damage anything internal ? doesnt sound good when i try to start it ...

how would i know if my choke is working correctly like it should be ?

Dtrain- it was adjust by a mini specialist in padstow in sydney , to lean it up abit cause when i first bought the car it was running very rich and blowing heaps of smoke .... since then it harder to start

the car needs a good service and tune

Thanks guys , found my problem this morning , it's the choke cable , when I put it all the way out inside the car it's not completely open in the hood , so I pulled the choke cable from the engine bay which connected to the carby, and it starts first go .

Does that mean I have replace the cable or just needs adjusting

it just needs adjusting.

Its very easy to do. Look at where the cable attaches, undo the screw, pull it through a little to take up the slack, then do the screw back up.

_________________
Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Once you have done as Ryan has explained you should feel two stages to the choke.

The first half of pulling out the choke should just speed up the idle. A little cam with an adjustable screw on the Carbie does this. Check that when the choke is right in this screw is no longer touching. Make sure this screw has not been acting as the idle speed adjustment. If it has you might have to adjust the idle speed with the correct screw once the car is warm.

The second stage a lever on the carby actually pulls the jet seat down to richen the mixture.

Might help to have someone operate the choke while you watch the carbie.

So if it's cold and you are starting for the first time you need the choke right out to the second notch. You should feel the extra resistance.

As soon as it starts you the push the choke in enough for a slightly faster
idle until after it has warmed up and will idle normally.

(All this is assuming you have a standard SU Carbie)

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)