Hi guys, i drove my car 5 minutes along the freeway in fairly torrential rain, left it for an hour and a half while I played a casual game of indoor soccer. Finished up went to start it and something has popped then some 'smoke' came through the dash and wouldn't start.
It would still try and start but wouldn't kick over so I don't think it's electrical and leads me to believe it's something much worse. Dun dun dun... Dramatic pause...
Any opinions on what it could be? Just trying to figure out if it is indeed something serious or Something stupid like a fuse before I go blowing a hundred bucks getting it towed 5 kms up the road...
Any suggestions or insight are/is much appreciated.
Gibbo

does it turn over ??? if so do u have spark and it is prob a fuse check ya fuse box

It turns over but won't fire. I had to leave where it was so I'll be back first thing in the morning, and I'll check for spark, couldn't do much as it was too dark... I hope you're right in that it's just a fuse or something...

it`ll just be the ignition all wet i`d say

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Ok thanks alot! I know you can only speculate, but would you say the pop plus smoke was a fuse or the ignition altogether?

probably just a little back fire through the carb because one fire didn`t & the next did but got a bigger bang back through the open inlet valve

pretty typical

dry the dist cap & coil & leads really really really really well & try to fire the old girl up

did i mention to dry out the entire ignition system really really really really really well???

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Will do!
Sorry for the dumb questions what's the best way to dry it all out just with a rag or just give it time, maybe some wd40?
Thank you so much for your help!

Give it all a wipe out / over with a clean dry rag, then give it a spray.

You might want to take all the leads off the cap to do a thorough job of it, but be sure to make a sketch before you pull them off or I can see another of gibbo's posts something like 'I've got a spider under the bonnet - what a tangled web it's weaved'

Be sure to dry the rotor button and points too.

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Thank you GT;
No I can handle the leads thanks... Sorry if my posts are a pain in the bum...

Got her going!
Thank you all for your help, you've saved me heaps and it's much appreciated.
Cheers, Gibbo

Dont drown the distributor with WD40, just dry it & the cap/rotor out with a rag. WD40 can act like water and if you put too much in it can ignite with the spark from the points and pop the distributor cap off!

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Have a Nice Day.
If already having a nice day please disregard.

Thanks 850man I thought his may be th case so I just put a tiny amount on the inside of the cap and left the points and the inside of the dizzy alone...

Water in the dizzy seems to be a common problem in the minis, just because it's in a funny place where it's easy to get wet. Lots of people fit a rubber glove over the dizzy to stop the water.

I had this problem once, and to prevent it happening again, I just bought a cheap electronic ignition conversion - I think it was about $50 off eBay. Water doesn't seem to effect it at all now, and it idles much better. A worthy investment.

Lucky you didnt own a Getz otherwise it would of been so easy to resolve!! Personally Ive never had an issue with water in the dizzy cap back when my car used to be a daily driver and it rained 11 and a half months of the year.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

There is a plastic cover fitted over the dizzy but I guess some water still made it through, there wasn't alot though just some moisture, but I dried it all off and gave the lead connections a blow and away she went.
And Hanra it's never happened before I guess it was just unlucky and of course a Getz would have been easier to resolve, it never would have had the problem in the first place they're engineering marvels!