my toy is playing up a little, blowing black smoke at idle and smells a bit rich, so being an SPI I have been told that the computer needs to be reset or a vaccum line has failed, any suggestions on how I can get these rectified or who can help me with these problems, in mexico, ( vic,)

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Resettin your computer wont fix the problem, it will fix itself when the sensor thats died or vacuum problem has been sorted. Normally the cars can run really rich when the water temp and air temp sensors fail, if this happens for too long the oxy sensor goes too as a result.

failing vacuum lines are very common with SPi. even worse with the current quality of new parts. i would replace them with silicone tubing, IIRC 3mm ID. if the lines are passing out the car will more or less stall and hesitates when you push the pedal.
the coolant temperature sensor is second on the list. sometimes the sensor is ok but the wires broken. as the ECU assumes a half warmed engine without propper sensor signal it may be harder to start when cold and starts to over fuel when warmed up

some kind of diagnosis tool (with realtime display) would be helpfull to avoid changing parts unnecessarily.
the ECU will store the fault code to be read (and deleted with a diagnosis tool) later, but with the fault rectified the engie will run right again, as Harley said

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Rover 214 atm ....

is there a diagram of the location of the vaccum hoses so I can locate them easily and change them all, its better than poking around blindly pulling hoses on and off, any advice greatly appreciated, and any one in Vic have a fault reader and knows how to use it, please. Payment for your time not a problem.

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i think here are all infos needed with pics: http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/to ... injection/

and i won't hessitate to relocate the fuel trap to a higher, more remote location. only the Mini has it so close to the exhaust being the one with the most trouble with the connection fittings harden and split.

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Rover 214 atm ....

Easiest way to check if it's the coolant temp sender (common prob) is the guage will read cold or close to when the engines warmed up. The guage works through the ecu. If it the seder, you'll soon find out it's a bitch to change. I find the easiest way is to drain coolant and get it from underneath with long extention and socket. Another reason they read wrong is because the manifold is full of crud, you will need to remove manifold to fix that.
You can check vacume by puling plug off at ecu end and with it running, you should have vacume at end. If not check the line to fuel trap then to manifold. Make sure it's plumbed the right way or fuel will get into ecu.

I want to order a water temp sender and air temp sender, but I am a little confused about the diff between SPI and MPI! would same part fit either car, and any link to suppliers would be greately appreciated, thanks in advance;-)

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https://www.minispares.com/catalogues/c ... x?2~20~189

You could order direct, takes about a week and post on little bits is relatively cheap. Also, if yours has a distributor it's an SPI, MPI has coil pack and no dist.

the coolant sensors have a differend thread. SPi, GTR307, has 5/8 unf, MPi, GTR206, has M10x1.25
air temp sensor is the same, NNK10001.

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Rover 214 atm ....

many thanks Gents, I am learning so much from our little forum, this is how we improve our knowledge base, so thanks again, and Klaus, your a wealth of information, if you ever want to come over here and give me a hand, there is always a spare room for you and yours, cheers mate and thanks again.

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All fixed, as Klas said, I checked the vacuum lines and found the one that goes from the ECU To the MAP sensor on the fuel trap, the green elbow was cracked and as soon as I touched it, it fell in half, so used one from a Holden carby, had to modify it a little but put it on, and it idles better than before and no sign of smoke anymore, so there is a little bit of info if your SPI starts to blow smoke. Hope this helps.

Also just been contacted that there is an ECU fault reader here in Vic and can be used to diagnose problems with SPI and MPI fuel systems, so another problem has been solved, F.Y.I.

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