Diagnose a Mini Ignition Fault (No spark) 

The Best video I ever saw about ignition.

Thank you for this video. I been having a lot of trouble getting my golf to start but now I know what to look for.

Awesome content! That’s why I love this channel! Keep up the great work!! 👍🏼😁

Dammit Im Learning thankfully people like you help SoooO much ! I obviously I’m not a mechanic but I’m trying just because I have a mini! Now I bought Bosch maybe I messed up ugg ! & coils ,spark ! Autozone totally messed up installing a battery that’s when I decided I must learn! The guy told Helen Keller could put a battery in OK and smoke pop pop pop it was crazy

In the distributor cap you want to check the centre carbon electrode. Mine fell out when cap was removed.

Thank you; this has been extremely helpful.

Hi guys, great vídeo. Exactly what i could use some weeks a go 😁 I suggest a video about upgrades a mini owner can do to its classics without Turn it to a regular car. Like suspension upgrades, mechanical ignition to eletric ignition, this kind of things that correct some flaus that prevent premature failures.

Fabulous really helpful, sorted my electrics out on the Mini, although did get a bit of a belt! Cheers

You can put the spark plug back in the lead instead of the screw driver.

Awesome video

Wonderful video. My tip is ditch the points and go electronic on the distributor. We imported a Japanese 90 Mini with a 998 about a year and a half ago. It was tough to start, idled rough and didn’t run great at speed. It had a big Weber sidedraft carb on it. I figured it was the carb and it was just running way too rich. I swapped in an HF. It still ran rough. I got new wires, cap and plugs. Still rough, but a little better. When I went to look at timing I found an intermittent miss to #1 plug. I tired fiddling with the points, got frustrated and ordered an electronic distributor and new coil. Dropped them in, turned the key and it fired smooth and idled like a dream. I about wanted to cry. The plus side is in the process I went through the fuel and ignition systems pretty thoroughly. Even adjusted the valves. It’s been great ever since. You can make points work, they were used for a long time, but there is a level of mechanical fiddling that it takes that I’m just not interested in.

Check your points gap setting (should be 15 thou) and check for water / condensation / corrosion in the distributor housing. 9 times out of 10 that's where the problem was with mine. I learned to carry a stubby flathead screwdriver, a set of feeler guages and a spare set of points as part of my standard tool kit when driving my mini any particular distance away from home. If you carry these items you mostly won't need to use them, if you leave them at home you will probably end up wishing you had brought them with you. It's a cheap form of insurance and certainly much cheaper than having to pay for a tow back home.

Great work as always guys :)

great video !

Good info.. thanks for the education!

Super helpful! THANK You!!!

Great video guys . Video suggestion going from a spi, mpi to a carb?

cheers guys!

Cool video! To close the circle of the starter issue, could you show us in another video how to check that gasoline arrives to the starter by means of the pump and carburetor? It would be fantastic! Thanks guys!

Literally got my car running again because of your video so many thanks and top marks. Peace 👌

your videos are always very interesting! could you make a video on the fuse holders? mine has an electrical system a bit tampered with and I'd like to rearrange it with a fuse box, but some advice would be handy! I have a cooper 1275carb 1991! bye thank you

Great video. I never knew Adam Levine was so mechnical. 😊

Great video my Mini has decided to die after being in storage for 18 months. I know it's an electrical fault you have simplified the problem in my head. Will give it a go Thankyou!

Great job! Good on you for mentioning an insulated screw driver for testing spark. Haha.

I like subscribed and shared! Thank again

Great video! Could you do one for an SPI mini, might come in handy for me and people in the future 😊

Please can you do a video about how to install each loom - I'm restoring a 1996 SPI and have to install them all from scratch - thanks

My bare Shell mini just came back fully painted. I have been told you should install thé Breaklines before the chassis. Could you guys do a video about the Breaklines and components from the breakpedal too thé Breaklines? Including what to look for, important components and issues.

I leave the plugs in the leads and lean them against the head to ground them to test they are sparking and the leads are and plugs are good. Also, if you're on your own, you can short out the starter motor with a long screwdriver to turn the engine over and test various parts of the ignition system.

I must have missed something, what turned out to be the problem? I have the same issue with my mini, so would be super interested to find out. Thanks!

hi man, my mini was running well today after 20kms and came back home to wash it with Karcher. after washing my car didn't want to start. I tested sparks and everything. I don't 12v on my ignition coil (key in after contact just before starting position). the white cable (+) connected to the positive on the coil, where is it came from? maybe the cable is rotten or cut off due to the water pressure. thanks for your help

Please do a video on tuning SU carburetors and how to change antifreeze, please

I have got a 1976 mini it's got a 1275 engine having trouble starting it's all ways started before but has been left for about 2 years so any things you can think of would be ace. Mm.

Pls sure me which one you grounding

My 91 needs troubleshooting. Thanks

Ok, just got the LilFkr running thanks to you!!, didnt quite get what you meant when you said "have someone push the engine" took a chance on "CRANK" guess that was it!, all your videos are super good!!, keep it up, looking for some merch you're out, when you getting some more LED headlights?

Hah Justin lives up the street from me. Taught me most of what I know about Minis. :-)

I’m in a no spark situation. How do you remove a distributor? You rotated it to see if the cams open but how do you do that when the distributor is still in the engine? Do you just turn the key to crank it?

A video about head gasket problems and replacement would be awesome

Hey guys I need some help please my car won't start up no spark to distributor .no signal to coil and no power to distributor

No mention of ballast coil or starter solenoid... I had to start my car once by bridging the terminals with an (insulated) pair of pliers. Time for a re: shoot of this video @Stevensonmotorco ?

Hi..which type of spark plug ia good....?

A mystifying cause of breakdowns is the rotor arm. If it is black plastic and has a brass rivet ,under undefinable conditions the rivet can cause your 30K volts to go to ground , and a few minutes later be OK. The only solution is to get a red or green one (with no rivet )and there will be no more problem

The only thing I’d add here is problems caused by a weak spark by a failed / failing condenser. Caught me out - had a spark but didn’t realise it was too weak to cause ignition!!

Car crank but will not start replace the distributor still no spark coming from the plugs ....

man, im worried about what im going to find on my plugs. little minis been garaged for the last few months because I have a feeling either gasket or piston ring is gone. Makes a lot of noise but has 0 power.

i have a 1.0 mini which has been standing 6 years it starts and runs ( a bit rough) but when it warms up a little say 5 minutes it cuts out and wont start but will start again when cold any ideas anyone?

My name is Joe, I'm using my wife's account. I'm having a terrible problem with the flasher hazard on my Mini 1995 SPI. It doesn't work but it buzzes all the time. I have exchanged it with new ones three times now with the same result. I have changed the side indicator units. Can this be affecting the flasher? The parts I have used are original. Is it possible that there is no earth connection and this is the culprit? Any input from you would be appreciated.

Approves of this Video...

You look like Adam Lavine

I'm having none of these issues, I have a little four-cylinder Hercules generator no spark no start. Everything is new, everything's wired up the way it should be everything is grounded where it should be on bare metal. So it's a push button start and when I turn the ignition switch on and I push the start button I have no spark yeah when I turn the ignition switch off I have a spark plug tester between the plug and the spark plug wire it makes a spark and I'm not getting any spark from the points.

We all ready do that still won't start