I made my own walnut blasting setup with info from a few threads on NAM. Most parts bought at harbor freight. Total spent about 80 bucks. With enough walnut media left to clean the valves another 5 times or more. Its not a difficult job.

 

Big surprise of this past weekend: Cleaning the valves and testing the battery.... DID NOTHING! So there goes my dealerships BS story of an $1100 valve cleaning being needed to cure my issues.

The concern though, fired the car up with my Torque app running and it seems the HPFP shouldn't be the problem. Torque says rail pressure at 600-700 at idle and 1500+ revving... Seems it's doing it's job. :(

Going back to the basics and just doing a plug change Thursday.

 

Wait a minute what tool are you using that measures rail pressure? I need it to diagnose my detonation problem, happens periodically and doesn't sound healthy for my engine.

 

Hope the plug change does it.

I assume you tested the pressure at start-up on a (real) cold start, right? Honestly, I never tried that myself (because I'm using the DashCommand, and it won't connect until my car has actually been running for a few minutes), but from the videos I saw on youtube, I think the pressure will stabilize after a while even in a vehicle with a failing HPFP. For my car, that would mean that I couldn't start measuring the pressure until the symptom was gone.

For example, check this out (if you haven't already):
Assuming you've already done all of that, I don't know what else to do. Do you have the cold-start problem that is typical of the failing HPFP? It sounds like you've done a pressure test, checked the injectors and ignition components and cleaned the valves. Are there any other symptoms, or just the misfire codes? Perhaps it's possible that you have a timing chain problem and you're timing is off? I haven't heard of that creating a minor problem, but you did report that it was running very rough. Hopefully that's not the case.

Either way, good luck.

Oh, and it sounds like he's using the Torque app (android-only), but DashCommand can also report fuel rail pressure. Maybe the scangauge can too (I haven't used one).

 

Yes, it was a 100% cold start. Cold temp too lol. Went out to the car in about 25F weather and fired it up. Torque app connected within about 10 seconds and i was getting a Fuel Rail Pressure reading of about 650-700PSI at 800-1000 idle. Revved it up to about 3-4K and rail pressure shot up to 1500+ and fell back down to 650-700 at idle and sat there. I saw no odd dips or spikes, and it seems like the proper pressure at the rail for a DI car.
Also, it does not have any hard start issues aside from the misfiring issue that I can tell. It starts every time just fine, but then runs rough due to misfires.

Symptom:
CEL-Misfire codes for multiple cylinders and the Random Multiple Misfire code.

Idle high I'm assuming to compensate for the misfire/rough running issues, and it definitely runs sluggish, kinda rough, and sounds like a Subaru(consistent with multiple cylinders randomly misfiring).

What I've done to it so far:
-Cleaned injector tips.
-Cleaned carbon from back side of intake valves.
-Inspected intake manifold and underside of valve cover for excessive condensation or ice build up (didn't find anything out of the ordinary).
-Tested continuity of wires going to coils and injectors.
-Went so far as to pull an injector and coil and crank engine, it sparked right there in front of my eyes(too weak? not sparking every time? Couldn't tell, was too pissed to focus a lot lol).
-Inspected for any vacuum hoses loose, cracked, disconnected. Saw nothing out of the ordinary.
-Compression test checked out just fine.

I have 4 new plugs on the way just for good measure. If the plugs don't fix the issue, well the car has 94K+ miles on it, so it's a good maintenance item to do soon anyway.

After that, I'm thinking of just hitting the gas station up around the corner, filling it to the brim with some fresh 91 and flogging it for a few blocks. Who knows, maybe I got some bad gas 3 weeks ago?

 

So I got new plugs to no avail.

I'm truly at a complete loss here.

-lack of power, misfires on all cylinders(but car starts, stays running, and drives every time), very consistently the same issue.

plugs, valve cleaning, intake manifold and throttle body cleaning/inspection, checking fuel rail pressure via torque app.... nothing. nothing has helped a single bit.


Has ANYONE had anything like this? Any new ideas? Really hoping to brainstorm here.

It has got to be something on the spark end of things. It was a sudden issue and the plugs were black after I drove it, telling me unburnt fuel/running rich, not an HPFP issue(but who knows since the dealership refuses to diagnose the HPFP until I spend $1100 on a walnut blast and intake manifold). If it were the crank position sensor, wouldn't you think it would throw a code specifically for that?

Any more help and insight would be fantastic.

 

That's sucks, dude. I don't have a clue on it.

Any good independent shops near you?

Compression good? Dme issue? MAF sensor issue?

 

How about the coils? Look up Terminal Velocity, he had an issue last year with a random misfire and tracked it down to a coil. Are the misfires staying on one cylinder, or bouncing between cylinders (without any parts changes)?

Just another idea that could explain the black plugs. How old is the car?

Mike

 

Alright guys I might actually have tracked it down. These cars have so many common issues, I jumped in with both feet when I started getting issues. I willfully overlooked the first thing you ever do in diagnosing a Problem. .. start with all the simple things. And in all of my various tests and diagnostics, I didn't reset codes in between. SO my theory is now that im only getting multiple misfire because of stored codes.

I got very frustrated last night and pushed myself to go out to the car and start from square 1 with the basics. Not assume its the hpfp or something mini specific, but treat it like any other car I've worked on....

So I actually cleared all codes and fired the car up and err t it run. Shut it down and read codes. Only missing on cylinder 2 this time. Fired it up, unplugged cylinder 2 coil and nothing changed. Unplugged cylinder 1 and it almost dies. Swapped coils and fire it back up, cylinder 1 now has no change when unplugging. This is the utmost basic and simple and indisputable test that I should have done in the beginning. I feel stupid for not starting here as I did this exact test with injectors and plugs but never paid mind to coils. As someone who has worked on csrs since a child and has even done it for a living, I feel very stupid here. But, bottom line, coil on order from pelican parts and I think its clear that is the problem

 

Very glad it looks like you got it sorted out! And you know everything else is good as well after all that.

 

Don't feel so bad....dealer did not do it...they tried to sell you $2500 worth of fixes for a coil....and they ARE the pro's.
Imo make sure the coil is oem/oem manufacture.....
On a non mini, I have gone through 3 aftermarket coils....all fail in a few months...but the denso/OEMS are 225,000+ miles...swapped them all...but the one aftermarket one...it failed again...free warrenty replacement... But makes it 4 failures (even moved it to a easier to reach cylinder) in 2 years....cheap made in China parts...crap...cost the same $$ as the denso/oem replacements I ordered on rock auto to replace the other 5.....
Just sucks to toss a "lifetime" warrenty part in the trash....but next time...it goes...
Coils do wear...at some point...they begin to misfire from heat at higher rpms or they go dead entirely....be on the lookout...others are now suspect unless the failed one shows obvious dammage from water, etc.

 

There was no noticeable damage over the rest of them. I am fully aware that coils can go bad with time/mileage just like plugs and that's why I'm kicking myself in the *** even more knowing I never did this basic test. And yes, Pelican had an OEM one for $36 I think it was.

I'm exceptionally pissed off at Markel Mini of Omaha. The service adviser flat out said, when I asked what they did, told me that they hooked up the scanner, read codes and recommended their fixes..... Conveniently enough, their list of ******** included most of the basic things that could cause this issue(other than the HPFP). Plugs, all coils, valve cleaning, new intake manifold, etc. etc. And they even made sure to throw in that I need new tires because of the cars factory camber settings, even knowing I bought it FROM THEM set up exactly as it is, less than a year prior to bringing it in, with brand new tires on it at the time. Oh yeah, and they wanted over $400 to change the serp belt... I couldn't laugh hard enough when I took the car back. And once I replace a $36 part and fix this problem, they'll know it.

 

I feel your situation. I love when my service advisor told me I needed new tires when I just put them on. I looked at him and told him, "I just put on these brand new tires two months ago"...he didn't say a word haha. Some of these dealership "workers", suck.

 

Yeah. Last time it was in for the timing chain recall, they said I needed an output seal. I lifted the car and checked. Sure enough I did. So I changed it. I then brought the car in for something else small and they urged me to have them change the same output seal..... the one I replaced less than a month before. When I confronted him about it he told me thst since they didn't have record of THEM doing it, they recommended it again. They didn't inspect it again, they just assumed it.

 

I recently had the same exact issue. I'd change out all of the coils. I did just the one and my car is still misfiring when cold and rev it much (as long as I don't let it come up on boost). Once it comes all the way to temp it's fine. I'm going to replace all of the coils and see if it clears up. I verified that mine also is not a fueling issue and the car starts fine. I know these car don't like to driven without being up to temp but it didn't break up like this before.

I too had my valves cleaned just after this. I guess I'm lucky I have an independent guy local. Total BMW and Mini in Charleston charged me under $300 to do the cleaning and showed me the before and after.

 

That sounds like a HPFP going out slowly, I wish they would just fail already while the extended warranty is there.

 

I'm going to try to do some data logging and see if the fuel pressure drops when it breaks up. Have to see if my AP or Torque app will do what I want. I didn't see a drop when I've watched on the app. I use the line graph to try to see it. It just stinks that I'm away from the car for 2 weeks.

 

So updates?