Hey guys! Just have a few troubleshooting questions following a fiasco that happened after my cylinder head replacement on Saturday that I was initially too embarrassed to share. However, I'm now stumped. Let me explain--

After replacing my cylinder head on Saturday, I was really, really tired after a 12 hour day in 110 degree heat. But my battery was dead, and I was tired of push-starting the car. So I exhaustedly went to Autozone at 8pm, covered in grease, only to find that they wanted $190 for a battery!!!

So, naturally, being the frugal idiot I am, I picked out a battery with equivalent cold/cranking amps, and went to install it. No luck, terminals are too small. I disassemble everything, lug the battery inside.

The guy tells me "hey man, have you tried using shims?" I had never heard of such a thing, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Put the shims over the terminals, re-strap the battery down, and try to connect the cables. Well, now the terminals didn't fit. I disassemble everything, lug the battery back inside for the second time.

I tell the guy that the shims didn't fit, and he says that they're supposed to be a bit larger than the terminals. "Just force them on, they should work," he says. I reluctantly drag the battery back to my car. At this point, I'm exhausted, it's dark outside, and I haven't eaten since breakfast.

I put the battery in, put the shims on, tap the positive terminal on, go to connect the negative terminal, and ZAP!!

Windshield wipers start going off, horn is making a strange noise, and some strange sound starts happening at the front of the car. I scratch my head for a second, and then I start smelling electrical. I run to the front of my car, pop the hood, and out comes a plume of smoke, right from the alternator.

Then I realized. I put the battery in backwards.

Well, I ended being so ashamed of my stupidity that I went inside and bought the correct battery. I didn't even try installing the battery. Started the car, and went home.

~~BEGIN QUESTIONS~~

On my way home, the car started feeling weird. Below are the issues I'm having. Although some may be unrelated to the battery, and I have an idea on some, I'd love to get some second opinions. I think the rev hang is likely due to a vacuum leak, but I have to replace the alternator before I can troubleshoot that.

• The power steering is not working (fully disabled, was working perfectly before)
• Radiator fan won't turn on in high speed
• Trunk release stopped working.
• Tire pressure light flashing
• Battery light is on (likely due to deep-fried alternator)
• Engine idles at 1500rpm (vacuum leak?)
• Nasty case of rev hang. (if I rev it to 2.5k at idle, it'll stay at 2.5k for 5-6s)

I have already checked every fuse in the passenger & engine compartment (except FL fuses, which are not transparent) before the new battery ran out of juice. The F37 (door lock) fuse was blown, and the F05 5A fuse was a 10A fuse for some reason. Both have been replaced (with the correct fuse). Master list of cabin fuses here, for anyone who might need this in the future, by the way.

My questions are as such:

• What does battery compartment (F100) fuse control?
• What stores can I buy high-current inline fuses? Already tried O'Reilly's, Autozone, and Fry's Electronics. Is there any sense in replacing F100, FL2 & FL4 for piece of mind?
• What are the "first few" points to check for rev hang issues, other than FRP/associated vacuum tubing, intercooler boots, and PCV?

Thanks in advance. Sorry for being such an idiot.

 

Lol this poor car. I have no experience with electrical problems, but I find it hard to believe there's zero safety measures against reversing polarity. Good luck and subscribed for my own inevitable stupidity.

 

Going to move you to the Stock Problems/Issues area.

On fuses etc, suggest you try a couple of vendors that post here, if they don't have could probably tell you where to buy them. The power steering fuse is a 100 amp and on the bottom of the engine area fuse box. You need to remove the ECU so that you can turn the fuse box over, you have have blown it. I believe the big fuse by the battery is the Main Fuse/Breaker. It blows and there is no power.

Just keep your fingers crossed that you did not partially fry the ECU.

 

Oh and as far as the stupidity, run as fast as you can from anybody that says they do not make any mistakes.

When I was still managing construction projects one of major sayings was; "I need no help looking stupid as I can do that all by myself."

 

Thanks for the move! I probably should've posted there anyhow.

Yep, that's FL4, I already have it out! Good tip on the vendors, but the mail at my place is getting forwarded to Washington, so in-person stores are preferred. I'll ask them anyways, though

Anyone have ideas on the rev hang, high idle, radiator fan, trunk actuator, or tire pressure light?

 

.

 

Did you get the fuses ordered?

Good info here on some of those ones on the underside.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-loaction.html

 

Not yet, I was planning on doing that along with some DOT4 fluid today.

 

Did your kinked fuel hose fix the rev hang?

 

I do not see any indication if the OP test the suspect fuses with a DMM. I would before spending money for the expensive big fuses. Further, only replacing parts that you verified bad as it is a part of systematic troubleshooting. Without you may ending up missing the important data points.

Always remove the fuse or battery terminal before testing for continuity of fuses. They should read under a few ohms - most of which is from the resistance of the DMM leads and probes.

 

Yes!! Although it wasn't a fuel hose, it was the little plastic dude on the bottom of the fuel pressure regulator! And yes, it's running great now!

I didn't realize you can test fuses with a multimeter! I thought that they could only measure the resistance of something if it's in a circuit...like I said, electrical is one of my weakest automotive areas. I'll check FL4 tonight!

 

There should be a continuity tester on most multimeters that makes a noise if the circuit is complete.

 

Huh, cool! Mine is an old school analog one, so no noises, but I found the continuity testing setting. Had to look up how to use it.

Anyways, the most recent development.

The O2 sensor code never came back after clearing it. Instead, on Saturday, while pulling into MINI North Scottsdale, my R53 started bucking like a horse! It would throw the EML light and set the car into limp mode, but my crank pulley is new, so I knew it wasn't that. Turn the car off, back on, and it works okay...for a few seconds. Then it would try to throw me out of the windshield again.

The nice guys at parts at MINI North Scottsdale read the code for me..."MAP sensor low input". Here's a couple threads on this topic.

I then noticed it would happen at the moment when the bypass valve should open (when the engine RPM matched my throttle input), so I thought it had something to do with the BPV. So I swapped it with the one from my last R53. It was fixed for ~40 miles....and then it started doing it again, even more viciously.

Then I decided "to hell with VGS mod," and tore it all apart again, leaving only my boost gauge. Worked great, for 30 miles. Then today on the way to work, it was way worse. (I'm assuming because without VGS mod, the BPV fluctuates a lot more). I made it to work by accelerating in short stabs of the throttle near WOT.

So how do I diagnose a bad MAP sensor? Which one can I unplug? How far can I drive on an unplugged MAP sensor? Will it last until tomorrow (~100mi)? They're like $120 at MINI, and $100 on Pelican, and I really can't afford to buy the incorrect one.

 

Advice I got when buying an o2 sensor... "There's times to bargain shop, this isn't one of them." Spend the little bit more up front and don't deal with the inevitable headache that will come from a bargain map sensor.

That being said, pulling the one right up front is easy. As ZSM told me, check and see if there's any oily residue on it. I have never dealt with the issues you currently are so I don't have any input on how long it'll last.

 

Ask your parts department to run the part number and look for two things.

How many of each are in the country wide inventory.
How many of each they have sold.

Typically, the larger amount stocked in USA will correspond with the ones they sold the most of....that said, I'd pick that one before the other....then there's always rock papers scissors or flip a coin.

GL!

 

(ps) why the VGS mod to bypass valve..?

I just read your first post unrelated to last question posed.

I will never jump start a car with another car using the old jumper style cables if vehicles were built in/after the 90's. Just way too much electronics to be fried on either car. What you experienced is something similar to which can happen when
trying to be a good samaritan to fellow motorer who needs a jump.

I am guessing the fuses you will need to look at for purported malfunctions are located under the bonnet by air box so would probably start there. There is also the possibility of having damaged the DME, which controls most of those functions for which the codes were received...

MINI of Scottsdale is an excellent dealership !

Keep us posted, sorry to hear about this fix your in.

 

If you want, shoot me a PM with the last 7 digits of your vin. I can track down the right one you will need for your MINI.

 

Thanks for all your input guys!!! Got it all figured out. WHOOHOO!!!

Monday night, I unplugged one MAP sensor at a time until I figured out that it was the manifold TMAP sensor. Then I knew my P/S recall was scheduled for yesterday at 9am, so I figured I'd buy it from them directly, because I was worried the bucking could cause unintended consequences, and I just wanted to fix it as quickly as possible.

Got in at 8:55am, car was done at 11am.

In the meantime, test drove F56a [9/10] and F56Sa [7/10] (all they had were automatics ) for kicks and giggles. Man, the 3-cyl Justa pulls hard at 2k RPM. That little turbo puts out some phenomenal low-end torque for getting 30+mpg. For $15k+tax out the door, wouldn't make a bad commuter car whatsoever. They turn in really well, too. The F56Sa was kind of boring though. Fairly smooth, but not nearly as fun as even my laggy R53. However, the paddleshift auto did very well downshifting. Instantaneous shifts, perfect rev match, wouldn't upset the car at all under hard braking. If those 3-cyl Justa's pop up on the used market in 2-3 years, I might seriously consider getting one.

Then I went to parts. Aaron in parts is phenomenal. He matched Pelican's price on the TMAP sensor. Swapped the sensor in the parking lot, brought it back in, asked them very nicely to reset my SES, airbag light, and adaptations.

I was out the door at 11:30 with a smooth-revving, 25mpg, responsibly renewed R53!

Then I went to Network Alignment (one of the best alignment shops in the valley), got a front end alignment. They said they saw a lot of new parts, and that all my work checked out.

Road trip preparations, begin!!

 

Congrats man. Was that your only system for the MAP sensor?

 

Yep! I got an O2 code last week that I cleared and was replaced with a MAP low input code. Maybe a faulty MAP can make the computer think it's a faulty O2 at first?

 

When you pulled your MAP was there anything on it that would signify fouled? Or just malfunctioning? I need to figure out how to actually test the map sensor to know if it needs to be replaced. Don't feel like spending $100 on something unnecessary at this point.

 

I can take a photo tonight! It was fairly oily. But I had already purchased the replacement MAP, so I didn't even think to clean it. I should probably test it, clean it, see if it still works, and then remove the one I bought and resell it or keep it as a spare or something.

 

I'm on the road trip now. It was smooth sailing to Oregon...after that, problems developed.

• Hesitation/bucking+occasional EML at light throttle. So far, I've inspected the vacuum lines, checked the map sensors and PCV Valve. Three engine codes related to this—throttle body, map sensor low input, engine misfire
• Header broke at the same place as CooperSAZ's. Found a replacement in Seattle.

And the worst—on my way to Bellingham last night, it started running on three cylinders. Plenty of oil, no mixing coolant. Pulled the cables, checked terminals for rust—none. Pulled the plugs—#3 was fouled. Wiped it clean, swapped 3&4 to see if that fixe/changed anything—no luck. Any ideas? What do I check next? , I'm on the road so not much can be done by way of serious disassembly unless absolutely necessary. Although if it comes to that, I should probably check the supercharger boost tube next in troubleshooting the hesitation.

Sorry that was long-winded. Hope I gave you guys something to work with. Thanks in advance!!

 

I am sorry to hear about your predicaments. I wish I could help but I can't given the colored history of this car you bought from a dishonest member seller , and you had taken the troubles in stride. I hope you get the problems sorted to get home. If anything there must be a silver lining in the negative experience. Please take it as a moral support.

 

I wish I could help here, too. How was the plug fouled - oil? fuel?