Right. That was the location of the smoke. It was overflowing as well.

Thanks for the positive comment. This is a worthwhile cause for me, and it is easy to stay energized with the great support I've received and the interest expressed by others. (Again thank you all).

That's a very interesting idea. Those who have worked on and/or own Minis with a "brain" seem to indicate that they (ECUs) rarely go bad. But a mandatory siesta for the ECU could be an easy thing to attempt. They are difficult to replace in the MPI as the ECU, alarm, and key fob are inseparable, fraternal triplets. Replacement of one means replacement of all three.

With no MPI experience, I know that I'm treading on really thin ice here, but it occurs to my linear thought process that intermittent or random faults that:

1) Aren't resolved by replacing the indicated faulty item, or

2) Clear and don't return

...re-read and think on those for a second...

could well point to an ailing ECU.

My good fortune has been that on my cars with ecu's, when they "get a bone in their throat", removing all power for 24 hours (the equivalent of a 'cold boot') has allowed them to reset. The odd code has disappeared, and after the obligatory re-learning period, the engine returned to normal.

I wish you all the best in your quest. You're to be congratulated for your grit to date.

Thanks. I have learned I have a fantastic resource about an hour away and he has already proved to be invaluable. We just have to get our schedules aligned for a good once-over.

Been trying to be as detailed as possible. The car is actually an MPI -misinformation from the get-go, I'm afraid. My newb status does not help, especially when added to the paucity of information from the previous owner.

Good to know about the HG. I've had to replace one in a previous car and it was a terrible endeavor.

Do the component readings mean anything to anyone?

MPI Minis have the radiator reservoir on the LT inner fender.

Rane don't worry if it's the head gasket - only takes a couple hours, more if you want to nose around in there.  I'm not familiar with SPIs though.

Don't let this get you down.  You made a great decision by coming here, and rest assured it will be solved by the crew here.  A lot of guys here have owned and raced minis for 40+ years and know much more than a general British-car mechanic.

This will turn out to be a stupid little problem solved by simple process of elimination.  put all the detail you can think of in your posts, you'll be amazed how the seemingly unimportant actually is.  For example, with white smoke coming out the reservoir, tell us...which reservoir.

The fan was working previously when the system check was ran. I turned the car off too quickly to check once I saw the smoke coming from the reservoir.

On the overheating in the driveway issue did the radiator cooling fan kick in ?

Thanks.

New Pope used to ride the bus and the white smoke got him a PopeMobile.

White smoke may get me a bus route... Hopefully not a HG.

The white smoke means that a new pope was elected. (sorry, less than no help

at all)

If you are seeing smoke, could it point to a antifreeze/water leak, a la blown head gasket?

(sorry; I only read the first 5 or 6 posts (from Jan) and then the last one....from today,

I do wish you luck, and will say 5 hail-Mary's for the white smoke comment,

Mike :-D

Finally was able to lug the car to the driveway from the mechanic after he has thrown his hands up.

Mechanic replaced the coil pack (new one still in it) and exchanged the CAS. No changes there. He also ran through diagnostics and noted CAM and CRANK faults. He cleared these and they never returned. He claims he found no broken wires and continues to believe all things point to the ECU.

I've since brought the car back to my home and went through diagnostics today.

Two faults registered today - 11 Batter voltage, logged, sensor output voltage too low and 02 coolant temperature sensor circuit, logged, voltage too high. I cleared these and they did not return.

While doing this, the engine bay started smoking and white smoke was coming out of the reservoir and there was water on the driveway. I've never noticed this before but I have never let it idle this long either.

My diagnostics ended there, but before the smoking began I obtained component data I as follow:

RPM 1354
ECT 91
IAT 49
MAP sensor 54.5
Throttle position 4.9
Throttle SW. OFF (however this read ON initially then changed to off)
Battery Volts 13.9
O2 Volts BNK 0.48
F/BACK BNK1 ST OFF (however this read ON initially then changed to off)
COIL 1 CHARG.T 1.80
COIL 2 CHARG.T 4.00
INJECTOR 2 P/W 1.64
INJECTOR 4 P/W 1.64
STEPPER POS 10
Ending RPM 1235

A very generous local SPI owner has offered to come take a look in the near future. Any ideas for when we really start getting our hands dirty? I'm hoping the overheating was a result of idling in the driveway and it not running correctly. Ideas there appreciated too...

Thanks!

Not fed up yet. There's a British car shop where I live. If I need to get the car here, I can trailer it. No more driving on two cylinders for a while. I'm working on exactly that right now. Thank you so much for your support and experience.

SE USA. One of the only I've seen.

We tried to rotate leads on the old coil. I guess we could try on the new one. I printed the thread from TMF about the differing orders. Didn't imagine that the newest one could still be problematic. Yuck. Thanks for the advice. I am going to avoid the ECU exchange for just that very reason. Still very curious as to why my part number pictured above is from the earlier cars or if it even matters.

Will look into the flywheel idea. Thanks again.

I didn't expect the car to be flawless. I'll just try to avoid bright lights, water, and putting gas in it after midnight. Thanks.

x2 to what Blue dragon just said.  and, if possible get with the Mini fans in georgia and FL, there are plenty, so someone can help.

Best,

MSH

Personally, if you have the MPI mini and are not in California, I'd stick with it and try to fix it unless you're already fed up with it. The injection Minis are great for daily driving.

Perhaps you can take the coil pack(s) to a Land Rover dealer to have them tested. Be assured that you didn't get the phenomenally bad luck of getting 2 bad coil packs in a row.

There's a slim chance a Land Rover dealer might be able to pull the codes. Their scan tool is the Rover one, and will physically work with a MPI Mini, but they probably don't have a Mini-specific program for it.

But if all else failed, it would worth asking about. I'd do all I could to find a ACR2/w MPI Mini module, or other scan tool, before buying an ECU. They really aren't prone to failure, and if it did, it's usually a binary failure (the car is totally dead, not flaky.)

Where are you located?

I saw your post on TMF... Not much help there besides the Coil thoughts again and some more - I read a few other posts about coils being different and requiring different spots for the HT leads to connect. and that could cause the difference between your old / new coils., One person said they went thru 3 coils before they got all the fire back.

Yes another post about the ignition driver going out in the ECU . but ==== i wouldnt take taht ecu route without testing first with another good unit - but like mentioned, ECU's are matched to Alarm Boxes. more complications.

Have you checked the flywheel . and the flywheel reluctor ring is still in proper location to send signal. If its sending to to- then it should send to all 4 -- however your coil could have another 1 dead side.

SO - Crank Sensor - Cam Sensor - ECU all need signal to fire.

You bought a 1997-2000 MPI which is illegally masquerading as 1974 and it's giving you trouble after driving it home 200 miles!!!

You could keep chasing the gremlins hoping the fix is just around the corner, or you could try to get a refund on your purchase. I know, I know, you really love the car, but I'm sure your mechanic isn't working on it for the fun. 

Hopefully you bought it from a dealer, and could easily get your money back. 

I've just sent out some requests for local contacts. That's a great idea. Perhaps someone down here will have some guidance. I'm in the SE US. Not many of these down here.