I'm kind of P.O.'d this morning. I'm on MINI #5, a 2011 S, and for the first time ever on any of them, the dreaded half engine/limp mode light came on this morning on the way to work.
I was almost there, car was running fine, then the light came on at around 40mph in 4th gear. It started kind of running rough but not really full limp mode, made it the last 3/4 mile to work. Checked the oil and coolant levels, both good (I hate that this car doesn't have gauges for critical functions). Bought car used with 29K miles, now around 46K, has been troublefree. Will know more when I go out to lunch today. From reading this thread I might need a tow, or it might well be back to running fine. Very frustrating to me...first time I've owned one out of warranty and to me 46K miles is too soon for major engine shenanigans.

 

My '08 R56S is finally back up and running from the limp mode light.
Replaced the valve cover (vacuum leak), then replaced the serpentine belt (cracked), then had to walnut blast the intake & then replaced the timing chain (was installed incorrectly 4.5 degrees over). Put in new plugs as well.
All told I am $2500 in for parts/labor, but it's running like a new car now... Finally...

 

Drove car a couple miles each way to lunch, runs like it's missing a cylinder or two. Hope to make it home this afternoon (6 miles away) and will research where/who has a codereader. If it costs anywhere near your $2500 to fix, the car will be out the door. Not acceptable to me on what is still far from being a high mileage car.

 

Try changing the spark plugs and check it with a decent ODB scanner. If you are getting misfires still, swap the coils to different plugs and see if the misfire follows.

Other than that have someone smoke test the valve cover for vacuum leaks or use a scope to look at the intake manifold for coking. It only cost me $440 to get in the intake walnut blasted and it is amazing the performance gains.

 

That's the first thing you do when buying a used car, check the compression or better have a leak-down test preformed instead of finding out after the fact that your compression is to low in some cylinders requiring a new or rebuilt engine. If the dealer or owner said no to a leak-down test you just walk and keep walking away!

 

Not really sure what this has to do with my situation, but thanks for the car buying advice!
My car was low mileage and still under warranty when I bought it, no reason to suspect anything sinister. Its dealer service record had only its normal interval service work, no previous unscheduled visits. I'm reaching out now to my local group for some indy shop recommendations.

 

Just had my intake valves walnut blasted not more than a month ago, what a performance difference! Non-Sport Mode is so responsive now that I have to look to see if I'm in Sport Mode because I aways used it before the cleaning.

Sorry for the late buying advice, gotta stop doing that! Hopefully a local independent shop can find your issue without it costing you a small fortune. About performing a compression or leak-down test on these Mini's, do to the long way down to the spark plug threads, see if you can't have whoever is going to perform the leak-down test have access to a long steel shaft where the gauges mounts to, because these rubber hoses are very difficult to tighten properly by just twisting them on tight.

I purchased an Acron Compression Tester Kit that included a long steel shaft that was easy to tighten to create a good seal, it's almost impossible to do this with a regular rubber hose with brass threads on each end. If you want when I get home from work I can show you the kit with the long steel shaft for the gauges.

 

Had other life issues going on, fixing the MINI lingered a bit. Autozone read codes for me, indicated random misfires, most likely bad coil(s). Bought four new OEM Delphi coils and plugs from rockauto.com for $157 shipped.
Replaced the coils, limp mode gone, car running fine. Borrowing the proper longreach plug wrench from a friend, will change those by the weekend hopefully. Half full engine CEL is gone but regular CEL warning light still on. Researching here, many say it will go out by itself, others say needs to be reset with reader. Just glad it's running good again and for a reasonable price.

 

Does Delphi manufacturer the OEM coils for Mini in the same way Bosch manufacturers the O2 and MAF sensors for Mini? I wish my MCS would register CELs, it would be the very first time if it did after getting misfire across all cylinders today simultaneously, major power loss no codes and no surprise!

My advice drive your Mini at least 100 miles and see if the code clears itself, once the ECU sees no issue the light should go away.

 

i cant seem to find any posts about it so here goes.

my wifes 2009 mini jcw has the dreaded recurring half engine light. comes on randomly while driving. i clear it with torque app. i have mechanical ability but no bmw experience. i have read every forum and internet post on the subject and tried a few things to remedy the problem. new plugs, and walnut blasting are a couple of things that didnt work. the intakes were badly coked up and the car runs much better now when its not in reduced power mode....lol

the mini dealer told me its needs a walnut blasting. when i told them it was just done, they told me that the car now needs to be reprogrammed after the cleaning and if it wasnt done at a mini dealer, this step wont have been done. sounds like b.s. to me but i figured i would ask here. the car has no cel light and no stored codes as checked by 3 different places. also my torque app reports no codes stored.

i have made an appointment with the dealer on wed morning to get it diagnosed.

anyone have anything to suggest or any comments about the reprogramming?

i have replaced the bov spring, verified the vacuum actuator on the turbo functions, replaced the vacuum lines and pump, checked the cat converter for excessive back pressure, replaced the spark plugs, and the timing chain has been done. the last thing done was the walnut blasting. it made zero difference in regards to the lamp. the half engine light came back on the first drive.

it has a boost gauge and will see boost as high as 18psi when not in reduced power mode. zero boost when light is on.ar has a pronounced rattle when first started in the morning that is not coming from the timing chain. it is the waste gate linkage on the side of the turbo. i did look inside the turbo to make sure the waste gate closes with vacuum applied, and that the waste gate is not burned away....saw a few pics of fried parts on here.

any ideas?? anyone??

i hate to hand the dealer 125 bucks for some "programming" that is total b.s.



the c

 

Not really speaking from full knowledge or experience here, but I share your skepticism of the dealer's blanket diagnosis for "re-programming." I can't imaging that the vehicle needs to be re-programmed simply because the intake was cleaned...

I would turn my attention to the turbocharger, given the lack of boost when the 'half-engine' warning light is illuminated. The turbos have been known to go south in these cars; speculation abounds for the reasons, but it's possible that a failing turbocharger could be at the root of your problem. If not the turbo itself, perhaps something related to it...? Presumably you've been clearing some code when you reset the 'half-engine' light; what is the code you've been seeing?

Good luck!

 

No check engine light....ever and no codes stored as read by three different non dealer shops and my Bluetooth torque app.

I guess I just am not visualizing how the turbo could be damaged and cause a boost sometimes and no boost at others condition. I have never owned an internally waste gated and bov'ed turbo before this. I would tend to think it was something else wrong like a sensor, solenoid, computer, hpfp, etc... but clearly.... I don't know what the hell is wrong....lol

I have an extended warranty that covers the turbo with a 100$ deductible. So if it's that, I'm on to try to talk a shop owner somewhere into letting me pick out a hybrid turbo.

I am going to take it to mini wed morning and tell them not to do any work without prior authorization.

Personally I think it needs a hpfp but I'm not certain because I can't find the right info on the lower threshold for fuel pressure. My app frequently sees fuel pressures down in the lower 400 psi ranges. It's normally above 700psi at idle and maybe 1500 psi at 6000 Rpms. That upper number I'd have to check again though.

Again any ideas or discussion greatly appreciated

 

That's total BS, you don't have to reprogram the ECU just because you removed carbon from the intake valves, your ECU will adapt because thats what computers do, adapt to ever changing conditions.

By walnut blasting the valves clean you're returning it to the condition it was in when you first bought the Mini, if it doesn't make sense it's most likely not true which is why you BS meter is pegged hard over. There's a big difference between resetting your ECU and reprogramming it, only reason to reprogram the ECU is only if it lost or the program got corrupted somehow.

Now I believe that some people could benifit from reprogramming by un-learning all that BS Mini/BMW taught them. I wouldn't take my car to someone full of BS because at that point their trust is all but gone! That's Mini/BMW for you, never again.

 

that was my feeling exactly.

i am a former ase and mecp certified dealership tech. isuzu, toyota, and full gm line factory trained. been doing this kind of stuff as a profession since the mid 80's. i hurt myself a few years back and have been thru surgeries and pain killers so now i am disabled, a little out of practice, and maybe off my game too.

i have reprogrammed hundreds of isuzus and g.m. cars and trucks, never once because the vehicle was de-carboned or "top engine" cleaned.

its complete B.S.

that said, i have never owned a german car, and swore for 30 years i would not because i was a mechanic and had the unfortunate job of fixing them on many occasions. they are over-engineered, overpriced, and difficult to work on. the only reason i am here is my wife HAAAAAD to have a mini.

so now its my job to learn its quirks and keep it on the road for the forseeable future. and since i am here, i might as well have a little fun with the car.....

i hope tomorrow goes off without some idiot trying to pull some ******** over on me and me having to put him in his place. the only reason i am going at all is that my wife got a mailer from the dealer for a free diagnostic check-up.

otherwise i would continue on with the half power light intermittently pissing me off until i could find someone locally that knows what the hell they are talking about and has the ability to scan and diag this car correctly.

does anyone have any contacts in the tampa bay area that wont try to rip me off?

 

Those mail invitations is a way of saying come on down because we need your business and if we have to pull your leg to make a buck we will do just that because we have bills to pay, a mortgage and my sons in college.

If there's a problem with my car I'll get it checked out, otherwise I have bills to pay as well and I don't need unnecessary repairs and if I do have a problem the last place on earth you'll see me is at my local Mini $tealerships.

Almost all Mini dealerships in my state have very poor reviews, tons of honest indy shops have taken customers away from Mini dealerships and that's the way it should be once your warranty is up.

 

Update

The dealer told me I needed a new diverter valve. Wanted 380 to do it.

I opted out and ordered the part online for 68 shipped.

When I pulled the valve off the turbo, the the center ring was cracked and missing a small section.

I have about 30 miles on now with no half power lights or any problems.

As I expected, it seems I had multiple issues.

The valve fell apart after I removed it for inspection/spring replacement and put it back on.

Maybe the walnut blasting fixed the issue, or maybe the valve was failing. No way to know now.

 

So it seems I'm not out of the woods quite yet.

After a few drives and some monitoring, it seems as I still have an issue.

I am only seeing 14 pounds of boost.

I was seeing 17.5 or 18 depending on which gauge I was watching(torque app a bit higher than my gauge) before this started.

Now I'm left wondering if the JCW turbo diverter valve is a different part number than the s or if I have more issues. The part I ordered said it was for JCW cars, but I'm not sure.

Still no half power lights though!!

 

There's a reason why our Mini didn't come with a boost gauge (hint), because most boost gauges can't tell the difference between peak boost and actual sustained boost. You shouldnt be seeing more than 12 psi on a MCS and 15-16 on a JCW. Sure my DashCommand shows 15.5 psi while my Torque app doesn't show more than 12.5 psi, it's time to use your butt dyno unless you're getting half power codes. You might be chasing your own tail with the phone apps that most likely aren't calibrated properly.

 

Thats what I was seeing with the P3 Cars gauge 12 at the most on the MCS and 15 on the N14 JCW.

 

well damn, i guess thats all im going to get then....lol

i was under the impression from talking to others that i might see 19psi, and some said 17psi. i did see 17.5 psi a few times on my gauge before the walnut blasting. maybe the plugged up intake ports drove the gauge readings up?

anyway, thanks for posting this, now i can stop looking for a problem and get on to the good stuff....mods

supposing i wanted to get a hybrid k04 turbo, who do you recommend going with?

 

Why don't you just get a Manic Tune? They offer a few different Tuning options targeting higher boost pressures, why would you want a headache going with a hybrid turbo? You may or may never get it running right, thank these ultra finicky ECU's that are quite challenging even working with a Tuner? You looking for headaches when your turbo is fully capable of 21+ psi. The ECU is what controls/limits boost, not the turbo.

 

i have already talked to mariokart....i am getting a manic tune and a switch

my car has 122k miles, the exhaust housing of the turbo is worn enough that the waste gate rattles really bad on cold start up. it takes a couple of minutes to quiet down. i need a new turbo.

i talked to several people running ko4 turbos with zero issues. am i incorrect in saying a stock turbo with a bigger billet wheel is a hybrid? i thought mine was a ko3 and they used ko4 parts making them hybrids. i am new to this so correct me if i am wrong.

 

If you're going to tune and upgrade your turbo I strongly recommend you go with a meth injection kit ( Alchemist HFS-4) and a larger intercooler because your going to be generating more heat and on a stock bottom end that wasn't designed for that additional heat from a larger turbo.

Bigger turbo you should be looking at a free flowing exhaust (2.5" or 3.0") and removing both primary and secondary catalytic converters or you'll burn (melt) them up! Manic wouldnt recommend a high end tune without a decat, so look forward to re-installing both cats everytime you smog your car.

I think the SPS switch is a very nice tool to switch between Tunes/maps, awesome feature!

 

i have typed a response and posted twice now...here goes the third

IC - yes i will

meth inj. - not unless i can fit it outside pass compartment

2009 jcw car - no 2nd cat

florida has no emissions testing whatsoever

going with 3" alta DP back eventually

installing an atp turbo 3" catless DP as soon as holidays are over

cant wait for the tune and switch after DP install

 

The hybrid is a larger compressor housing with the stock exhaust housing, giving you the benefits of a more dense charge with the quick spool of the factory charger. You can run a hybrid without tuning, but only to a certain extent, once the A/R gets too large the factory fueling map won't be aggressive enough to spool it efficiently and you will have a horrible torque curve, not to mention possible lean conditions at WOT.

If you are not looking to delve into a game of cat and mouse just replace the stock charger with another stock charger. They are capable of 18 PSI comfortably, much over that you begin to push it out of it's efficiency map.

The diverter valve being broken will definitely cause a half power situation, along with low power.

The dealer wasn't wrong in the programming of the car after a walnut blast; that said, it isn't necessary if you Seafoam the engine every 5k-10k miles as it drastically cuts down on carbon buildup.

The programming basically changes injector duration while the intake valves are open to wash them of carbon buildup.