High pitched whine from engine at idle?

[CAPO]

Well... 2009 MINI S, 1200 miles.. I have the whine noise too... but not always.. So I will see how this goes during these days and next week...

[georgia7377]

Very interesting... I am taking mine in for the 4th time next week. They have "supposedly" replaced the water pump 3 times, and some kind of pulley on the 3 rd time. I'm starting to not like my MINI S anymore...

[Atomic17]

I had the whistle show up @ 3K miles, took it in (along with printouts of this and other threads about the waterpump issue) and my noise too was diagnosed as the waterpump and friction drive. They ordered the parts and I scheduled another visit to have the work done.

They replaced only the friction drive, and the whistle was now twice as loud. My dealer consulted with a "field engineer" and he deemed the noise as "normal", so I was told that nothing else would be done to fix the noise.

After 3 more visits back and forth (mind you, all this was time taken off work), numerous calls to MINI USA, and eventually a letter to MINI USA VP Jim McDowell, my dealer put a shim in the pulley of the friction drive, bringing the whistling noise back down to the level it was when I first took it in. I still have the same waterpump. My dealer has told me they have gone above and beyond as far as service, and that the matter is now closed.

By the way, my letter was answered with a letter from someone in their PR dept, telling me they've "looked into my concern, and since the field engineer says it's normal, my case is closed".

Since the market for small sporty cars sucks right now going into winter, I'm parking my Cooper for a few months, and in spring I'll be trading it in. I'm beyond pissed off. I'd trade it now, but common sense kicks in when I see that I'll lose $4K if I trade now.

At least some of you have gotten the waterpump replaced, and you are fighting this and going back again and again until it's fixed.

MINI lost a customer for life, over a $300 waterpump. Amazing.

[georgia7377]

that is soooo horrible. such a new car and having a stupid issue like that. MINI needs to up their customer service. They should be going above and beyond to try to make it right. They aren't cheap either... mine was 30k. We'll see the outcome. I have always owned european and always have has issues. I think japanese may be the way to go. Lexus perhaps.... Good luck on your next vehicle.

[checkercoop]

Sorry to hear that. It really does suck because they are giving up on the customer and not backing their product. They really do need to up customer service and just fix these cars when there is an issue and not say it is "normal" just because they do not know how or want to fix it.

Originally Posted by Atomic17

I had the whistle show up @ 3K miles, took it in (along with printouts of this and other threads about the waterpump issue) and my noise too was diagnosed as the waterpump and friction drive. They ordered the parts and I scheduled another visit to have the work done.

They replaced only the friction drive, and the whistle was now twice as loud. My dealer consulted with a "field engineer" and he deemed the noise as "normal", so I was told that nothing else would be done to fix the noise.

After 3 more visits back and forth (mind you, all this was time taken off work), numerous calls to MINI USA, and eventually a letter to MINI USA VP Jim McDowell, my dealer put a shim in the pulley of the friction drive, bringing the whistling noise back down to the level it was when I first took it in. I still have the same waterpump. My dealer has told me they have gone above and beyond as far as service, and that the matter is now closed.

By the way, my letter was answered with a letter from someone in their PR dept, telling me they've "looked into my concern, and since the field engineer says it's normal, my case is closed".

Since the market for small sporty cars sucks right now going into winter, I'm parking my Cooper for a few months, and in spring I'll be trading it in. I'm beyond pissed off. I'd trade it now, but common sense kicks in when I see that I'll lose $4K if I trade now.

At least some of you have gotten the waterpump replaced, and you are fighting this and going back again and again until it's fixed.

MINI lost a customer for life, over a $300 waterpump. Amazing.

[CAPO]

I'm back.. whine started at around 1k.. now at almost 3k, no more whine! (no service done or adjustment or anything)

My suggestion is you someone has this noise, give it a few more miles and probably it goes away.