Hello Everyone-

I need some advice on how to proceed on a number of fronts. Your help would be appreciated. I bought my Clubman S with 60k. Right prior to purchase the timing chain campaign, auxiliary water pump, and Turbo Heat shield were all completed.

I took my 2009 Clubman S for an oil change at my Mini Dealer at 70k. This is my 2nd oil change done, I do it every 5k. Of course during their inspection they found over $2500 worth of work. I have turbo line leak, the water pump was starting to leak (apparently there are 2 water pumps?), The valve cover is starting to seep (they said it’s not the gasket, but in the cyclone separator in the valve cover? Valve cover is $350 itself.), and coolant temperature sensor is starting to leak.

Luckily my 3rd party powertrain warranty covered the water pump. So, that only cost me $200 deductible. However, it covers nothing else. So, I decided to start to shop around at Independents (This all happened last Friday). As the Stealer is absolutely insane for the amount they are charging per hour. Lawyer hours.

Well, I was gone all weekend out of town. I go to start it on Sunday and it took my numerous times to get it to turn over. After starting I noticed the engine was noticeably louder then usual. Popped the hood and started cursing to myself. Knock Knock Knock…The start of the timing chain death rattle. And of course goes away after it warms up. I don’t think anything with the Water Pump install would cause this?

So, a few other questions for you to chime in on:
1. The timing chain tensioner campaign was completed right before I bought the car. It was done to get the car ready for sale by the Mini dealer. So, even though the work was done before I bought the car the work is less than a year old and less than 12k miles. Has anyone successfully had the campaign work done twice? What angle should I take with the dealer to get this work done?
2. For the Turbo line replacement. I don’t have the knowledge nor tools to do this myself. What are your experiences of having an independent do this? Are the Detroit Tuned parts really the best way to go with this? http://www.detroittuned.com/dt-turbo...ine-super-kit/ As the OEM part replacement will just happen again?
3. For the valve cover replacement. Does anyone point me to good detailed directions or a video to accomplish this? Good enough for a monkey like myself not to mess anything up.
4. For the coolant temperature sensor. I found this post. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html It looks like my monkey hands can do it. I’m just worried about bleeding the coolant system after the install. Anyone have and advice for this? What coolant should be used?
5. Should I just dump this car altogether? I thought I did all my homework prior to purchase. But, it looks like internet experiences are real with this 2007-10 S models. It’s ludicrous how this is all happening at once for me. From perfect to absolute crap in a second it feels like. I don’t have funds, time nor the patience to deal with this. With all the campaigns done, dealer reconditioning, and 3rd party powertrain I thought I was in a good place.

Thanks for reading,
minibdb

 

This is probably how it went down, previous owner knew of these problems which is why he traded it in for a newer Mini, now you purchased someone else's nightmare. You can only use the timing chain tensioner campaign once on Mini's dime, after that it's coming out of your wallet. It's a $1600 job for the timing chain components and labor, about $800-$1000 for the turbo oil feed line and the valve cover you could do yourself if you have the right tools (torque wrench). I would speak to a lawyer and let the Mini dealer know about it, your dealer sold you a car in bad faith. I have a hard time believing that the dealer replaced the timing chain components.

When I purchased my 07 MCS I had the timing chain failure almost right after I got the car, glad I purchased the extended warranty! A few months later the thermostat housing began to crack and leak, another small fortune and a month later the valve cover had to be replaced. I had to have my MCS intake tracked walnut blasted for $800, foot-well module replaced for $1000. Clutch was $3200 (54,000 miles) a few months back. Your looking at several thousand dollars in repairs.

Sorry for your troubles.

 

Sorry to hear that you got stuck with a lemon....you're not the first person to have buyer's remorse when it comes to a purchase of a used MINI with an N14 engine.

As stated....you don't have the ca$h. Furtheremore, some of these repairs are not easy to perform in your driveway/garage. As a result, there is merit to your idea mentioned in question No. 5...dump the car.

The only other recommendation I have is since it sounds like you purchased the car at a MINI dealership is to try to get them to do goodwill repair....an idea, but a long shot.

Good luck to you and again sorry that you're having so many problems with your 2009 Clubman S.

 

Many magazines rate the Mini Cooper S below average for reliability while the base models score above average. The 2007-2010 MCS's are the worst used cars to buy period! I have been informed by the SA at Carmax that their trying to push Carmax Corp. to stop buying all Mini's because it's hurting Carmax's reputation as a re-seller.

 

When the problems start, CarMax is a good place to offload a MINI with an N14 engine...they will take your used and sometimes abused MINI.

Two good things about CarMax:

1. You don't have to worry about a private party coming after you with a baseball bat for selling them a lemon.
2. Unlike other dealers that want you to trade in your car, at CarMax you don't have to buy anything...just sell them your car!

However, based on "Intel" from Systemlord, things may be changing at CarMax.

 

If Carmax stopped buying Mini's that would really hurt the Mini brand even more than now, the S's already have a below average rating. Imagine people going to Carmax to trade their Mini in for trade-in and having them tell the customer, "we don't buy or trade-in Mini's. It would no doubt make news headlines which would be well deserved!

 

1. I doubt you'll get any help with the timing chain via the campaign. However, if the work was done by MINI, I believe they give you a 2-year warranty on repairs. Not sure whether that transfers over to subsequent owners. You would probably have to discuss with the MINI dealer.

2. I don't know any reason a reasonably competent independent shop couldn't do the turbo line replacement. It is a pretty easy fix. I would probably go aftermarket for a source.

5. Only you can answer that question. Everyone has their own expectations for a vehicle.

 

1. Timing Chain/tensioner and HPFP came back negative. They were going to try to get out of doing/paying for it when I felt them out. Surprisingly, they told me my 3rd party warranty would of covered the timing chain.

2. I got a local respected place giving me a quote now. It looks like I will order the Detroit Tuned kit.

5. I know....

 

The timingchain/tensioner was repaired by the MINI dealer right before I bought the car. It was obviously one of the things I heavily researched. I just got it back today. They said the tensioner is great and timing chain is in spec at 65mm. 68mm or more is bad? HPFP is good too. They said that the sounds are normal for cold start. We'll see...

I'm doing some investigating on my options for the Oil line, coolant temperature sensor, and valve cover. I don't think I'm going to get anywhere with a lawyer.

I'll watch the thermostat housing. My 3rd party warranty should cover anything related to the transmission. Man this sucks. I just want to enjoy the car.

 

Not a lemon, but rather these are typical problems with these motors. Keep an N14 long enough and you will have to fix all the things the OP mentions. Count on the turbo feed line every 50k miles or so. The timing chain issue is inevitable, but at least Mini has been good about covering most of them with the above noted campaign.

 

I got over 100k from my turbo feed line. Replaced it with the DT version, so I expect to not ever have to fix it again.

 

I bet the dealer you purchased your Mini from only replaced the tensioner, 65 mm for a new chain, does that sound like a new chain? 3 mm more and his timing chain will need replacement and I'm guessing it won't be long before...

 

I have a 2009 Clubman S.

1. Timing chain was rattling on cold starts, got it replaced at 45,000 miles under warranty.

2. HPFP caused misfires and check engine light if car had been sitting more than an hour cooling off, got it replaced around 55,000 miles under the 10yr/120,000 mile emissions warranty.

3. Had the intake valves cleaned for $440 by an independent as part of the HPFP troubleshooting.

4. The (plastic) thermostat housing sprang a leak at 60,000 miles. It was a pretty fast drip. Good thing I was watching the coolant bottle because just 2 weeks earlier I had the cooling system and transmission serviced as preventative maintenance. If you park in the same spot all the time you don't see the evidence of the leak on the ground and there is nothing in the car that warns you when the coolant is low. It cost $459 to replace the thermostat housing at the independent.

Now I am waiting for the oil feed line to leak. I already have a DT kit for when it happens. Unfortunately you cannot prevent any of these problems. It's really sad and expensive. I've only had the car for 20,000 miles.

 

What is the normal speck for a chain?

 

Have you had your valve cover crack or your valve cover gasket go out yet? My valve cover is bad and I'm thinking of letting my monkey hands to it myself. I’m getting bits a pieces on here on how to do it. Do you have any pointers?

Thanks,
minibdb

 

It seem like every time you start throwing misfire codes the repair shop almost always go for intake valve cleaning instead of just replacing the HPFP first because they both through similar codes. Seems like you found a gold mine for an independent repair shop, I paid twice as much for my intake valve cleaning at the dealer.

Recently I had my thermostat and water pump replaced at an independent shop and was very close to what you paid for your thermostat housing, my pump was perfectly fine but I just wanted to get that plastic water pump out because under the hood temperatures soar when you shut off the engine especially in Summer! It surely the cost would have been doubled at some dealers.

If you don't mind where did you take your Mini for the independent repair shop? I think these independent repair shops should get more recognition on NAM. My next major repair if I have one I'll go to Motoring Magic even if I have to tow my MCS 200 miles.

 

 

It was actually Motoring Magic in Thousand Oaks, CA that did the intake valve cleaning and thermostat housing replacement on my 2009 Clubman S. I am moving to Oregon in a couple weeks. Gonna miss Scott, Steve and Chuck at Motoring Magic!

 

I have seen this video on here. It's just he is going to fast I can't tell what he is prying at 2-3 times with the flat head screw driver. Also, I would like to find more detail about detaching and putting back the hoses to the valve cover.

I found this with the correct pattern to do the bolts. http://www.*********************/for...#axzz3H4l9YoLw I'm just going to have to breakdown and spend the $100 on the manual I think.

I'm not an idiot. But, I'm not mechanically inclined to do work without clear direction.