Hello,

My husband and I own a 2010 Cooper Hardtop with approximately 41,000 miles on it. We've driven it for a little over four years without one issue. We love this car and planned on purchasing another when we traded this one in.

Earlier this week, I started my car and the low oil indicator light popped up. I found this odd considering the car was not due for an oil change and had been running fine. We live in Northeast Ohio where the temperatures have been less than desirable so I thought perhaps the engine just needed to warm up for a few minutes. After five to ten minutes, I slowly left the parking lot and the car completely failed.

We had the car towed to a local BMW/MINI specialist that said the car was down to two quarts of oil and had been leaking oil due to a timing chain tensioner failure. My husband checked our garage floor and found no oil, so this was likely leaking internally. This caused the timing chain to jump time causing significant damage to the engine. In addition the mechanic also found coolant in the combustion chambers and is unsure of how this happened. He suspects a cracked engine block or cracking cylinder head.

In the end, we are looking at a $10,000 engine repair on a car with only 40,000 miles on it. Unfortunately, I am no longer under warranty, but I have still contacted MINI USA in hopes of some answers. We have had this car serviced within the last year at our MINI dealership and were not made aware of any oil leaks.

Has anyone else experienced these issues or has dealt with MINI USA? I would hope they would stand behind their vehicles.

 

This is a common problem.

for some folks Mini covers it. Others part of it... others none at all... they may deny the claim on the two quarts low deal...

There was a "letter" sent out to some customers about a customer service "campaign" that would inspect the tensioner, and replace parts if needed.

Being a 2010 you most likely have the older design.. that was prone to this issue - which means - they *should* cover it... hopefully...

good luck.

 

WOW, that's not good but I have seen it before as low oil can cause all kinds of issues like this. I really hope MINI does Goodwill this for you, but it's a long shot with the age of the car.

$10k for an engine is crazy, you can ship your MINI to our shop and we will put a New engine in for less than $6000 with a 2yr warranty.

 

Sorry for your luck. Just wanted to give a thumbs up for Way Motor Works. They are good, know what they are doing and have helped lots of MINI owners.

 

NEVER...EVER trust your MINI to tell you when to change oil and filter! And if a low oil light comes on, stop the vehicle immediately. These are hard lessons to learn, and I hope MINI does you right! With all of the folks experiencing what you have been through, they certainly should!

 

Ouch...
One tip...you mini does not have a "low oil light"" it has a dipstick, and a low OIL PSI light...
When the car is so low on oil the RED light comes on, typically 2+ or even 3 quarts out of 5 low, bad things happen in seconds...there is NO OIL GETTING PUMPED...IT IS BELOW THE PICKUP FOR THE PUMP...
And yes...when a timing chain jumps..metal things hit and break...surprisingly common....
Might want to ask the higher ups if they can get you a better price, maybe a partial goodwill....
I'd look around...that price seems very high...

 

Maybe the dealer is hoping to just sell you another car?

 

This is why you check your oil regularly. Problems like this are preventable.

 

Let's see if we can give you some additional help here.

First you say you are in NE Ohio. Are you working with the dealer or a independent shop? Lets know, maybe some of the burning river mini crew can point you to a Indy shop for help.

Off the top of my head I don't know all the indy shops in that area but Chad at DetroitTuned.com is great resource. I am in Columbus and have taken my car to Chad in Detroit several times. It was worth the trip.

Now for some back history:
Beginning in 2007 in the US, MINI switched to a different motor named the N14 Prince engine. It has had several known issues, one of which is the timing chain.

Officially MINI has not had a recall for this issue. However, they have had a service bulletin (campaign) to address this problem. There are several things that can lead to a failure of this magnitude; the chain tensioner, low oil, chain failure, etc. One of the TSB names for this campaign is called SIM110207. I have included the PDF of that name. It has been updated, but I don't have a copy. You should be able to search on the internet for it.

Several things to be aware of are that MINI has re-designed the tensioner part which holds the chain in place approximately 3 times that I can think of off the top of my head. First re-design was a longer tensioner bolt shaft to apply more tension onto the chain to hold it in place. Not sure what the other revisions in-tailed.

Another key factor in this is oil in the car. Unfortunately, if you were a owner that followed manufacturer specifications of oil changes every 10,000 or 15,000 miles (I can't recall what the original specification was) and never checked your own oil and added to it between changes, you may have inadvertently helped create your own problem. People with this motor learned years ago from online forums that that oil change interval was too great. Actually, MINI now advocates a more frequent change interval.

The N14 motor with a turbo will consume oil. It does depend on driving style etc, but MINI stands behind a consumption rate of something like a 1/2 quart per 1500 miles as being within spec. The problem is if the oil does not get topped off you can end up being 3 quarts low in between oil changes. Most people on here know to check the oil weekly and change it about every 5000 miles to be cautious. (Doesn't sound fair does it?)

My advice would be to try very hard to work with the MINI dealer and MINI USA. Become knowledgeable in the topic. Be polite, but be firm. What you want is for the dealer to advocate on your behalf to get MINI to cover all or a major part of the expense. The dealer gets paid. By you or MINI. Doesn't matter to them, so lets try to get the bill sent to the correct party right?

If you were following the MINI recommended service intervals and the dealer has the records that you had the oil changed on time every time, etc. It is a little more difficult for the blame to be set as owner neglect. Even, if you changed your own oil or went somewhere else, if you have documented records it can help your cause.

One thing that I would caution is the use of the words "Death Rattle". On the internet, that is the slang that people have called this fault. However, it seems to be a term that MINI USA doesn't appreciate, because when people say they asked MINI USA about the "Death Rattle" they get a response of "We don't know what you are talking about."

Lastly, if all this fails but you pay for the entire repair make sure you document the heck out of every interaction with the dealer and MINI USA. Keep records, who you spoke with when etc. Save all your receipts and tally up all your expenses for this. Maybe someday a Class Action settlement may happen and then the burden of proof will be on you to prove you are entitled to compensation. It happened with the first gen CVT transmissions and only those that could prove the had been actually affected could make a claim. Whereas owners that didn't have a failure, but suffered loss value because of the reputation of the transmission could not sue for that loss in value since their transmission never failed.

I hope this helps, and good luck.

 

Great post 05r50. Really fantastic post.

 

Autolika, in North Royalton is a very good independent shop. They have an $80.00 shop rate and specializes in foreign and Mini cars.

 

" We had the car towed to a local BMW/MINI specialist who said the car was down to two quarts of oil and had been leaking oil due to a timing chain tensioner failure."
If as stated by the local BMW/MINI specialist the oil was leaking due to the timing chain failure, you could have a very good case to fault the tensioner failure for the loss of oil as opposed to maintenance procedures.
Tensioners have been known to back out and result in substantial oil loss's.

 

2010 was right in that series where the tensioner's were backing out, if that's what happened you definitely should be able to get some help from MINI USA....most of them happened very early in the car's life tho...first few thousand miles or so.


Good luck, but you probably won't get any factory help taking it to an independent shop.


Let us know what happens.......

 

I had my tensioner problem 1 month before warranty expired. I got lucky then. I did not do enough research buying a Mini but lesson learn. Lately it is a different issue. Once I get my Mini fix with P0300 code and rough idle recently due to (probably) carbon build up, I will sell it. This car in general is a money pit when it is outside warranty. Good luck and definitely have a Mini independent shop to fix it.

 

There is NO excuse to let a car get 2 quarts low. I'm pretty sure the owners manual spells out to check at every gas fill up.

I did that in the beginning until I figured out neither of my N18 motors use oil, I can go 8K before it gets to a 1/4 quart low .

Another reason when I bought my second MINI ( looked for a CPO) I would not consider an N14 , I was lucky and found a 2011 CPO. I tell anyone looking to buy a MINI to NOT buy any N14 MINI.

Like others said there is no low oil light, just a low oil pressure and by that time the damage is done. If MINI offers to split the bill for a new motor I would consider yourself blessed and thank them.

 

Thank you all for the responses. I have contacted Mini USA and received an E-mail this morning letting us know the car was still under the 50K mile defect or workmanship warranty so we are hoping for the best. Our local Mini dealership has asked to see the car, so it is being towed from the independent shop to the dealer as we speak. Hopefully this is covered under warranty.

We were always adamant about checking the oil and taking the car in for service, so based on research this sounds like the infamous timing chain tensioner issue that caused the car to loose oil rather quickly. I will update when we know more. Thank you again!

 

Thank you for the great, in-depth response. I contacted Mini USA on Friday evening and received a response this morning letting us know that our warranty was valid through 6/1/2015 which was news to us. Our local dealer has requested we have the car towed to them from the independent shop and that's where we are.

Based on several hours of research, it appears that this was linked to the infamous timing chain tensioner. There was no prior indication of any issues with the car or low oil pressure until minutes before the car stopped. Our current mechanic said there was a leak coming from the timing chain tensioner seal so hopefully those magic words encourage Mini to repair this on their dime.

Thank you again!

 

That short phone call to MINI was worth thousands of dollars. Well done.

 

Ever used the factory dipstick that came with the N14? Seriously...it is useless. I bought the Craven speed one after getting some issues that could only be explained by low oil level, and found that the OE one was reading at least a quart low when I could even pull a good reading off it. Checking the oil regularly does nothing if the dip stick is woefully inaccurate lol.

I also had the tensioner start making noise in the middle of a road trip once, in 1500mi of driving I had apparently gone through 2 qts of oil...it just seems to be inconsistent at the speed which it consumes. Luckily my buddy who was also driving his Mini had an extra quart with him (I'd used my extra quart a few days prior). I often take my Mini places where you are 100+ mi in any direction from a parts store that has the proper synthetic oil...should we be carrying half an oil change worth of fluid at all times??

Of course as soon as I got home it got a new tensioner, updated valve cover, and oil change. But at 65k? According to the records...thats the FOURTH tensioner its been on!

And I'm sorry...you shouldn't HAVE to check the oil every 3-400 miles on a car thats less than 10 years old or under 100k on it IMO. My wife's 2010 Ford V6, has probably consumed 1qt total in its 70k mile life so far...

glad everything seems to be working out for the OP. I would highly recommend buying the Cravenspeed dipstick to help prevent future issues related to low oil level, as you can see, it happens quicker than you think!

 

Now it all depends on how good your dealership is, some are very good and others are less than good.
Good lick, I hope you have a god dealership.

 

As long as you are under warranty (as CPO cars carry a two year/50K extension to the factory warranty) you will be ok even with an N14, but I believe any Mini Cooper out of warranty is an unacceptable risk.

 

So true, but it's the reality of the motor.

 

Sucks that the car has been plagued with a mediocre engine, because it's otherwise brilliant.

I can't wait to give back the F56S they gave me as a loaner.

 

My new 2014 JCW Countryman with less than 2K miles just developed this cold start engine rattle noise. It only happens when the temperature is below freezing and only the first start up of the day. Once the engine warms up, the engine rattle noise goes away. This noise will increase in speed if the engine rpm is raised. I checked under the hood it seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine (right side). I can't imagine it's the timing chain but it seems like it is. From what I understand it's caused by a loose timing chain rattling against the timing chain guide rails. The chain most likely comes loose when the timing chain tensioner does not operate properly.

Here is the recording I made of the engine rattling noise.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7Pg...p=docslist_api

 

I would tow it [for affect] to the dealer and have them change the tensioner. The tensioner uses spring pressure and oil pressure to push against the timing chain, the way you describe it after it pumps up for the day it's good. Does that car have 0 viscosity oil in it. Check the oil pressure with a gage. It would be nice to know as the car warms up.