So as the wife was bringing the mini in for smog yesterday the car stalls on her and she calls me. I was sure she had ran out of gas as I noticed it was pretty low from the other night. In any case Im at work cant do anything, so she calls mini roadside assistance.

The tow truck driver confirms her suspicion that its NOT out of gas and tows it in to dealer. Dealer takes a look tells my wife the vacuum pump seized and consequently destroyed the engine. They told her the engine needs to be replaced!

Now we still have warranty but WTH? The car only has 30k on it! Has anyone heard of this happening to any other minis? The dealer said they've never seen this ever, but I figure this is a pretty big deal if its happened before someone must have heard about it.

 

Disappointing as hell. I think this is a fairly atypical situation. But look at it from an optimistic view:

1. It is still under warranty and will be covered by MINI.
2. Instead of a two year old car with a two year old engine with 30,000 miles on it, you now have a two year old car with a brand new engine. Good luck. Keep us posted on the progression of the repair.

 

Vacuum pump? There is one in the evaporation recovery system, but it won't grenade your engine.

Is it possible that your better half might have heard it wrong? Just asking....

There was another report, I think associated with a timing chain failure.https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...1-post165.html

 

There are reports here on NAM and other forums (Mini2, Michigan Mini, etc) of motors self destructing when they get to the 25k-35k mark. However those have been due to timing chain issues.

Did your car display any symptoms of the "cold start rattle"?

 

That was the initial finding, that the vacuum pump seized, which caused a chain reaction of things. They are supposed to come back with a more thorough report of the findings today though.

Now Im not that familiar with the N14, although I worked a lot on my m coupe Ive never had to touch the mini because all the service was covered by the dealer. Looking at the real oem chart, it looks as if the vacuum pump is turned by the cam? If the vacuum pump seized then I can see some very bad things happening if indeed that is how it works.

 

That is quite shocking. I agree it is atypical. Seems pretty random to me. I understand how the vacuum pump could cause the engine to seize... but to utterly destroy it? I am not following... but, I admit I am not an expert.

My MC didn't even go in for its first scheduled service and oil change until 28,000 kms. I kept calling them saying things like: "Should I be bringing my car in???" They told me the car would let ME KNOW when to bring it in.

Having said that... the car is being sold as a low maintenance car... low SCHEDULED maintence but I'll be damned if something weird doesn't go wrong with my car EVERY MONTH. Currently I am having tons of issues with the power windows.

I hope they give you a good car to drive while your baby is getting fixed!

 

Ok, I could see it if it broke the timing chain or sheared the cam drive sprocket.

+1 on yubman's question on cold start rattle.

 

I don't drive the car regularly so Im not sure about cold start rattle. My wife is pretty **** about the car though always letting me know when the tire pressure is low etc, but never mentioned any weird noises.

In any case Ill wait for the official word from dealer today and let you guys know.

 

The camshaft drives the vacuum pump. If the pump seizes then the camshaft stops turning. Some of the valves are held in the open position and they hit the pistons (esp on the high compression engines). The cam gears will either break or the timing chain will. All the metal pieces will be scattered through the engine. The end result is an engine that is more economical to replace than repair in Mini's eyes. Hence the diag of motor replacement.

Sorry to hear about your problem, but at least it was under warranty, and as someone pointed out now you will have a new engine.

 

the vacuum pump has been fingered as a possible culprit, or one of them, in the cold start rattle issue.

catastrophic engine failure from a defective vacuum pump. wow.

 

Believe me, man, she wouldve noticed a loud syncopated bangbangbang sound coming from the glovebox, for anywhere from 20 seconds to 2 minutes.

 

 

This is what Im suspecting too...
Still no update from the dealer, they are "looking into it".

I doubt the car had this issue, something like like we would have noticed.

 

Wow - i would have never guessed a lowly vacuum pump could take out the entire engine! After all, what's inside a pump anyway- a rotating vane and a check valve?

 

Don't let them give you a rebuilt engine.....

 

Looks like there is another report of another MCS 07 engine replacement due to a failed Vacuum pump.

Note post #171:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-engine-7.html

 

I can confirm another case of the failed vacuum pump destroying the engine. Here's the story:

2007 MCS has been running great for 58,000 miles. Had to replace the high pressure fuel pump at about 20,000 miles or so. Other than that (and potholes ), everything has been running well.

Last Sunday (Aug 2), I was on the highway, exactly 125 miles from the dealership (Ralph Schomp, Denver, CO). Cruise control was set to 75mph, had been for 2 hours. Cruise control shuts off and the car starts slowing down more than normal. I press the clutch in to downshift, and the RPMs drop to zero. Engine's not running any longer. No bad sounds, grinding, banging, etc. I pull over, try to restart....no good. Engine turns over, just doesn't fire up. Get towed back to the dealership. AAA rocks

As determined today (a week later), the vacuum pump seized, causing the cam shaft to stop turning. This resulted in the timing gear being sheared off of the cam shaft. The gear fell down into the open space below the timing chain. The valves were damaged, and possibly pistons too. After inspecting the damage and pricing out repairs, it was determined that replacing the engine is the solution.

Thankfully, I purchased the 100,000 mile extended warranty at about 35,500 miles, so all I owe is the $200 deductible. The other $8,000 is being paid by GE Financial.

I'm going on vacation with my other vehicle next week, so I told my SA that I won't be in to pick up the car until the 27th or so. Gives them plenty of time to get the work done.

So far, I've been able to find two other reports of vacuum pump failures causing engine destruction. Anybody know of more than that?

 

WinterPark Skier Guy - Thanks for the detailed report! I've never purchased an extended warranty before, but I'm leaning that way now ...

My '07 MCS got the "full monty" timing chain repair in Jan '09, during which they removed and inspected the vacuum pump assembly as part of the SIM-11-02-07 procedure.

Did your car also get this inspection if you had the timing chain tensioner replaced in the past? Just curious ...

 

oldMCguy,

I did not have any other work done on the engine besides replacing the high-pressure fuel pump near 20,000 miles.

Since you get the $$$ back from the extended warranty if you don't make a claim before the warranty expires, I highly recommend it. Saved me a boat-load of money this time....

R

 

winter park ski-dude is this Schomp's 6/100 extended warranty program they tried to sell me?

reason I ask is that a lot of NAM posters inquire about 3rd party Xtendeds, and I tell them to stick with what the dealer offers so the hassles are minimal.

 

Yup, that's the one.

I agree, stay away from 3rd party warranties.

I debated it for a while, but after putting on 35,500 miles in 16 months, I decided it might be a good idea.

At the same time, I got the extended maintenance plan, too. Been very happy with that as well. I haven't paid for anything, maintenace-wise. Brakes, oil, tranny, etc. Um, except maybe tire rotations. It might not include those. I totaled up all of the recommended services through 100,000 miles and the plan saves about 50%.

Overall, very glad I bought both. Total cost was right around $5,000. Just under 3k (or so) for the warranty and just over 2k for the maintenance plan.

R

 

Last week i had to have my 07 MCS taken to the dealership. It was making unfortunate sounds and would not run for crap. I was told one of my valves busted and was sent into the piston. The service rep said it would be about 14 days for a new block to come from Germany.

This sounds like it could also be the same problem. I have to call the guy back to get more information. At least it is still under warranty.

another funny part, I TOO needed to get the fuel pump replaces a month ago.

 

Connecting the dots..........

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...en-to-you.html

When I was at MITM I heard reference to OP from Ralph Schomp tech that they were just staring to see this.

I hope they start a recall so the rest of you don't have to go through this......

 

AAAHHHHHH

I was given a Nissan CUBE till my car is fixed. What the hell, this is the worst car I have ever seen.