Last wed's night driving home as usual I had the iPod cranked up, when I got home and parking I noticed kind of a 'diesling' noise Kinda like a car that's running low on oil. kinda but not

Didn't think much of it. With the occasional R56 'death chatter' after pulling the car in and out of the garage I'm kinda used to some sporadic engine noises

Came out Thursday AM and would not start. Called MINI roadside assistance and bada bing bad boom my car was flat bedded to local dealer. Nice response by the by

They have been short handed with tech's out, not a reall problem with the 'just a cooper' they gave me as a loaner

They finally got a diagnosis that I apparently busted a bolt or something where the belt attaches to the cam shaft and looking like some damage to the engine.

They need to open a investigation with MINI USA and go back and forth looking for root causes. My SA said it's not a question if MINI was going to cover but they want to get causes. This could take several weeks!

SA said they had a similar instance a month or so ago and ended up replacing the head.

Anybody else out there that this has happened to?

 

Nice engine failure. Might get a new engine. And nope hasn't happen to me cause I would be pissed.

 

Geez sorry for your troubles :(

 

Wow, this happened on a 2007? How many miles?

Hasn't happened to me, but I haven noticed any "death rattles" either.

Hope you like the MC. Sounds like you might be stuck with it for awhile.

 

`07 MCS haven't had anything like that. I'll be more aware of noises now for sure!

 

The same dieseling noise started happening to my 09/07 late last week, just periodically- on light throttle while going uphill and the end of our long commute. Also, the morning cold start rattle really did go to sounding like a death rattle.

I made an appointment for next Monday and decided to rent a car until I can get ours down to the dealer. I was feeling kind of dumb for wasting the money on a rental car, until I came across some of the reports at www.r56mcs.com. Lots of the stories posted there sound really similar and also end in a non-starting car.

 

Neither of these things sound good. Obviously Augie's deal is a killer. Nicknbecka's sounds ominous potentially as well. Mine's never made a bad sound. Starting difficulties only for me = high pressure fuel pump death. Good luck and keep the thread alive for conclusions, both of you.

 

The cold start rattle/death rattles/dieseling are not normal. Most Gen 2s do not suffer from this malady which can only indicate a loose component or interference among reciprocating components. DO NOT accept an explanation of "this is normal" from the dealer. Perhaps they all stem from the same cracked/broken bolt issue.

 

Approx 27K

update

stopped by to pick up a couple things yesterday and saw the damage

there is a bolt that holds a gear at the end of both of the overhead cams. That gear is part of the path of a chain that runs between the other overhead cam and the lower camshaft. One of the bolts sheared off.

Apparently they need to do a back and forth with MINI to figure out cause and fix. Next step is pull the pan off and assess the damage to the camshaft (if any)

 

YUCK! Good luck to you and keep everyone updated on what happens....

 

That sounds like either a design flaw, or a bad batch of bolts. I hope this becomes a recall. I don't want to be out of warranty and have it happen. I've only put about 11K miles on mine in two years. I'll be out of warranty at 27K.

 

I already am (75k), but every time I've been in for service I've complained about the cold start rattle. The first time, the dealer confirmed they could reproduce the noise and took steps to try and fix it- I kept notes on with my conversation with the tech, and at the time he said it appeared to be a problem with air bubbles in the system that pressurizes the timing chain tensioner. They bled the system and the service records make a note of an adjustment. The noise was reduced dramatically but it didn't solve the problem.

I started noticing higher pitched squeak/whir noises in the 2300-3000RPM range and brought it in again. I brought up the cold start rattle again when dropping the car off the night before, but two different techs reported that they didn't hear any noise outside of what is "normal". When I picked the car up, a different SA suggested that I was probably hearing the supercharger (!) or an oil or water pump.

My last visit was just before 50K, and I brought up the rattle with the SA in addition to some other items I asked them to inspect and each was either "normal" or unreproducible.

Now the rattle is so pronounced and easily reproducible that if I hear the word normal again, I'll be sitting in the parking lot and starting my car for potential customers

I also told them that now that I've seen info on an official fix, I expect them to do something about it since they have record of the problem. They won't talk to me about how it will be handled until they can get a chance to look at it an confirm it's timing chain related, so we'll see how that turns out.

 

Nick,
Ever talk to the Service Manager? I've fond some SA's to be an order lower than a department store hifi salesman.

BTW, I'm a big fan of Ghost in the Shell.

 

Update-

Talked to my SA. MINI and Service Dept determined new head, timing belt and top camshaft gears will fix it. No damage to lower camshaft. Parts ordered and should be rec'd, installed and tested by end of next week.

 

I haven't talked to the service manager yet- the SA I've spoken with the last couple times has actually been okay. Recently, other local club members have had some good feedback about the service department and I'd like to give them the chance to make things right before I make a too big a deal out of things. It's my planned next step depending on their response

My appointment was for first thing yesterday morning and I haven't heard any news up until now. I've also found that a No is the usually quickest answer, so I'm not pushing too hard yet.

I can definitely say that driving this couple of rental cars (they're out of Mini loaners and I rented on my own beforehand to avoid driving the car any more than necessary) has made me wish for my Mini back!

I decided on the name before the car was completely spec'd, and the hardest decision to make was going with my preferred color, or sticking with the theme and going electric blue. I'm sticking to the synthetic oil though! Edit: Tom Bombadil was always one of my favorite characters in the LoTR books, I tried to think of a good British influenced name first- I've got to admit it's one I wish I would have thought of. But, it's better being unique.

 

I hope it works out with the service dept. I know what you mean about the rental. MINI of Mountain View has never given me a loaner. They have an Enterprise office inside the BMW dealership next door. The last rental they gave me was a Honda Accord. Felt like I was driving a Buick.

I was thinking of a Chilli Red/White and naming it Madoka (KOR), but it didn't seem right with silver. So, I started thinking of Celtic gods, but Dagda sounds like some hick cursing, and with Cernunnos I should probably put antlers on the roof.
Tom Bombadil's chapters were the best part of the LoTR trilogy for me. From Tolkien's notes, it seems that he was supposed to be an ancient god that was mostly forgotten.

 

If you go do a search under 2nd Gen MINI Problems, you will find at least several people have had engines replaced lately with similar symptoms. "Root cause" is some of the parts that are included in the service bulletin for cold start issues.

 

Finally got Augie home last night! YES!

Root cause was the fautly bolt holding the upper cam and a contributor was a faulty vaccum pump. All replaced and the recent fix for the cold start chatter. All is good in the world

Next stop................MITM!!

 

so, no engine replacement required? good news!

 

Mine makes somewhat a diesel sound but nothing is wrong with it.

 

Yeah- there's the direct fuel injection noise, which is completely normal and somewhat diesel-like, and then there's the cold-start rattle and the noise that is much worse. My dealership's notes on the repair coined it 'super knock'.

Luckily, after some persistence, my case made it's way to a MINI field rep (not exactly sure what that is, but a MINI USA employee- not part of the dealership) and they replaced the timing chain, guide rails, sprockets, and related bolts gaskets and other bits as a one-time courtesy repair at no charge. No head damage luckily!

I'm back to running nice and quiet, smooth revs all the way up to redline, and my torque is back! I never realized how much oomph had bled away...

However- I've gained a couple new problems

I haven't had the car start successfully without issue since I've had it back- the first press of the start button gets a half-hearted run up to about 600RPM and then dies. Nothing I've been able to do gets anything else.

If I time it exactly right, a push on the gas pedal on the second start can get the RPM up over 1100 or so, and once it crosses over that, everything runs almost as normal. If I don't time it right, or don't do it at all, RPM drops back down to the 600's and runs extremely rough- like two cylinders only rough. Lots of unburnt fuel in the exhaust- enough to smell from the driver's seat if I have the window open. Gas pedal at this point does nothing most of the time and I just have to shut it off.

I can almost always get it started on the third try with some extra gas pedal. Timing doesn't seem to be as important at this point.

Once it's running, everything seems to be okay. I've noticed some good knocks/pings a couple times under hard acceleration though, and the tach needle isn't rock steady at idle like it used to be.

I'm thinking there's a vacuum leak or unconnected hose or sensor somewhere that the ECU can compensate for once the car's actually started. The dealership also noted that I had a sticky PCV valve, but it was supposed to be addressed.

The car's also (slightly over)due for it's latest inspection, and the dealer promised to contact me with pricing for follow-up service, but so far I haven't heard a word from them. So it's going to a local mechanic that's done excellent work for us in the past with all our previous cars for a good look-over for a second opinion.

 

No engine replacement.

Pretty much the entire head though, the list of replaced parts is about 20!

SA said something like this would be about $10K out of warranty!! OUCH

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky......

Short story:

I was on cruise control at 75 mph and CC just shuts off... I give it gas....no go. I press the clutch in, engine dies... Pull over, get flat bedded back to dealership. Ultimate cause - vacuum pump seized, causing cam shaft to stop turning, which sheared off the gear. Pistons hit valves, chaos ensues.....

I was at 58k miles, but luckily purchased the extended warranty. After discussions between dealership and GE Financial, decision was made to replace the entire engine. I pay $200, they pay $7,900.

This happened on Aug 2. I should get the car back tomorrow, if the ETA from Tuesday is still correct. At least I haven't had to tool around in a rental car for 3 weeks.....just had to burn a lot more gas driving the SUV around.

Long story:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post2843862

 

I think you've just given me enough reason to get an extended warranty ASAP

 

I waited until 35,000 miles to buy mine, but I'm glad I did. Given the fact that you get the money back if you don't make a claim on it is what made me decide to purchase it.

Overall, saved me over $5,000.....