Hi all,

I have a 1 month old 09 justacooper and have been loving it. With about 900 miles on it, the engine has started to make a strange noise. When stopped at a light or moving slowly there is a loud high-pitched whine. It seems to stop as soon as I start moving and put my foot on the accelerator. Any ideas? I live an hour from the closest service center, so would rather not go in if this is something normal.

Thanks!

 

It's not normal. Unfortunately I'd say to have it checked out.

 

my first guess would be something with the belt... maybe one of the pullies got put in with a faulty bearing or something. I would assume the belt to be fine, but you could put a little soap on it and see if it stops.

 

Call Sterling and bring it in. I'm assuming you bought it from them.

 

Thanks all.

I bought it in Annapolis, so I guess I will be making a trip out there once I get back from some work travel :(

 

Good luck with that. If you need a loaner you will prolly have to wait at least a month to get one. If you are able to I'd call up either Sterling or Towson (although last I tried, Towson wasn't giving loaners to people who didn't purchase their mini's there).

 

Sterling will only give you a MINI if you purchased the car from them and they have them available. We usually only have 1 or 2 available a day. If they don't have a MINI to give you then you can get a car from Enterprise on site. Sterling pays for the first 24 hours, we will usually cover extra days if the car is there longer for some fault of Sterlings. Appointments are usually 2-3 weeks out unless it is an Emergency.

 

It could also be the water pump. There's been some "squeal at idle sound" threads before that had the pump replaced to fix it.

 

Yes , probably the water pump friction clutch assembly. Not an immediate problem, but I would bring it back at your convenience.

 

Sometimes when the fan gets going really fast and then slows down a bit it can tend to make that sound?? Then again I could be wrong.

 

Hmmn, just noticed my 08 MCS making this exact noise today after washing it... Might have to give MoS a call...

 

Just to let you all know, I finally got to the shop today, and it is, indeed, the water pump. I should have the car back by Friday. In the meantime, I get to drive the loaner BMW 328!

 

Someone at MoS must like you