how much would a new engine cost for a mini. there is a one for sale where the poster says that the engine has no compression. what could be the problem? and if a new engine had to be put in, where would someone go to look for one? and how much work would it be to swap a MINI engine?

 

It's about $5k for the long block. And about 20 hours or so of labor. And no compression doesn't necessarily mean it needs an engine. Had several of them requiring valves that leak or are bad, even the valve seats on the cylinder head go bad.

 

sorry i dont know too much about cars. but if it has no compression would the engine be able to start up at all? or would the car basically be useless?

 

Depends on how many cylinders, it would be a waste to through $8k into replacing an engine when it requires a few valves. I would suggest taking it to a reputable shop and have them diagnose the issue.

 

thanks for your suggestions. ill see what i can do, because its not even my car. its posted for sale and its the color and has all the options i was looking for. but it might not be worth all the trouble of getting a new engine in the end. but still. thank you.

 

The only thing I can think of offhand that would result in no compression in any of the cylinders would be a broken timing chain. If that's the problem, a lot would depend on how/when the chain broke. There might be no secondary damage at all, or there could be bent valves and/or scarred pistons.

 

would the damage from a broken timing chain be repairable? or is it too costly?

 

Moseichuk007, this car might be a worthwhile undertaking for a knowledgeable buyer, but I don't think it would be a wise choice for you.

 

It depends, if the valves and pistons made contact it could need new pistons, if this did happen and you got lucky all you'd need is a new cylinderhead or at least new valves in the current one.

 

Well, if it *is* the timing chain, the repairs could be as simple as a new timing chain if you're extraordinarily lucky. Or, you might have a few bent valves. Worst-case scenario, the valves crashing into the pistons could have damaged them as well, requiring removal of the entire engine to make repairs, rather than just the cylinder head.

Honestly, buying a non-running car is really a crapshoot if you're not mechanically-inclined. Unless the price is so low that you could throw in a complete engine rebuild and still spend the same or less than buying a running car in the first place, I'd pass.

 

Take it from me....if this car looks enticing because it is selling for very cheap because of this engine problem, look elsewhere. I got a great deal on a broken 2005 MCS two years ago---$16.5K where good running '05s were $20K-$22k at the time.. I couldn't test it before buying it since it wasn't running, so I had to make a lot of assumptions. Even though the problem seemed minor...spark plug blew out of cylinder 1, a lot of questions I had included what was the extent of the damage from driving it on 3 cylinders? What caused the spark plug to come out..was it just neglect? How did the owner treat the car when it was running??

Anyways, I poured a LOT of money into making this car my own in this time frame. It's a great car, but ever since I had the car..I had engine issues from the very beginning. Random stuff. Stuttering under WOT, misc. codees being thrown. I replaced almost everything related to the engine..until finally I had to spend money to have the engine rebuilt as well...$6,000....course it wasn't just rebuilt, it was improved at the same time for more power.

In the last two years, I could have bought another MINI with all the money spent on this MINI...although it's truly unique and fits my own style and personality.....I'm not sure I would ever do this again if I were to buy a used MINI..unless I bought it for dirt cheap $5-$8K...not just cheap enough to buy an engine.

Richard

 

Although I am not very mechanically inclined I wouldn't be the one doing any of the work on the car. My dad has been doing this kind of stuff his whole life so he would be doing the figuring out. I would just be financing the whole thing. The seller is asking $7950 for the car currently.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/ctd/1038783005.html
theres the link for the ad.

let me know what you might think.

also what would be a good price to pay for a MCS like a '03 or '04 with something around 60k miles?

Thanks for all the help and input. Its really appreciated

 

$8000 seems cheap for a Cooper S with leather, but here's a listing for an 03 Cooper S with similar miles--72K from a dealership--meaning private party should be less--$12K..Meaning $8K for yours + $5K for an engine with your labor--will be seeing $13K to get it running...or maybe only a few thousand if it doesn't need a new engine but needs new internals.

Hard to say...might be a fun project car.

http://tinyurl.com/d2hjl4

Richard

 

oh i would definetly do it if i had the time and money to get a project car. It would be worth it to at least just learn how to fix it up. But i currently NEED a car so its really tempting but at the same time unreasonable after seeing how much it would cost and what kind of issues could come up over time.

what would you think about this one?
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/1030848570.html

 

If you NEED a car, a project type car will drive you nuts. The no compression car could give you all sorts of day to day problems.

The one above looks much better to me. It has a few miles but if your dad can work on the car you should be in good shape with 55k.
Also, it looks like an un-modded car so you can mod the way you want and make it your car.

 

We have this saying over at the Mercedes shop forum... there is nothing more expensive as a cheap Mercedes. I think this applies to Mini's equally well.

 

i have another question. would a MC engine be swappable to a MCS car? and then just put the Supercharger on from the MCS vehicle? so basically just swapping the engines.

 

No, the engines aren't easily swappable. The MC engine has a higher static compression ratio since it doesn't have a supercharger. If you were to put an MCS supercharger on an MC engine, you'd have horrible detonation issues and problems with blown head gaskets, if the combo even ran at all.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. so sticking to an MCS engine would be smart.

 

If you *need* a car, buying a non-running car with unknown issues is not a good idea.
You mention that you'd be financing it. I don't know that a finance company would even give a loan on a non-running car.

 

by financing it i mean i would be the one paying for everything. I've got the money. so i dont need a loan.
what i really want is a MINI that has all the stuff im looking for, and for a good price. And if i have to put some work into it to get it then im all up for it. Or maybe im just too picky. I might be buying a Liquid Yellow one tomorrow. Its not what i really want though. but the price is right.