Somehow I always envisioned my first post here being something other than another "help me" thread so I apologize ahead of time but I really need someone to put my mind at ease since I am afraid my MINI may be in serious trouble!

Here's the breakdown of what happened. I took my '08 MCS (manual trans) in for its first major service today where it got an oil change, brake fluid service, a new AC microfilter and the fix for the "Cold Start Death Rattle". Since I was so excited to have my car back I neglected to check under the hood before leaving the dealer and motored off. Everything was fine until I hit traffic following a 30 minute sprint on the freeway. Once I was stopped, I noticed the engine idling very inconsintently, jumping up to around 1000 RPM then down to 500 to the point where it felt like the car would nearly stall then back to around 1000 or so. This was extremely disconcerting as the car really was shaking quite a bit when the engine was dipping into the lower RPM range. I grudgingly figured this was due to the cold start fix being botched and that the tensioner was acting up (mind you I have no experience working on engines whatsoever). Since the car seemed to be running fine once I was moving along in gear I trekked the rest of the way home (about another 30 min or so).

Once I got in the driveway I decided to pop the hood and staring me in the face was a disconnected PCV tube (I know this from reading the post on SeaFoam treatments) located on the passenger side which should have been attached to the crankcase. which looked to have been disconnected the entire duration of my trip. (Attached is a photo I swiped from the SeaFoam how to thread for reference.)

Well I reconnected the hose but I am not sure if I did so correctly. There is what looks like a plastic locking ring on the crankcase but I cant seem to get it to lock the hose in place. I fired up the car again and revved it slightly and the idle seemed to settle back to its normal level though not immediately.

All that having been said, my question is this: could my driving so long with the PCV tube disconnected have done any damage to my car??

I didnt notice any loss of power and no indicator lights for engine temperature or oil pressure but when I had the hood open I was noticing some steam coming off the turbo and through the front grille. I am not sure if that was related though since it is a cold day and I was outside in the rain when I had the hood open. Plus I also had the heater on when driving home so maybe that was just normal steam...

I'm planning to call the dealer about this tomorrow and complain as well as listen to what they have to say about what if any sort of damage has occured. But in order to hopefully calm me down (I literally feel sick) I wanted to see what others on the forum had to say.

So sorry once again for crying out for help with my first post! I have visited this site off and on for the past several years both before and after I purchased my MINI and have found it to be loaded with a wealth of great information. Thanks in advance to those of you that reply!

 

Take it out for a drive tomorrow. You'll be fine.

 

No damage what-so-ever. This is a ventilation/vacuum tube and w/ it dissconnected you car experience loss of presure and thus irregular idyling. Connecting the tube restored presure and thus your car should now be fine.

My bet is that the tube was not connected correctly and thus it came loose ...you mentioned that you drove for awhile and the car was fine. W/ the tube disconnected you'd have irregular idyling at all speeds and no matter how short/long you drove the care, -this is why I say it probably just wasn't connected firmly and came loose on your way home.

 

I agree, should be no damage!

 

Thank you very much for the quick replies!

Whew! I can really breathe a sigh of relief there! That terrible idling really scared me silly. I'd never felt my MINI shake like that.

Looks like I'll be starting 'er up tomorrow and motoring as usual!

 

Why didn't you take it straight back to the dealer when it first started acting up? At that point you were 30 min from home and 30 min from the dealer......yes it would have been an inconvenience, but then you could have addressed your concerns with the people who know it best and gotten it fixed all at once.

Instead you drove another 30 mins (thinking it would cure itself?) and wrote a help request on an internet forum.....

Reminds me of a story I read in my local paper Sunday in Car Talk. A guy bought a 72 Porsche 914, took it to the car wash after which it ran like it was only hitting on two or three cylinders, so he decided the right thing to do (rather than find the problem and fix it) was to take it on a 200 mile trip, then and there! It did start to run better after a while because his problem was simply old plug wires and cap that needed to be replaced, and once they dried out it ran OK again, but really......your engine's running terribly so you take off on a 200 mile trip?

 

Very true, though by the time I would have returned to the dealer the service department would have been closed so, either way, I would have ended up talking with them about the issue the following day. Plus getting home and off the road ASAP was preferable to dealing with stop-and-go rush-hour traffic for who knows how long just to return to the dealership.

 

Everything was fine until I hit traffic following a 30 minute sprint on the freeway. Once I was stopped, I noticed the engine idling very inconsintently......

You had only driven on the highway up till then, you could have turned around and headed right back up the higwway and avoided the stop/go rush hour traffic, right?

I understand what you're saying about the dealer being closed, so that would have colored my decision too....

My point is only that you'll get the best service and life out of your car by using the dealer to answer your questions and fix your car - assuming you have a competent dealer of course. Some are not so lucky.....

 

Well the car is going to the dealer again today so I can talk with them and verify nothing else is amiss. You're absolutely right about going through the dealer to get questions answered and that is what I normally do when situations like this arise. I'll see what they have to say and if everything checks out alright.

 

Just an update for those of you that are interested. I brought the car back to my MINI dealer this afternoon and talked to them about the hose that had managed to work itself loose. Took them only a few minutes to determine that the plastic ring locking connector at the end of the PCV hose had completely snapped off of its supporting tabs. Even though I could reconnect the hose to the engine it would eventually work itself off again (as it did on the trip to the dealer) due to the fact that the locking ring was not effectively securing the hose in place.

Since I dont poke around my engine bay much I am assuming the hose got bumped or was inadvertently yanked when the car was being serviced. The plastic tabs holding the locking ring are pretty flimsy anyway so it wouldnt take much stress to snap them off as cleanly as they had been.

The dealer has ordered me a new hose but it wont be in for a couple days so for now I get to cruise around in a brand new Clubman S which is rather enjoyable!

Oh and the service guys also said that they doubt any damage was done to the engine since with the hose disconnected the cars pressure sensors were simply noticing things were out of whack and thus causing the electronics to try and adjust the idle speed to compensate.

 

You know, shortly after I got my Clubby I started noticing an oil smell in the cabin, especially after coming to a stop light after being on the hiway for a while. Turned out to be the breather hose on my car too.....

Something to keep an eye on for the future.....