I've been doing research ahead of my potential purchase of a Mini Clubman on these forums. It appears the MCS has a tendency of going through cam chain tensioners. Does this also apply to the non-turbo model?

I drove a non-turbo model and had a blast in it! I think it would be a efficient daily driver, but when I first heard of these tensioner issues, it turned me off a little about these cars. How has the engine reliability been on the justa Coopers?

 

I don't know how much stock you put in the Consumers Report ratings, but they do rate the Justa as more reliable than the S.

 

I haven't heard anything about cam chain tensioner problems in Coopers either, for what it's worth (what you paid for it.)

Stands to reason the simpler car would have less stuff going wrong. I'd like to trade up to an S one day when the right one comes along, but I have a lot of fun driving the **** out of my Justa.

 

I have a Justa and on a handful of very cold (below 10°F) mornings (out of many many many cold mornings) I have had some nasty cold start noise. It shortly goes away. Dealer says it is okay since it goes away after a couple of minutes. I searched the MINI TIS database a couple of months ago when I subscribed and all of the tensioner issues is just for the S model.

 

If you compare the two drawings of the engines, the design of the tensioners is very similar. I don't know for a fact that the Justa model has a hydraulic run tensioner or not, if it does it could be just low oil or cold oil causing my rare issue.

Base model engine:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...51&hg=11&fg=25




This is the S engine:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...24&hg=11&fg=25

 

From what I've read on these forums, the chain tensioner problem is a hit or miss thing, most cars will never have the problem. It is caused by the tensioner not being torqued down properly, it comes loose and chaos ensues.

It's as if a worker on the engine line was assembling it wrong.

Dave

 

Love my 2008 "justa" and no problems whatsoever.

 

So is the tensioner issue more of a build issue rather than a design problem?

 

From my experiences the tensioner issue seems to be related to the oil usage by the turbo and the lack of proper oil volume on the tensioner.

 

We have an 09 MCS that the tensioner failed on yesterday...minimum of 2 days to inspect and repair, but it could take longer depending on what they find. The tech hinted that it is a build problem vs. a design problem. In the mean time the dealer provided us with "justa" cooper with a JCW body kit to drive.

 

So is this tensioner located in a place where the amateur mechanic could put a wrench on it and check for tightness? Or does it require disassembly of other pieces to get at it?

 

It has to be a design issue as they have updated the parts at least twice now.

 

Are the upgraded tensioners for the turbo motors only or for both motors?

 

RealOEM does show an updated part number for the tensioner for the non turbo.

 

I would like to know the answer to your question too! So again, can we get to the tensioner with a wrench or socket?