I have a 2004 Mini Cooper S with about 101,000 miles on it. A little less than a year and a half ago, I was driving on the highway in NJ, and had a major power loss and the engine light was going off. About $3500 later, the car was repaired (the exhaust valve on the third cylinder had a hole in it. had both valves on the cylinder replaced.). Today, while driving on the highway in MA, same thing happened. Had it towed in to the shop, the diagnostic code said it was a problem with the 4th cylinder, but the compression test showed the problem to be with the 2nd cylinder. Has anyone else had any problems like this? I thought once was a fluke, but twice? And I'm concerned about there being an additional problem in the fourth cylinder as well. I'd also love to hear people opinions about whether they think its worth fixing again. In the last 2 months I've had new front control arms put on, a new serpentine belt, new wheels and tires, brake flush, new struts, and some other regular maintenance stuff. I'm at a loss for what to do because part of me feels like sucking it up and fixing it, since I just put a lot of money into the car, but the other part of me feels skeptical of why i should believe this won't happen again. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

your mechanic did you no favor only fixing 1 cylinder as the major expense is the removal/refitting of the head

you should have had all the valves repaired, if you had, you would not be having the trouble now

if it was me, once the had was off i would have put new rings on the cylinders too

scott

 

My mechanic was the mini dealer. Is it something you think I could take up with them?

 

MINI dealers do warrant their work for 2 years, I'd give them a call and discuss it with the service manager.

I'd like to know why you're burning valves at all, is your car running a tune, pulley, cold air intake or other mods?

 

No performance mods on the car. I'm curious to know why I'm burning valves as well.

 

It almost sounds like you're running a little lean in that one cylinder, since there are many safe guards to detect this it is a little baffeling, although it could actually be irregular spray pattern with that injector, this would be very hard for the ecu to detect. At the very least if you do end up rebuilding again, with or without any kind of a warranty I would pony up some cash for a new "set" of injectors.

Just a thought.

I'm sure nobody took any pictures, it would sure be nice to see if it's burned in the exact same spot again.

 

I would tend to agree that no favor was done in only replacing one set of valves, however, being a dealer technician for Audi and Mercedes for 5 years I can tell you that there are protocols to be followed.

The automotive technician has been tarnished for years due to dishonest service stations. Sears and Jiffy lube have been sued multiple times for upselling repair services that didn't need to be done or for misleading customers about what parts need to be replaced. Quite honestly I don't think your technician did anything wrong in only replacing the valves of that cylinder if those were the only ones that showed issue.

In order to properly diagnose a burned valve a compression and leak down test would have been performed on all the cylinders. If cylinder 3 was the only one to pose an issue then I can understand why that would be the only cylinder quoted for repair. But this is where things are left up to the protocol that technician/dealer is following. I've known several tech's who get quote happy and often replace several good parts while they're "in there" with the thought that they may be saving the customer money down the road. I've also known many tech's who only replace what they know is wrong...also believing that they're doing the customer a favor saving them money by not replacing other good parts.

Unfortunately in your case the latter case was not true. I would tend to agree that there may be further diagnosis involved to understand why your valves are burning. Are you using the proper grade gasoline? Perhaps a fuel sample test should be performed by the tech to ensure the gas you are buying from your station is indeed of good quality. On the issue of carbon build up with direct injection motors, I can honestly say that customers that buy cheap Sam's Club and off brand fuel do themselves no favors.

Unfortunately there are hardly any dealers that I know of that have a fuel injector tester that will allow the technician to see the spray pattern in action. New fuel injectors may be in order. Different brand or the proper octane grade of fuel may be in order.

Whatever they find, at this point I would lean towards a full rebuild. It would likely only take another hour or so to remove the pistons and replace the rings. I would also lean towards replacing the injectors as well as all of the valve train components, all valves, springs, lifters, rocker assemblies, etc.

 

What octane fuel are you using?!
Have you had the car since new, or did you buy it used?
Any modifications?

 

When the cylinder head was off a year ago, was the head reconditioned with all the valves removed for cleaning and grinding? Or were only two valves replaced in only one cylinder and nothing done for the other cylinders?

 

Sorry I haven't kept everyone updated things have been really crazy! So it turned out that it was the same cylinder as a year and a half ago, and that the valves burnt because they did not replace the valve guides when they did the job originally. So, the work was covered, but they kept my car for 26 days while doing the repair and never offered any sort of loaner. Then, I was driving it out to Colorado a little less than a week after having the work done, and while in Kansas the engine light came on. I stopped at a shop to make sure it was nothing serious, and the code showed that the car was running lean, but no reason I couldn't finish the drive. Once getting here, I tool the car to Loveland Mini and they said the O2 sensor was bad (mini acknowledged having some bad 02 sensors in 04-06 minis, and extended the warranty to 100,000 miles, I am at 104,000). The repair cost me $600. Then, the evening I picked up the car, I drove straight to dinner with friends, and when leaving my car wouldn't start. So, I had it towed to the nearest dealer, and they said that it was the fuel pump and a complete coincidence that it broke hours after the last repair. This was today, and I have yet to call back.

 

So, another $700 for the repair and $350 for a rental since they didn't have any loaners available and I'll be getting my car back tomorrow. I love my car to death, but this is getting ridiculous.

 

And it continues. They called back today and told me they replaced the pump and the car still wouldn't start, and that the pump surged when it failed and fried the computer, which was another $1300

 

Wow, you've done yourself in! My 02 MCS broke numerous times over the past year, forcing me to replace many parts. I have a new OEM head assembly waiting if I ever have your problem, god forbid. Good luck! (And stop going to the dealer)

 

Wow.

At face value this sounds like total BS. Since the new pump didn't fix the problem it is likely it never was the problem. And I don't know of any mechanism where a pump "surges" and then "fries the computer". If your computer is "fried" by far the most likely reason is that they screwed something up while doing the repair.

It sounds like you're being taken to the cleaners by a bunch of incompetent or dishonest mechanics, perhaps both. Just too many coincidences of failures right after the other. They can't be all independent. If you're working strictly with Mini dealers, I think it is time to go in and express your displeasure at this cascading series of failures that simply don't make sense. Be ready to escalate up the line to Mini USA. This is not a situation where you just meekly pay for each new round of failures. And these repair costs seem ridiculous.

I hate to say this, but I think it is time to throw in the towel. Trade it in on a nice new Mazda 3 or something similar. I think you're throwing good money after bad and I don't think you have the technical background be owning a 100K+ Mini that is having this many problems.

Sorry to be so blunt.

- Mark

 

/agree

My wife's Mini is over 6 years old and I have her shopping for a new car. I don't care if she gets another Mini but she is not keeping this one for too much longer.

You are being taken for a ride. The computer probably fried and the pump was probably fine.

 

Give up on this car...at this rate you are paying for a new car piece by piece...take the car home, part it out and go buy something else.