One of my piston rings decided it didn't want to prevent oil from entering my combustion chamber so it's that time where I rebuild my motor and enlighten all of you with the build progression since this is a rare thing here on NAM.

 

How many miles on the engine?

What powertrain modifications?

Why not just buy a reman engine? Maybe a JCW engine and put a better ECU tune to work.

 

There are 52,000 miles on the motor. It wasn't really the cars fault. I started it and drove it right away at below zero temps and thats what started this whole thing. Im not positive but the differences in the JCW motor and the MCS motor are so small it doesn't really matter.

 

No popcorn... no one is interested... I should put this in the drivetrain section.

 

Doesn't seem like it to me, unless you were redlining it from the moment you drove off. Modern engines are supposed to be driven immediately, rather than sitting to warm up like the old days; you just take it easy the first few minutes. Easy enough in Chicago traffic - often mandatory, in fact.

 

Add cold temps to the already issue of BMW premature piston ring wear bad combo.

 

Definitely "subscribed". I'm already at 47k miles so I am already waiting to see what falls through the cracks in my engine. I've done the walnut shell blasting, but I'm sure something else will happen in my MINI. It's been solid from day one though, so I'm being an optimist!

 

Yeah I'm subscribed as well. I've got 41k on my Mini with no big issues, minus a water pump and valve cover paid for by warranty.

I do notice a lot of Mini Turbos burn oil, including mine. It's easy to notice the soot on the exhaust pipe of other cars. Was that an indicator on yours?

 

MNIPWR, how do you define "right away" when you say you start the car up and drive? I allow some 30 seconds of idle or so before driving away gently (as per the manual I thought); was that your practice as well?

mmcverry - soot? I see much soot on my exhaust pipes - it does seem to accumulate faster than my Integra did, but I do watch my oil level closely - it doesn't move between 6000Km oil changes... Is this normal for turboed engines?

Tks!
E

 

When it is cold I normally let it warm up for ten minutes or so, to prevent me from freezing. That day I was running late so I ran outside, started it up, waited a tiny bit less than a minute then drove on. I new something went wrong about 50 yards down the street, the car kinda stalled a tiny bit and right after I had an extremely overwhelming smell of oil. Now when it runs I can smell the burning oil in the exhaust.

 

Ouch!

OK - per the owners manual we are supposed to start and go right away - gently...

Sounds more like you "just" had some bad luck. None the less, keep us posted (with pictures if you have the means) on progress - I am eager to learn how tough the job is!
Good luck!
E

 

I plan to take as many pics for you gents and ladies as I can.

 

Excellent - thanks'!

Now go to sleep - unless you are a poor bastard like me on shift work or on the other side of the planet!
E

 

Studying for a math test.

 

Good luck - with success in math, you may be able to avoid shift work!

That being said, my career choice (aviation maintenance), forces shift work regardless of math skills...
E

 

 

to all of you subscribed due to mileage, you shouldn't necessarily worry. I really doubt this is a mileage-related issue. I'm at 107k with no piston issues. And I have certainly driven my car hard as sh*t in the past. But good luck to the OP! I plan on a full rebuild or a JCW powerplant at some point down the road.

 

 

Although someone I talked to said his wife's MCS N14 burns oil, I don't necessarily know that the soot on the exhaust pipe is from that. Because my '11 MCS N18 does not burn oil (i.e. I've never had to add oil based on my dipstick readings) and I have a sooty exhaust too. I believe the turbos tend to run rich which can also cause this symptom.

Subscribed.

 

This happened to me a couple weeks back. I had 62k on the motor before it died on me. I was driving normally on the highway and boom lost all power. I live in Florida by the way and we don't know what cold is . I've read this is common with the n14 engine. I had to get a new motor and I also got forged pistons, new rods, etc (these extras obv. did not come with the motor). My car was basically stock besides a custom tune. Good luck with your new motor!

 

It is mainly due to the mass manufacturing of motors. Ill be back to explain in a bit. Lucky my car still runs and is drivable. Tho i'm not driving it its nice that is wasn't anything catastrophic.

 

Ok, so im back. This info I got directly from Mini. When they mass produce blocks and pistons, they are not all exactly the same. They then take the pistons from a batch and match them with a batch of blocks. Now most of the time everything turns out to be ok but sometimes the tolerances are not quite what they should be and that is causing some people to have these engine problems.

 

Finally got the compression test done. Pistons 1 and 3 are at 25% which is well out of the acceptable range. So I will be ordering Forged pistons, and rods. Not sure if I am going with CP or Supertech yet for pistons but I will be getting Corillo rods.

 

That's just crazy on the low mileage....85,000 here...finally have to get my clutch replaced and timing chain done....nice idea with upgrading the rods and pistons.