anyone have ideas of what this could be ... it's consistent and doesn't increase when applying throttle ... timing chain? ... hope not as I hear that's an S issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlW8p...ature=youtu.be


I also experience stalls "sometime" when coming off of highway speeds to a stop ... but it starts right back up.

 

Have you checked the oil? If not then do it & report back. That does not sound like a timing chain to me. If it was the sound would rise & fall with the throttle.

Our R55 non-S clubman makes no scuch noise.

 

just changed the oil actually as it was due and low ... but the sound is still there.

it sounds more a loud ticking than something heavy / engine related ...

i'll have to have it checked by someone at MINI

 

Sounds like injectors ticking to me. IMO it's normal.

 

Our own R55 engine is louder than many engines we've had in other cars. That being said non S MINIs don't have direct injection. They don't have the same clicky injector sound as S engines have.

Since your MINI is stalling a trip to the dealer is in order anyway. That is not normal.

Good luck.

 

i tell you my oil was quite low ... and the weird thing is that it didn't throw any lights on the dash ... that in itself is not normal.

it doesn't seem that I have any leaks either ....

dealer trip indeed

 

There is no oil level sensor, just an oil pressure sensor. And by the time it lights up the warning light in the dash, the pressure is low enough that there is a significant risk that some damage has already occurred.

Don't rely on the warning lights. Check your oil regularly.

 

Vacuum pump possible source for noise? Can't really tell as the n12 is a noisy little engine especially higher mileage n12's. Stalling @ idle can be due to low engine oil levels, but since you've stated that you recently changed your oil and have inspected the level you could rule out your stalling due to low oil (unless the stalling is now not an issue). I'd have the vehicle scanned for faults and see what is present and pending at this time. I bet you can almost certainly expect to see misfire faults as well as super knocking due to operating the engine with low oil levels, especially if you were 2+ quarts low. It is possible that you will also see vanos based faults (inlet movement) as they operate on oil pressure. Since your engine has been operating with low oil the vanos inlet solenoid and dme have probably maxed out compensation for adaptations for the condition you were operating the engine under (low oil). Pull faults and get back to us with them, that will better help us determine what if any problems your engine is truly having.

 

^^^ Very good advice.

 

yes, stalling is no longer happening. and the clicking has gotten "somewhat" quieter ... I am going to do what you recommended and come back with results.

thanks everyone!

 

Re: your video - - that's one totally normal-sounding engine to me.


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updates??

 

ok, so after the oil change ... and more recently adding a bottle of ... that rattle got about 50% quieter ...
all seems a lot better.

 

Ok, although the bottle of fuel system cleaner probly had zero effect directly on the cause of this noise, it's never a bad thing to use this about every 3-5k miles for other reasons. The engine oil level in the N12 (what you have) will cause many things. Among the most common......
1. Engine stalling-the cams in the car have oil pressure operated valve timing and when the oil supply pressure drops due to low oil level, these cannot fully advance and retard as quick as they should along with as far as they should. This can cause incorrect cam timing and thus engine stalling.
2. Check engine light-when the engine computer detects the inability for the cams to move in the speed and range they should, it set a check engine light assuming there is a mechanical failure.
3. Engine noise such as what you are experiencing. When oil pressure in this valvetrain drops due to low oil level, the replacement for the oil being pumped can be air. Air can get trapped in certain areas of the valvetrain that can cause incorrect oil pressure on parts that essentially push on each other. This air can be difficult to get out of the vavetrain once it's in. It's not the most common, but deffinately can happen.
Here would be my best recommendation to you. Once you KNOW your oil level is correct, and you have no other driveability issues, get the car to proper engine operating temperature. Hold the engine at 3k rpm for 3min. Let the engine drop to ide for 15sec. Do this five times. After the last 15sec idle, blip the throttle to the floor and let the engine rev to 5k rpm (this will be a quick on-off of the throttle). Do this 5 times. Then immediately go drive the car. I will use the word "spirited" and let you decide what I mean. BE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT IF YOU NOTICE ANY DRIVEABILITY ISSUES OR WARNING LIGHTS, STOP!!!! This procedure will not hurt anything, I mearly don't want you to do this if you have other issues I don't know about going on. Park the car for severl hours and let it cool to ambient conditions.
The idea of this procedure is to force the maximum engine oil pressure into the valvetrain under the lightest and heaviest loads in an attempt to force the air out.
Let me know how this turns out.

 

thanks for that advice ... but hmm, came back to the thread to see when I posted that I changed the oil ... 3.5 months ago ... it's low again ...

i added a quart already in the last month but today under a hard break the oil light even came on for like 3 seconds.

and I get that "I might stall" sputter ever so lightly at stops ...
going to top it off ... but man, this thing burns through more oil than my wife making fried cutlets.

car runs awesome otherwise ... not sure what's going on.

 

Non-S Clubman (2009) owner here. I just listened to the video and it sounded like my engine.

I took it in 2x and they couldn't find an issue with anything. What prompted me bringing the car in was upon a cold start, the car would sound like a diesel but by the time I got out of our neighborhood, the sound was gone.

Finally, the last time I took it in. They heard the sound! It was my timing chain. The chain rail had broken on top. So I got a new timing chain at around 94,000 miles and proof that I was not hearing things.

I honestly do not know if the chain was visually inspected the first 2 times I brought it in. The car was kept a week each time. My SA did say that my non-S was only the 2nd car to have a timing chain issue at this dealership.

If you want more info, PM me. I'll be glad to help out if I can.

Just read your last response. My car never was low on oil during the time it made the rattle sound. I check oil levels once a week. Just wanted to add my anecdata.

 

thanks ... it seems low oil is the culprit on mine ... looks like it really sucks down 1qt every 800-1000 ... then again my average speed according to the computer is about 16mph ... that's NYC for you.

Anyway someone on another forum suggested I do this:

 

Bringing in my non-s Clubman this weekend with what sounds like the same timing chain issue. Did the dealer do the work on there dime or did you have to go out of pocket for repairs?