Just got a call from Bob Smith MINI.....they said that there is a recall for turbo bearings that get cooked because the heat generated by the turbo can coke the oil in the turbo oil feed line causing the turbo bearing to be starved of oil and therefore cook.

WTF? Never heard this one before.

Anybody else?

 

.....and its not the AUX water pump recall from early 2012, this just came out in the last two weeks according to the SA.

There is nothing on the net as far as I can see....but that doesn't mean its so.

 

OK....its a turbo heat shield recall. That I heard about but it was a "campaign", now its a full blown recall.

From what I understand that they will do is add a metal clip to the oil line at the banjo bolt to shield it from the turbo heat....well I have one of those that I bought from NM Engineering two years ago when I replaced my turbo oil line. The one they install also includes a small heat blanket to also shield things from heat....well I have one of those that I bought from NM Engineering the same time I bought the clip.

So I guess I'll show up and just show the SA that I did a better job than MINI (or I should say NM did the work) two years before they let it get out of hand.

 

This will be interesting to follow.

 

If you get any additional info please let us know. Recall number, scan of the recall, etc. so we can bring it to the dealer and hopefully prevent the problem before it results in a cooked bearing. Thanks!

 

Is this for 07-13 models?

 

My May built 13 already had it installed since day one.

The issue is that the oil line cooks itself closed after hot shut-downs since no one ever cools the turbo down before shutdown anymore.... It cokes the line closed and that in turn wipes out the bearings..

The shield is a small metal tang to help prevent the line from getting too hot since its at the rear of the turbo.

I for one plan to add a few old Audi wire shields or get a lava blanket for the turbo.

 

Where you guys been? Here's the low-down.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ld-recall.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ng-chains.html

 

My Mini cooper S has a TLC service a month ago. I checked the oil level when i got home & noticed a slight burning smell, like something new was fitted. At the same time i saw a shiny silver adaption on the turbo oil pipe. No one told me at the dealers they had done this, so i guess they did it on the quiet.


Tab

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the solution here isn't about protecting the turbo bearings from damage due to the conglomeration of bad oil in the feed line.

I think this is related to the much more common problem of the rubber o-ring in the turbo oil feed line which fails on very many vehicles due to the repeated heat-cool cycles.

 

I think you are wrong.

There, corrected.

I'm not so sure this shield will do anything against that o-ring. This has a protective wrap that runs down the line.. Not just covering the banjo fitting.

 

I think it has dual purpose. It will shield the banjo & pipework. Though as the pipe is directly connected to the turbo, a lot of heat is going to transfer by conduction that this wrap will not stop, its only going to stop radiation and convection.

Tab

 

Is it this little thing they are adding?
My 2012 already has it.
Maybe all the N18's do?

 

Yes, that's it

 

Did you add that turbo blanket?

 

My car is a 57 plate and it's always had a shroud around the turbo

 

Yes I did, car only had 1,500 miles before I installed it.

Recently removed the NM heat shield. It's probably a bad idea to have since it's keeping all the radiant heat in the general area of the oil line.

Just me, though I'm probably being overly cautious about it. Haven't seen any reports of people having issues with them.