So I just started hearing a rattle on my car the other day. It might have been doing it for a few weeks now but now that the weather is warming up, I have the windows open occasionally so I've taken a bit more notice of how my car sounds. I have a few other things to do to the mini next weekend while I have it in the garage so I figured I'd try to repair this too.

My top guess is that my timing chain is starting to rattle. The car is a 2002 mini cooper r50 with ~110k miles on the engine. Is it common for these chains to fail that early?

My current plan is to replace the tensioner only... just to see if the noise goes away. I've also heard a few people say that the crank pulley can make noise, but I'm assuming that it would also be wobbling or something in order to make this kind of noise. I am hoping that if I catch it early enough, the tensioner should be all that is needed. As soon as I heard the noise, I started babying the car. Starting this week, I'm taking it out of service since I have another vehicle to drive.

I didn't see much about the timing chain rattle on earlier Minis (though I've seen videos on the famous "death rattle" on the 2007+ models). Therefore, I'm attaching a video to see what you guys think.

And yes, you may notice that I have some seepage from the valve cover gasket on the passenger side. I'll probably also take care of that. My serpentine tensioner is also a little whiny but is not rattling. It's on the list as well.

thoughts?

 

It could be the harmonic balancer. I just changed mine due to a failure.

I also noted on my son's R53 that his has some rotational moment and it can be wiggled by hand. It also noted that his was ever so slightly touching the engine block - mine was too.

It may be worth your time to pull the right front wheel and pull back the fender liner to see if it is moving. You may see it wobbling while the engine is running (while looking from the top) but (with the engine off) a hand on it while tell you quickly if it is falling part.

 

Hmm, good point... I'm going to be changing the passenger side inner balljoint some time this week, so I will definitely check it while I'm in there. I just would've thought you could see the wobble from the top. I had that problem with my '96 jetta and you could definitely see the wobble.

 

Even after mine had failed, you'd of sworn it was OK. It had a very slight wobble but it was just spinning over the hub it separated from.