Heres a picture.

 

Yes and no.. what kind of oil are you runing and when's the last time you've had a tune up..???

 

Your valve cover has dual built in PCV System ( positive crank case vent ) to prevent this ( Sludge ) from happening....maybe it's not fully functioning.

What are your frequency of oil changes ?

Old school = 3-5K miles, my engines always purr like a kitten even after 200K miles.
MINI crazy idea of oil change every 15K ludicrous IMO = I doubt filters can take that abuse / work as well.

 

I ca only imagine the valves must be super coked up as well. Looks like the PCV is not functioning as it should be. Oil also looks a bit milky.

 

I have a 2007 S with about 94k around 78k the valve cover was changed by dealer. I use Castrol 5w-30 full synthetic. For about a month or so my mini has been running very sluggish.barely hits 100mph, seen 2 mechanics none have been able to tell me why its running that way. The only fault code im getting is p2188. All i have is the AEM intake changed it back to OEM no changes so I put the AEM back.

 

Have you ever had the valves walnut blasted? If not this needs to be the first thing done. Second get your self a good oil catch can, I have a RX Performance catch can and swear by it I've all others. Third I would go to a mechanic and ask him to get some BG engine cleaner it is called EPR. Fourth I would start using Mann filters and use full synthetic oil and start doing oil changes every 1500 miles until the engine oil begins to actually drain clean, it has taken me about four changes to clean out the engine really good. Fifth I would check that water is not getting into the oil, sixth have the pcv system checked out as well.

 

that cal is too rich at idle.. my guess would be you're head is all sludge up.. but then again it's really hard to determine by just a photo in a paragraph.. if I was you are I would be getting it into the shop immediately.. when you remove you're oil cap what's it look like.

 

+1 for Big Boost


Take off the oil cap and shoot a pic of under the cap and inside the crank case.

 

This is your valves now! And what they should look like

 

I don't think any of the previous posts are relevant. You're looking at the milky crap that forms when the car never warms up thoroughly in cold weather. You're car needs a road trip.

 

I got my mini yesterday, they installed the chain tensioner fix some leaks there, also did a smoke test and no leaks. they didn't find anything wrong said car was running fine , boosting at normal levels. I drove it and did feel a little difference on the way the car was responding ,BUT after 50miles or so CEL (P2188 came back up and car is back to running like crap idk what else to do.

 

I think I would be looking at you're hpfp then... did you take it to a mini dealer. .. when the CEL is thrownwwhat's the car doing.

 

Funny thing is car was running like this and took it to the mini dealer and they changed the HPFP less than a month ago and before that i never had a CEL light until after they changed the HPFP.

 

Honestly it would noit would not surprise me if it was a faulty part . after all it's only mechanical.. was it a new oem mini pump or remand pump.

 

Check the HPFP and scan it with a scan gauge and look for the codes. If its bad they will cover it.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-r56-jcw.html


Did you get the carbon blasting done ? That's usually the next issue past the HPFP.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-cleaning.html

 

the only codes I have are P2188 and yesterday when I started the car, it felt a little weird, hooked the reader up and got 2 cylinders misfire P0304 and P0304. I haven't have the chance to check the spark plugs(they are only about a month old), and I don't know if i already mentioned it, but last Saturday I put in new coils.

and no I have not done the carbon blasting.

 

Check the Maf first , give it a quick clean as a double check. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...p2188-cel.html


Pull the plugs and coils , check them out, Swamp coils, see if you get the same misfire, if it follow the coils, then you know its a bad coil. If all ok , then move to carbon cleaning. Hold the HPFP till last , its the most expensive. It good to get the carbon blasting as maintenance and double check.

Let me know what you find.

 

Some recommendations in this thread HERE, last post. This post HERE ended up being the MAF sensor. He didn't report his findings in that thread, but another thread HERE. Hope this helps. Carbon clean up should be done every 50k miles. If you haven't done it, it will still be a good thing to do. Thread HERE with info.

 

P2188 is to rich at idle.. try starting the car let the codes pop up. Then pull the plug with the miss fire. See what the plugs are doing... you could be having another problem that's tricking the computer to think something different go on. If you would like pm me.

 

thank you guys ill do some troubleshoot this weekend, and let you guys know.

 

Yes, you are welcome. Let me know what you find.

 

I started getting P2188 code several thousand miles after installing my Atla intake. I would clear it every time it came back on. Got to the point where I got the code every 200 miles until it got so bad that I couldn't get 50 miles without the code popping up. Cleaned the MAF and changed plugs but the code remained persistent. I finally decided to clean the carbon off my intake valves and soaked my Atla foam filter in dish soap and water (to remove all the dirt and oil) during the process. I also cleaned off the minimal amount of dirt in the intake piping and the throttle body since I had everything disassembled. 1500 miles later and I haven't received the code since. My guess is that it's directly correlated to the dirt and oil, especially on the intake filter. I always drive in Sport mode and pretty hard on a regular basis.

 

I dont think thats my case since I had the AEM installed about one year ago and never had the light, the P1288 came right after they installed the new HPFP at the mini dealership, and the reason I took in was because car was running like crap(like it is now) and had multiple misfires.

After they installed the HPFP the misfires went away car was running okay, I still went ahead and changed the spark plugs,coils and timing chain tensioner. Fixed other leaking problems.then car went back to how it is now.

What really got me a little bit upset was the second place I took the mini to get checked up(recommended shop). after I got the ca, the guy in the front desks tells me car is running juuuuust fine. That I should expect much power out of a mini. they are that fast. I was like really? now , so you telling me is okay for a mini cooper to barely hit 70mph on 3rd gear gas pedal all the way down??? IDK its just frustrating not having your mini running like it should.

 

That's interesting. I'm actually taking mine in for a HPFP replacement tomorrow morning. I'll let you know if any other symptoms arise after the work is complete.

 

please do and good luck.