Hello everyone,

That's m'y first post here ! I'm pretty new in the Mini World. This one is my first, and I have little problems with it.

By the way, I'm from Belgium, English is not my main language, sorry in advance if my english is not perfect.

So, we are talking about a 2009 Mini John Cooper Works 211hp with the N14 engine, of course. The car have 100.000 km (62.000 miles).

Before buying the vehicle, I study about this recurring "problem" of timing on the Prince N14 engine. I bought the car a few months ago. The car is in excellent condition, followed at BMW since its release from the factory. Complete history, the car has been maintained following the builders' recommendations, based on the CBS, maximum 25,000 km (15.000 miles). I have the full history of the vehicle, I noticed that the car has already had many parts replaced at BMW, like the turbo, the thermostat, the water pump, and has already had two replacement of the chain tensioner.

Since I bought the car, I use it as a WE car, I had like plan to make some track days. I drain it every 8000 km (5000 miles). The car runs with Castrol Edge 0w40 , and the oil level is checked before each ride, kept at max.

Assuming that the car had already presented twice the problem of the tensioner before, I decided to replace all the timing parts of the car. (Chain, guides, chain tensioner, crankshaft crown). I had this done in an official BMW / Mini garage. All the timing parts changed has no harm, the guides were not damaged, and the chain did not seem longer than the new chain. Only the old tensioner seemed too "soft", I could push it with the strength of my thumb.

I also did a walnut blasting for the intake valves, a few weeks ago. The car had a hole in the acceleration, but this problem has completely disappeared since the walnut blasting.

Anyway, considering all that ... I have a noise. Who does not want to leave. At first, I thought it was the chain tensioner that was at the end of his life ... But the new timing stuffs has not changed anything.

So, I capture the sound on video, and I start to send the video to all the Mini specialized garages near my location. I contacted Lohen (UK), Krumm Performance (DE), and AWDS Shop (French).

There is the video :
The answer was almost unanimous: "This is not the timing chain thing. This noise is normal, and comes from inlet valves lifters that are noisier when cold. You could reduce the noise by putting a more fluid oil, like 0w40, to facilitate the pressure rise of the lifters."

Lohen suspected the friction wheel, but after looking on the internet the sound of a friction wheel failure, I do not really believe in that scenario. In case of problems, the friction wheel seems to make a noise of plastic and / or grinding. This is not my case.

So... That's my issue.

I have a hard time believing it, probably because of lack of confidence. To tell the truth, this noise makes me even think of selling the car, fearing that it will be a bigger problem than lifter valves.

I therefore allow myself to post this message, in order to collect opinions.

​​​​​​Thanks in advance!

 

Hi Wawar.

First of all, your English is great. plus don't sweat it. I love the international flavor of internet communities.

I think I have exactly the same issue but I haven't re-assembled the engine completely. I'm putting it back together after replacing a piston and rings across the board and turning it over manually to hear it. Sounds different than yours at first blush but I think all of the bottom-end stuff went fine, and the tick (hate to use the word "knock" because that makes it sound much worse) started once I installed the chain. I had recently done the same work (long story, see my recent post about it) and everything went fine and I had no ticking noise when running for 20-30 minutes before tearing it back down again.

My suspicion is the sequence of torquing the sprockets and tensioner. I "cheated" and assembled with the tensioner installed maybe 1/3 of the way in because I didn't want to battle the spring in trying to get it threaded. Timing is spot on after multiple revolutions, but I get 4 ticks per cam revolution. Just ordered another round of TTY sprocket bolts and I'll do the work again following the manual verbatim and see if I get different results. There's a process with a special tool for setting the initial tension, but others have said to keep the slack on the back side (IOW keep the exhaust to crank side taut) and install without the tool, which is how I did it the first time. I think it's safe if everything is new.

I have a video of me manually turning over the engine but the sound seems to be exactly the same. I noticed your video was posted in August--has anything changed over that time? Have you driven it like that and if so were there any issues?

Good luck, please update your thread as you progress and I'll definitely do the same.

edit: Oh and also, at what point did the sound start? I guess I was assuming after the timing chain work but after re-reading your post I'm not so sure...

 

Hey! Thank you for your reply.

About the torking and the pre-tention of the tentionner, since the work was done in the official BMW / Mini agency, I guess everything was tightened according to the factory tightening torques. At least, I asked that this be done.

The video was recorded the next morning of the intervention, the first cold start following the change of the timing chain kit. After realizing that the noise was still there, I went back to BMW, and they told me that it was normal, that the noise came from the lifters and they had this noise on all their vehicles with mileage. As the "Mini Tuners" told me.

So, to answer your question, the noise was already there before I changed the timing chain stuff. I realized it 2 months after buying the vehicle.

If I start the car hood closed, and closed windows ... I do not hear it almost, it's very discreet. And if the radio is working at the same time, without an informed ear, we do not hear it. I also preside that after a minute, the noise disappears completely, leaving room for the noise of the vacuum pump, and never appears again, until the car cools, at least for 30 min. Also, the noise of the vacuum pump gradually decreases as the engine temperature increases.

Effectively the work was done in August. Since I drive the car the WE. I did 2500km (1500 miles) since. But it's my pleasure vehicle, so I'm going frankly. Always in the respect of the mechanics. The vehicle warms up 15-20 minutes before leaving the garage, and after I roll slowly the time that the gearbox warms up. Stopping times are also respected, for the turbo. And no issues.

Maybe I'm worried about nothing ... But as far as I know, this engine is not supposed to make that noise. It always seems strange to me.

 

Ah OK, thanks for the clarification. It was there before you did the work. To the same extent or did it get worse/better?

In my case, with less than half of your miles, I did NOT have the sound yours makes, so I'm not positive I agree that "all high mileage Mini's have this noise." To be honest, that sounds like a bit of a copout. But to be fair, I did have head work done, so that should re-set valve issues.

Not sure if we're dealing with the same issue or not. Any chance you'd ever pop the valve cover off and manually turn over the engine to see if you could reproduce at slower speed? Even doing it with the valve cover on could be useful to see if you could narrow down the sound and where it's coming from.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-or-chain.html

this is my thread with the sound I think is the same as yours. The video makes it seem like it's louder, I guess because the mic is right there. Multiply that times the speed of a running engine and I think mine would sound the same as yours.

 

Yeah I see. Idk if our noises are the same.

But about mine, when I see that video, wich is coming from a BMW technical service, is guess... https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/r...n18/1VnXOIyGjp

I feel like I hear my noise...