So my 09 MCS project has water in the oil, in addition to the leaking coolant pipe at the water pump. The bottom of the coil packs are melted, under the rubber. I assume this is not normal and the car was overheated. The seller told me it needed an oil filter housing, and I understand the coolant and oil can mix there. I ran the car about 5 min today at idle, with new oil, and it was milky after I turned it off. What are the odds it's the housing gaskets, or am I looking at a head gasket? I plan to do a compression check on Tuesday but I'd love some input from you guys with experience.

 

The oil housing baskets are relatively inexpensive compared to pulling the head, so I would start with those. Would be a good thing to get them done anyway.

Do you have pictures of the coil packs? Sounds odd that those would have heat damage and the cam cover would be OK...

 

Most likely your head gasket. Dude that sucks and now I know why, in other post, why you seem to have a n14 hatred.

 

I don't have N14 hatred, more disappointed in the previous owner. My first MCS had almost 100k and was flawless. This one has 112k and supposedly all this work was already done, some jobs twice. I will fix it, my labor is free, just a matter of how many hundreds I throw at it to make it right. Here is a pic of the ignition coils, these were apparently replaced last year.

Melted

 

I went to Atlanta today and picked up a full stock exhaust to replace the abomination under the car. Way Motor Works. He was awesome. Picked his brain about my issue, he said he's never seen a bad oil filter housing on the R56.
So with I'm what I'm seeing, I'm going to do the head gasket. ARP studs are on the way from California.
As a bonus, my new ignition coils came. I bought Facet, they are made in Italy and look like the NGK ones. I put them in to move the car to a better spot in the driveway, wow what a difference! No more misfires.
If anyone is interested, I'll be documenting the rebuild here and hope to get it all apart this weekend.

 

If you are going to get the head rebuilt, don't forget to remove the little inset Torx screw below the VANOS solenoid - it is actually a check return valve.

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I for whatever reason didn't take it out, and then some of the cleaning media remained in the oil channels. I got lucky and they ended up in the filter screen of the VANOS solenoid. Had a bad idle and no power afterwards. I found a minor mention in another thread, realized my mistake, and made the job a second time, cleaning everything properly.
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I do actually think it's an enjoyable experience when having the proper tools (e.g. engine holder bracket when you have to remove the passenger motor mount). The only annoying part is getting the bumper off.

 

A 2-cent comment... I just replaced my oil cooler. There was an internal leak letting oil into the coolant system but I did not have waster in the oil. Not sure if there is something in the oil cooler that might explain your situation. Did you do a compression and leak down test to verify the head gasket?

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I am doing a compression test today or tomorrow...I ordered the special spark plug socket and plugs last week. The water pipe leaks so bad at the pump, and unknown how long he drove it that way. I'm tearing it down for peace of mind as much to fix it. I do have oil cooler gaskets coming as well, there will be no stone left unturned.

 

Be cautious removing water pump bolts especially the lower aft one. After leaking for years (per the PO) the bolt ended up seizing when I was removing it, snapping in two. Luckily there was enough sticking out I was able to break it loose with heat, PB Blaster and vice grips. You might want to start soaking them now before you try.

 

I didn't see the water pump in the head removal, but I was just skimming the service manual. I'll do the coolant pipe with the thermostat.
Compression check not so good.
1- 120
2- 90
3- 75
4- 90
The coolant expansion tank smells pretty bad when I run it, so head gasket for sure. I'm hoping that's all it needs but we'll see.

 

Water pump is easy as you remove the passenger motor mount anyways. Some people try messing with the pump without lifting or dropping the engine, and then it's a **** job. Just put a jack below the oil pan when the motor mount is off, lift the engine a bit (driver side motor mount stays on), 3 bolts off, and done with it.

 

The pump is not that old according to my receipts...but the pipe was reused. So I'm pretty sure that's the issue with the leak. I have seen these plastic pipes fail on the VW cars as well. Timing tools are estimated to arrive today, I'll get some more work done on Saturday.
Here is a pic of the bay...car was missing the top of the intake, the MAF and the pipe to the turbo. I priced it out and for a few bucks more got the whole AEM setup. I had installed it to solve the CEL.

 

Just thinking of it: the job is a bit easier when the head lights are removed. They are held by 3 bolts. The one closest to the fender loves to rust and then seize. Doesn't hurt to PB soak it and work on that before taking all apart. I eventually had to use a drill to remove the head, and just bought a new plastic thing.

 

Actually there are four. Still easy enough to remove if your bolts aren't seized.

 

I'll take them out then, thanks.

 

So I'm plugging along. Pulled the bumper, headlights, fender liners/flares, etc. The valve cover has some blistering underneath, this was definitely overheated at some time. There is an exhaust valve rocker that had fallen out of place. I fought with the downpipe for quite awhile, there were 3 different bolts holding it. One sheared off with little effort, one was loose but had to be cut off because lack of clearance, one was too small with a nut. From the turbo to the muffler was all welded, one piece so to speak, and homemade. Badly. It was rubbing the AC line. The wastegate wasn't even connected, I don't think his mechanic liked him. So I'm fixing as I disassemble.

downpipe

 

Wow. What a mess. Exhaust rocker off... might explain a lot. Better check the cam and the other rockers.

 

The cams and rockers actually look ok. Even the loose one. I have to wonder if the dealer didn't properly seat it when it was rebuilt in 2015. It was cylinder #4, which was 90 psi, I suppose the other valve was doing it's job. I'll be interested to see #3 underneath the head.

 

Success. Got the broken stud out of the turbo, drilled and tapped. And finally got the head off the car! All things considered, it looks good. It appears the head gasket gave up the ghost in a few spots. The one exhaust valve was stuck because the seat came out. I pulled the valve and it's still straight. Head seems flat by my square, but I'll let the machine shop check it. #2 cylinder shows water, but unsure if that happened during removal.
Today was a good day.

 

Looks like there is quite some crud in the water channels. Hope that stuff doesn't clog any of the narrower channels (e.g. turbo) in the end.

 

I'll scrape out what I can and flush it when it's running again.

 

I pulled off the 'performance' exhaust...the front hangers didn't really reach the rubber isolators, the middle was rubbing the brace, the tips were 3 inches under the car because the whole thing was too far forward. Quality welds as you can see. This thing weighs a ton.
I also dropped the pan and pulled the #4 piston to see if I needed to order more parts, it's actually ok so I'll just do the head and cross my fingers.

 

I've managed to get hard to find ARP head bolts already delivered, and head gasket.
I'm just waiting on ECS Tuning for valve stem seals before the head goes to the machine shop.
A short list of parts listed 'in stock' last Sunday, but not scheduled to ship until next Wednesday May 27.
ECS has been good to me in the past, but I see why there is some angst for them online.

 

So ECS left me hanging. On May 28, after my ship date, the order was holding and I cancelled it. Got parts from FCP Euro and they arrived today. But now we're going out of town, so my engine work will have to wait a little longer. I will update this thread as I make progress...

 

I took the head to a machine shop on Monday. They weren't sure they could fix the valve seat but wanted to vacuum test the head for overall condition. They called Thursday and said it needs a resurface and valve job all the way around, they can fit an oversize seat. This is a very reputable machine shop that has tons of google reviews, which is rare. They helped me save a late model VW GTI, so I have high hopes for the Mini. I told them to go ahead and I hope to have it back next week. I also have CP pistons going onto the stock rods.