I am looking to get information on my 2008 MCS.

I recently lost power and started getting codes on the way home so I stopped and had it towed. After some looking it over and doing some tests I found i have no compression in cylinder 3 and alot of carbon built up on the valves, stuck a camera in the cylinder and can see there is a burnt valve. It has about 110k miles and I do not have any history on it. I am thinking I should either sell it as is or remove the head clean it and install new valves but then I think I should do the rings so the next best option is a full rebuild or replace with a rebuilt motor.

So i guess my question is where is a place to purchase a rebuilt engine with some upgrades?

I am looking at WMW, AllMag, Sneed and Mini Mania. Sneed seems to have some options on their rebuilds. I am in North East Ohio and other than Classic Mini I do not know anyone else that does this type of work with Mini's.

it looks like what ever way I go this is going to cost 7k at least.

Any input will be appreciated

Thanks

 

You can certainly buy a nice motor...but if all you need is some valves and pistons, you could rebuild yours MUCH cheaper. Like $1k in parts. I am in the process of rebuilding my 09 MCS, I've got a local machine shop looking at the head, one valve seat that needs repaired, and CP pistons going on the stock rods. I'll assemble the motor myself and can't wait to finish. If you are not mechanically inclined, you can get the timing tools for about $45 and find a good mechanic to do the work for you.

 

Rebuild... these engines are small and easy to work on.

 

Sure you can do rings, but you don't have to. On my JCW I just did the head (also had a burnt valve in cylinder 3). Similar mileage. Not too expensive with a gasket set. Timing tools are a must (cheap Chinese knock-offs on eBay for just fine). I got a motor holding bracket, but you can do without that. Maybe a crank holder when removing the crank pulley bolt (also got some cheap tool from eBay). Most expensive was the head work.

 

For $7k you can find a pretty nice first gen R53!

 

Thank you all for the input.

Due to being furloughed for the last couple months and having a major home repair to pay for right now I am going to have to hold off on doing any repairs. It is a shame because I love this car. For now it will sit in the garage where it is stored all winter, since Ohio uses salt to de-ice the roads, until i can save up the money or get to frustrated with not being able to drive it, at that point I will decide the next step.

I have considered purchasing a newer or older one but that will have to wait also. My goal will be due to the mileage and not have that much information on the history will be to rebuild as much as I can afford, hopefully the entire engine. If that does not work out I will most likely sell it as is complete to someone who will enjoy it as much as I have and is able to repair it.

 

I'd like to stop our from consuming oil and do the timing chain, refresh engine mounts, whatever else while there. We're in St. Louis but I'd bring the car to one of you guys that's done rings and chains. Our 2010 NON-S, looks brand new but is aging with all the non-sense @ only 125k on the clock. Any interested in taking it on PM me!!! Thanks!

--SVent

 

I would put in a new motor if youd like to keep the car for a long time. Mini occasionally has specials on complete motors with 2 year warranty. That's what I did when mine blew at 140+k miles.

My sig has a link on how to swap a motor.

I wouldn't waste my time rebuilding a head on a motor for which I have no history. These motors are such garbage that I wouldnt trust the bottom end to last. And DONT put in a used motor. No way.

 

Do I call Mini parts department and ask what motor specials they have?

 

The local Mini club here in the Washington DC metro area was sharing a coupon where some dealerships were giving a few thousand off. They even gave me oil and coolant. That was via Mini of Alexandria VA.

I dont know if the offer is valid any longer, or if new offers have surfaced or if they would ship.

Looked like this:

 

Finally had the time to start checking to see what is going on and i found this



I had another cylinder head that is from an overheated engine so i removed one exhaust valve and replaced.

next i will start walnut blasting and see how it comes out.

 

How many miles on the engine?

 

108,000 and ran fine until the valve melted.

I originally planned on walnut blasting every other year I think I will do it every year whether it needs it or not. I had blasted the previous spring so, this would have been the second summer on it when the valve burnt.

The cylinder wall is not scored or even scratched and the piston does not appear to have any damage.

I am planning on doing the timing chain at the same time since I have no record of when it was done before i purchased it.

 

Ya well, mine ran fine until valves in 3 cylinders melted on mine, on one fine New Year's Eve.

You've got a big job ahead of you. Keep us posted and send pics!

 

To begin w/my headache:
I just bought a used 2013 Mini Cooper S, Bayswater Edition, w/just 54,000 miles on it. The body is absolutely mint condition, from Arizona, so no salt or anything, and only one owner. It was a little over the recommended cost, $13,600, but w/the low mileage, the body being in excellent condition, plus being a rare Baysliner Edition, w/no sunroof, a 6 spd manual, which I wanted, which is rare around here locally, so I went for it. I wanted an R56 S or JCW Hatchback, w/no sunroof, a 6 spd manual, w/the N18 engine, and that what I got.
Did a history check on it, as well as had a Mini Dealer check it out. No noticed issue(s).
Three weeks later, I got a warning light, at which time I immediately drove it carefully home, but on the way, less than a mile from my home, an automatic engine detune feature activated, and when I drove into my yard, steam was coming out of it.
Looked under the hood, no coolant. Checked the oil, it was clean w/no smell of anti-freeze, so no head warpage, maybe.
I had it towed to the Mini Dealer, and it turns out that that plastic coolant tube in the rear of the engine cracked and leaked the coolant while driving.
Doing a compression check, that was OK, so no head damage at that point.
There were error codes popping up indicating something else, and when they took the valve cover off for a look there, it appears that the previous owner did/or had a hack job done of replacing the timing chain. Who ever did it, used vice grips to turn the CAMs, w/deep claw marks shown, plus they replaced one of the bolts w/a non-standard Mini Bolt. Why it even needed a replacement timing chain w/just 54,000 miles on it, who knows, but it's possible.
The Mini dealer called me and when I saw the vice grip marks, I had them stop all work on it.
In the mean time, they notified the warranty company, and told them well beyond what they should have, that being only just the broken coolant tube, and the warranty people determined that it was a pre-existing issue, prior to my purchase, so they rejected any warranty work. I'm still fighting that.
Anyway, I notified the dealer from which I purchase the car, they specialize in used Mini's, had bought it whole sale, checked it out as being OK, and so they agreed to go halves w/me on the repairs. So I had it towed to them. They have a trained Mini Mechanic on staff who worked on it.
I had them drop the oil pan first, because a lot of times, the plastic Timing Chain Tensioners, when they fail, fall down there, and are forgotten about. Nothing there.
They determined that the water pump had also failed, or was failing, as well.
So it was decided to go w/a new rebuilt head, w/new head bolts/washers, a new timing chain and supporting hardware. I insisted to go w/all OEM parts and gaskets.
The Oil Pump/Filter/Gaskets, all replaced as well, w/OEM products only.
New Water Pump, Rear Coolant Tube, and Thermostat, replaced. OEM
New Serpentine Belt.
While the piston rings appeared to be OK when it came to both a compression test as well as some kind of a liquid leak test, they suggested to replace the rings together w/the piston rod bearings, since they had easy access to them. The cylinders were OK, w/no shown wear nor lip at the top. The cylinders are said to be of hardened steel, so they can take a lot of wear.
Mini OEM Anti-Freeze and Mogul Full Synthetic Engine Oil.
So for the most part, I've got a totally new rebuilt engine now.
I just got it back, and so far driven over 360 miles on it in two days. It purrs like a kitten.
My cost, $1500.00, w/a total estimated cost of around $3500, including labor. The body is in absolutely mint condition, and while I'm not too happy about having to pay it, I feel it was well worth it. I love the car.
I had other plans for that money, like a JCW Performance Kit, plus a larger Inter-Cooler. Next year perhaps.
I have started to replace all the chrome w/OEM Gloss Black Hardware.


So when it comes to your Mini, the first thing I would evaluate is the body and its condition. If it's a OK, plus you have no issues w/it, and considering the cost to even replace it w/either another Mini, or something else, I would consider rebuilding, or replacing w/a rebuilt. If it's a manual, of course do the clutch/flywheel w/the engine out. From your photo, it looks like a nice car.

The N14 is notorious for the carbon buildup, due to the direct fuel injection, w/the N18 less so, due to changes in the design by BMW. Over all, the N18 is suppose to be the better engine, though not perfect, as I found out.

Some of things I've read recommended w/direct injection engines, is to use a good quality hi-test fuel, like Chevron or Sunoco, and when driven, to always get them up to temperature, w/no short local trips. If you have no choice, take them on the highway and open them up on occasion.

Good Luck!

 

Any idea what caused the melt, the carbon perhaps?


.

 

Overall the car is in great shape no rust not even bubbled paint, no dents or even scratches in the paint.

My plan is to keep the car for along time if possible, so the only real option is to at least repair it until I can afford a new motor.

I feel I was very lucky to find one with the body kit that is in such good shape.

When I purchased it I checked the intake valves when I got it home and it was carboned up pretty bad so, I walnut blasted using a friends equipment. since I only drive it in the summer I thought I would get a few years out of it and didn't check it again. Then bam burnt valve.

After i got it apart I can say it is carboned back up so it will be cleaned and I will be blasting it more often and may look at some other option like installing an OCC or see what other options there are to help prevent or at least slow down the build up.

I also tend to drive it conservatively most the time I need to get on it a little more often.And while I am in there I will use the time to replace other items as needed so it is ready for next summer fun.

 

Sheesh gohack, 54k miles and so much work. That's mini for ya. Why the new oil pump?

​​​​​ 54k miles on a Toyota and it's still breaking in....

 

Great question. Id love to know.

 

Didn't replace the oil pump, just the seals. It was easy to get to, and even though it wasn't leaking, they're known to eventually leak I'm told.
I went through it, and replaced what I could, whether it needed it or not, since everything was exposed.
It was the rear coolant tube which cracked, and leaked, which caused the whole issue to begin with.
Toyota's aren't perfect. I seem to remember their V6's in the Tacoma pickups and 4 Runners, which required new head gaskets. They never did resolved the issue as to why w/that particular engine, but even the replacement's head gaskets eventually need replacing.

 

Toyota is the gold standard. I've owned 3 of them. Once you've owned Japanese, you chuckle at these adorable European junkers.

Youre good to go for another 50k at least. Keep us posted.

 

I am going to share a story of a ''08 N14 Cooper S. Bought a non running car with 111K miles that was said to have a blown head gasket for $500. Simple repair for me, build cars, engines transmissions for high hp cars all day. During disassembly, turbo was broke, valves warped and engine had been oil starved when a previously broken timing chain guide lodged in the oil pickup tube. So, the market prices around here for high mileage used engine was crazy. Choose to rebuild, head was ultimately cracked too. I disassembled engine, replaced bearings,rings honed cylinders and bought a reman head. Knowing the poor engine design and the intent was to build a cheap 1st car for my grand daughter, replaced timing and oil pump chains, vanos sprocket, vanos soleniod and timing chain tensioner (remember oil starved previously), gaskets and all TTY bolts. Fab'd a PCV catch can to help with oil coking of DFI type head. New turbo, fixed poor previous repairs from other shops. Injectors were clogged too - new injectors bought, then throttle body had to be replaced, cam sensor goes out, footwell module fuel pump relay went bad after rebuild (fixed that with new relays, no replacement board was needed). Car runs, 50 miles later transmission has famous 2nd gear ratio fault, replaced transmission with LKQ ebay 55K version, tweaked trans pressures overall and at each shift valve (yes, I do these things to other trans too) trans is used in many cars up to 350 hp(different clutch hubs), good luck finding reliable info tho. Replaced shifter assy due to broken emergency pull broke. At this point I have no faith in this car design, its one issue after another, car has had every common defect of the N14 version except high pressure fuel pump or electric steering. I can't find another local person I don't know personally that is willing to pay for parts total I have in the car. Much less over a hundred hrs of my free labor. I understand some of you love these cars, if you remove the personal side and look at the lack of engineering in the design I don't understand the desire. My personal experience is if you have the time, desire, money and/or knowledge do want you want. I have refused to sell the car to friends or family due to many defects this car has had. It may be a worst case example, but my research and every issue is somewhat common on these cars, is to sell and move on to a better design. Since I have access to a high dollar scan tool I was able to pull this off with only a few specific tools (cam timing). But, I had all the other expensive tools already. Also, the cam timing procedure allows for too much varation in timing. Recheck it at least 2/3 times to ensure you have everything correct. I build 1000 hp plus engines we would never build an engine with this allowed cam timing variable Good luck fitting a degree wheel in a engine within a car. Hope this helps someone, while I am not complaining, I have turned down many requests to repair local mini's due all of this. Hard to make money on a repair that once is done another subsystem fails and customer is upset again and you spend valuable time explaining it over and over.

 

I am going to share a story of a ''08 N14 Cooper S. Bought a non running car with 111K miles that was said to have a blown head gasket for $500. Simple repair for me, build cars, engines transmissions for high hp cars all day. During disassembly, turbo was broke, valves warped and engine had been oil starved when a previously broken timing chain guide lodged in the oil pickup tube. So, the market prices around here for high mileage used engine was crazy. Choose to rebuild, head was ultimately cracked too. I disassembled engine, replaced bearings,rings honed cylinders and bought a reman head. Knowing the poor engine design and the intent was to build a cheap 1st car for my grand daughter, replaced timing and oil pump chains, vanos sprocket, vanos soleniod and timing chain tensioner (remember oil starved previously), gaskets and all TTY bolts. Fab'd a PCV catch can to help with oil coking of DFI type head. New turbo, fixed poor previous repairs from other shops. Injectors were clogged too - new injectors bought, then throttle body had to be replaced, cam sensor goes out, footwell module fuel pump relay went bad after rebuild (fixed that with new relays, no replacement board was needed). Car runs, 50 miles later transmission has famous 2nd gear ratio fault, replaced transmission with LKQ ebay 55K version, tweaked trans pressures overall and at each shift valve (yes, I do these things to other trans too) trans is used in many cars up to 350 hp(different clutch hubs), good luck finding reliable info tho. Replaced shifter assy due to broken emergency pull broke. At this point I have no faith in this car design, its one issue after another, car has had every common defect of the N14 version except high pressure fuel pump or electric steering. I can't find another local person I don't know personally that is willing to pay for parts total I have in the car. Much less over a hundred hrs of my free labor. I understand some of you love these cars, if you remove the personal side and look at the lack of engineering in the design I don't understand the desire. My personal experience is if you have the time, desire, money and/or knowledge do want you want. I have refused to sell the car to friends or family due to many defects this car has had. It may be a worst case example, but my research and every issue is somewhat common on these cars, is to sell and move on to a better design. Since I have access to a high dollar scan tool I was able to pull this off with only a few specific tools (cam timing). But, I had all the other expensive tools already. Also, the cam timing procedure allows for too much varation in timing. Recheck it at least 2/3 times to ensure you have everything correct. I build 1000 hp plus engines we would never build an engine with this allowed cam timing variable Good luck fitting a degree wheel in a engine within a car. Hope this helps someone, while I am not complaining, I have turned down many requests to repair local mini's due all of this. Hard to make money on a repair that once is done another subsystem fails and customer is upset again and you spend valuable time explaining it over and over.

 

Interesting story indeed. I feel your frustration. Did you give her the car after you did all of this?

Why didn't you just buy a new engine from Mini? Would have saved you a lot of time, although perhaps not money, in your case as you have access to lots of equipment. I think I paid $3000 for mine. I changed all peripherals on mine while I was at it. Injectors, starter, alternator, AC , fuel pumps, etc.

To show you how bad these motors are, my brand new motor continues to leak engine oil out of 2 metal plugs (must be access ports for bolts) in the bottom, to the side of the oil pan. The Mini dealer said...if its not dripping onto the ground, we don't consider it an actionable leak. hahaha.

These are 100k mile engines. They spent the entire budget on paint and interior appointments. Cute cars, real cute. Fun as hell to drive. Just don't hit a bump mid-corner without both hands on the steering wheel or you will end up on the sidewalk.

The next gen BMW motor, not French, has won quite a few awards. Hopefully it will be more reliable.

 

I've owned a few Toyota's, a 1971 Celica, my very first car, a 2004 Tacoma 4x4 w/the 2.7L 4 cylinder, which I bought new, and a 1991 4 Runner w/a rare 22RE engine. Had a few issues w/the Celica, and it's 8R engine I believe, but no problems w/the others.

A couple of years ago, I was looking into a new Tacoma 4x4, but couldn't find any w/a manual transmission, so I ended up w/a new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, w/a manual transmission.

This is my second Mini. I use to own a 2008 MCS Hatchback, w/no sunroof, and a 6 spd m/t, on which I had installed the JCW Performance Kit. Never had any issues w/it.

Just decided to buy another Mini, especially when I came across this Bayswater. They're fun to drive.