Hi all.

Took my girlfriend's 2013 Clubman in to the shop for multiple misfires. I'd already eliminated the standard culprits. They did a compression test, and cylinder 2 only holds 50 PSI. So now the head has to come off for analysis.

She's been driving this thing for four years and I know its history over that period. It has never overheated or been neglected... and suddenly the head is shot? I'm wondering if there's a coolant-flow defect on these cars that involves cylinder 2 and warps the head. I guess I'll find out if the head's warped in a couple of days, but it seems like a lot of people have cylinder 2 problems.

Thanks for any insights!

 

How many miles? The exhaust valves are known to crack at high mileage..

 

Thanks for that. 70,000 miles.

 

Not a lot of miles, assuming the maintenance has been kept up. The next step is I would have a leak down test done so you have a better idea what the problem is.

 

Thanks. They're taking the head off today, so I guess we'll know soon enough.

I'm just wondering if the car's worth fixing. I'm not throwing money at it if there's a fundamental defect in the engine's design. If the head is warped, I see no excuse for it.

 

Is it paid off? My 09 clubby s has 148,000 on it. While you are there, check the timing chain. Me personally I would fix it, if paid off.

 

It's just about paid off, thanks. But the stuff that has broken on it already gives me no confidence in its longevity.

 

I would hop in her right now and do a 1000 mile weekend with no worries.

 

You say you know the service history, what has been going on besides misfires? What 'stuff has broken on it already'??

 

I'd have to go through the records, but two water pumps already come to mind.

 

Water pump is a red flag...it could have overheated. The plastic pipe and thermostat break down. When you lose coolant, the temperature doesn't always register. Would explain a few things. All that said, I would still fix it if you have the ability. It's what I'm working on now. If you have to pay a shop, it could get expensive quick with mixed results.

 

Thanks. The water pump didn't get to the point of failure; it was just making noise. We didn't lose coolant.

Unfortunately I already have one headless (or half-headless) car in my parking space: a '96 Mustang Cobra that blew a plug out long ago. I'm doing that myself (in a rental-apartment tandem space), but this one needs to be fixed, um, this year!

 

So OP, was it a cracked exhaust valve?

 

Still waiting to hear. I don't think they're working over the weekend.

 

It's been some time, how's it going??

 

Hey, thanks for checking in!

They're STILL working and allegedly just now getting the head removed!

I removed the head from my '96 Mustang Cobra in the tandem parking space of my rental-apartment garage. It took a long-*** time... and I pretty much had to buy a new tool every day. And I haven't even gotten to the other head yet.

But I'm feeling vindicated that a Mini-specific shop with, well, an entire SHOP is taking this long to do the same thing on a rinky-dink engine. The last I heard, they thought maybe it was a valve, and if so then the whole mess will cost around $3400. That had better include the $1400 for the disassembly. Any thoughts on that?

I don't know what's involved with replacing the valves, but once the head's off, it doesn't seem like it'd be that big a deal.

 

Welp, finally got the diagnosis today. Exhaust valve on cylinder 2 is broken. Nice big hole in it. WTF?



Well that explains the misfiring.

Total cost to fix this is $3400. Labor is $2400 + $200 for machine shop sub-contract, and $800 parts. Thoughts welcome.

Why does a valve just crack apart like that?

 

Dude that sucks, can’t answer your question on why, but that is the 2nd one I’ve seen on this forum in #2 but I want to think the other car was a r53.

If I had to guess that cylinder overheated the last time you had coolant issues.

 

Thanks. The thing is we've never had coolant issues, and in four years of ownership the car has never overheated.

Also, they're proposing only replacing the exhaust valves on this cylinder. Should I insist that they all be replaced? They're quoting a part price of $60 each. I don't know what the labor charge is for each valve. What about aftermarket valves? I see entire intake/exhaust sets for pretty low prices, of unknown and potentially dubious quality. But are there any that are OK?

 

if it were me I would have all of them done, it’s off might as well, if you have the money. Maybe a remanufactured one or low miles.

 

Ding, ding! In post #2 I guessed right.

 

Yep, GJ!

Talked to the guy and he's quoting $1000 to replace all the valves if I want that. He claims it's a lot of labor. I asked how much in labor to replace the exhaust valves with ones I provide. Still waiting on that. What labor is involved that they don't already have to do to gain access to the #2 cylinder anyway?

 

Valves are about $20 each depending on which brand you buy. Some of the guides may need to be replaced. $3400 is high, but you are paying for their labor. I think the car was running rich or something to that effect, possible you had a small leak at that valve that burned up the metal. My overheated Mini didn't have this particular issue, but I have seen other broken valves on the forum.
Edit- I had a machine shop replace 10 of the 16 guides (head entirely disassembled and reassembled), 16 valve jobs, 1 new valve and it was only $460. You might want to see if you can subcontract that work!!

 

Price is too high IMO.

 

Thanks guys. I ordered a full set of TRW exhaust valves (which may even be OEM) at $20 each. The shop said yeah, that estimate was a mistake and it's only $4xx to do them all.