Car is driving normal but I hear this on a cold engine start. Probably for about 5 minutes until the oil warms up. I am dealing with some other issues as well such as a slowish coolant leak

Now:

1 year ago:




History:
93k miles - bought car, inspected by mechanic, belt replaced
98k - oil change
103k - replaced coolant reservoir
108k- oil change (i know, too long)



Note between 98k and 108k oil changes, I added probably 7L! of oil to the car. When I changed the oil at 108k, less than 2L came out of the oil pan, so I could've been running as much as 1.5-2L short for some time, definitely contributing to the cold noises. The guy I bought it from said to add a little oil every week – I thought older MINIs were just known for this joke, but I guess it's true. I can't see any obvious oil leaks. This is of course the turbo model so I'm sure it does use more than a non-turbo.

As for the coolant leak, I notice leaking at the seams of the reservoir, so I replaced that. Issue seemed to be solved but a month or so later I noticed the coolant was leaking slowly. Basically I'll go from the high to low mark on the reservoir after about 300-500 miles of driving. I wonder if it's burning the coolant. I think the exhaust is a little "sweet" smelling but it could be a placebo - I'm not an expert.

Thanks for any help on this

 

anyone?

 

Doesn't sound like death rattle to me. That little tapping sound is the only sound that seems out of the ordinary but if it's only when the engine is warming up, might be drive belt related. My drive belt gets a little noisy during startup in the winter - might be worth getting checked out at some point but doesn't sound urgent to me.

 

Ditto, nothing in those videos would give me concern for timing chain rattle. I haven't heard it personally, but death rattle would sound like your engine is coming apart.

 

@njaremka @Josh Falk thanks for the feedback, makes me feel better about not killing the engine.

 

If you don't know if it's been done before, change your timing chain tensioner. Mine fell apart as I removed it.

 

is it the tensioner that usually fails? I thought the issues had to do with the plastic pieces that guide the chain breaking off

 

My understanding is: the tensioner gets weak with age, and the chain stretches slightly. Since the tensioner cannot hold the chain in place, combined with a slightly loose chain, the chain starts to wear out the guides, which break, which cause the chain to slap around even more, which then leads to catastrophic failure. Changing the tensioner will buy you a little time while you get the nerve up to deal with a chain replacement.

If you want to be extra sure, get a new cam cover gasket, pull the cover, and perform a visual of the guides and chain.

 

A mechanic's stethoscope is good for more precisely determining where noises are coming from. And knowing where the noises are coming from helps one make a good call regarding what to do about the noises.

While the opinion of others -- I'm not familiar with MINI engine noises but generally if the noise is not good it clearly sounds unhealthy -- is the noises are not cause for concern that's great.

Still with a stethoscope you can check for noise from the timing belt/chain cover. If the noise appears to emanate from that area...

 

That almost sounds like the ignition is arcing someplace.