Howdy,

I was hoping my first post was going to be asking if I could swap out 2010 countryman brown leather seats in my 2011, but my new countryman broke down on me.

I just inherited a 2011 countryman S all4 with 79,800 miles. It had a leaking oil filter housing and cracking pulley. I paid $1980 to fix those issues. I then had to drive the car about 400 miles back home to Reno. 200 miles into trip I get a engine warning malfunction light and the car goes into limp mode and then dies. Long story short. I get it towed, check the codes, and called mechanic who worked on it. He suggested it was the fuel pump relay as that the codes suggested problems with fuel; this was common, and he had two in his shop now waiting for the part (on back order). The next morning the car started and drove normal for about 5 miles until it died again. I texted the mechanic, and he said that gave him some confidence that the relay was in fact the problem. At any rate, I'm looking for the cheapest solution to the problem.

Most expensive solution, I would need to tow it to mechanic, pay for a diagnostic, then the part (new JBE $500), installation and reprogramming it. On the other hand, I found some people who repair the JBE for around $200, plus postage. This "seems" easy enough and does not require any programming. Just clearing the codes with a OBD and plugging it back in. I saw a video of guy do it on a regular Mini.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

 

I am having trouble pulling out the passenger kick panel to access the JBE. I did a search on here and found nothing helpful. I watched a video by rusty paint that said it was good for R60 but it was different. Anybody got helpful hint for removing the kick panel? Thanks.

 

What was the code? I would expect if the JBE was bad, the problem would not be intermittent. Either it would work, or it wouldn't. You have an early N18 engine, which has a similar high pressure fuel pump as the N14 version. Those pumps are known to go out and cause misfires, crappy running, and cold start issues. Are you 100% sure its not the high pressure fuel pump?

 

I am not sure. I inherited the car and had to drive 400 miles back home. I paid to have leaky oil filter housing and water pulley/ belt before I left. I broke down 200 miles away in the middle of nowhere. The codes were misfires and lean bank o2 sensors ( p0300, 0303, 0304, 013E. 013A). The mechanic who worked on it suggested it might be the fuel pump relay because the next day the car started normal and drove for about 5 miles before going into limp mode. He thought that all the problems were related to fuel and the since the relay might be one of the desolder.

I pulled the JBE and am thinking of sending it out for repair.

Its the cheapest attempt for me. If it is the problem, they are just supposed to replace the relay and I can plug it back in and be good to go --- if that was the problem.

 

Update

I pulled the JBE and sent it Cboard Repair. They found the relay to be bad, replaced it and have sent it back to me. Should be here Friday. In the meantime, I need to also get a new battery. The one in there now is not an AGM; and, I believe it was never registered. At any rate, trying to find exact specs on original battery or best replacement solution. I picked up and Ancel BM500 scanner which can register battery.

 

Update. Decided to just charge the original battery. Got everything put back in yesterday. The car seemed ok for a minute. I drove it around a few miles, and I got a temp warning, to pull over and let car cool down. Got it back home. I noticed the oil leak looked weird. I checked it and it was full of antifreeze! I checked the antifreeze reservoir and it was empty. I checked the oil dip stick and it feels contaminated. I have not even put 400 miles on this car, and I'm $3,500 into it in repairs and expenses (towing/hotel). SO now I have to research what fails and leaks antifreeze into the coolant? I just want to have a grasp of what is wrong with it so I can figure out how to budget.

 

Take the valve cover off and look right in the center of the cylinder head. There is a 16mm plug that has probably popped out when it overheated. Depending on how long it was run after the overheat warning happened, it may be ok if you put the plug back in, flush the crankcase and the coolant system to remove the contamination. Don't drive it and do the flushes ASAP to prevent further damage. The oil/coolant milkshake isn't a good lubricant. It is possible it blew the head gasket too but the plug can pop out without blowing the head gasket.

 

I want to, but I am not supposed to work on cars where I live. I plan on taking it to a mechanic tomorrow. The real question I have, Did the car overheat and cause the plug to fail, or did something else fail and the car overheated, then the plug failed? Seems like the plug can just fail out of nowhere. I