It would be nice to know of all the unfortunate MCS owners that have had their engines blow up. I think a lot of people would like to know what mods they have, milage, how many miles driven with mods, how hard they drive, the details on how the engine blew, what they think caused it, and any pictures. I am tired of reading the thousands of posts and endless debates about how certain parts are "dangerous" like: lightened crank pulley, nitrous, 19% pulley, twin-charger, etc. Im not saying its a bad thing to debate, but there is so much now, its almost impossible for me to absorb it all. Also, it would be nice to hear some first hand stories instead of theories, beliefs, or what could happen.
I couldnt find any similiar threads on this subject, but if there are, please inform me. Thank you.

 

the first motor i heard of/saw that literally blew up was jeff's nitrous dripper, back in '02. lifted the hood...atomic!

 

Our business does high performance cylinder head modifications on the Mini Cooper cylinder heads. It has been brought to my attention, a problem with valve spring fatigue at high rpm's. Or called valve float. Customers engine horsepower are in the 245 to 275 hp range. Both daily drivers, one is used on road course racing. There is available, a dual valve spring set from Ferrea Valves, they also have the titanium retainers, guaranteed that the safe rpm is over 8000 plus.

 

This is a great idea. I don't know what "Sticky:" is, see above. I think that
it would be good if the "NAM people" would raise this thread to the
"Sticky:" level so that it would always be there to invite folks to explain their
blowups.

 

?245-275? and still 'daily drivers' ......HUH!?
where are u located?
what types of mods on these cars?
how many heads have u werked on so far?

 

And that was user error, correct?

 

Okay, I think we have a good idea here. I will sticky the thread for a while to see what happens. Some stipulations are in order though:

The primary purpose of this thread will be to collect information from those who actually suffered serious/severe engine damage due to modifications and/or using their cars in a competitive environment (track). Posts detailing engine failures in everyday normal driving are welcome, but there is no need to detail some of the more 'obvious' reasons for engine failure, such as water ingestion/hydrolocking or downshifting to first at 90mph.

Personal attacks have no place here. If someone grenaded their motor and they were running 25% overdrive and twincharging, don't chime in and say what they were doing is stupid. Learn from their experiences and the information they provide.

Be concise in your posts. Go into detail about the failure and what caused it, and what steps you took to prevent it in the future. Provide mileage on the engine as well

List all of your mods, if any. If you can provide enhanced data, such as dyno charts or numbers listing your HP/torque levels, especially if they are exceptionally high, please add those. It will help in establishing hard levels at which steps need to be taken to beef up areas of the motor.

 

Peace,

I have an 03 MCS. The mods at the time were CAI, 15% pulley, Schrick cam, nology wires and amplifiers, alta catch can and exhaust, and quite a few more mods.
So... 1st after the dealer installed the catch can, the hoses were not cut to proper length and after driving about 500 miles i noticed oil everywhere... all over the engine compartment, under the chassis and all over the rear window. The seals around the spark plugs were blown. The dealership in boston put new seals in only for the seals to blow again after another few miles. The car was then kept for almost a month by the original dealership and no one could figure what was wrong. Finally, i read a post on NAM and figured that the tubing to the catch can would get crimped when the hood was closed and thats when the seals would blow. But when the hood was open everything looked fine. So... the dealership took the catch can off, and i took it home and installed it properly. That solved that problem.
10K later at 24K on the car, i was driving to get to a gas station and the car loses power and service engine soon light comes on. Though the car was being driven really hard at times, at that point it wasn't being driven hard. It was towed in and i got the news that cylinder 4 piston was cracked. The dealer immediatley said it must be the cam and i was told i had to pay for a new engine. The original dealership that had done the work promising that they'd warranty the car if anything happened, backed out of their promise. So there i was stuck with a new car needing a new motor. They gave me the whopping price tag of 9K. So... the moral to the story is... hang in there. After a week or two of waiting, mini usa sent a rep out to look at the car. The tech convinced the rep that there was no way they could prove that the mods done to the car actually caused the damage and mini agreed to produce a new motor. They agreed to warranty it if i left the cam out. So, of course, i agreed.
On replacing the block it was noticed that the seal between the engine and tranny was about to blow. It was stick out and just barely in place. So... to this day there is no clue as to what actually caused the motor to go.
The lessons learned were that 1) don't put a catch can on your car unless you know what you're doing. Much of the damage was probably done when the catch can hose was crimping causing the seals to blow and the only seals changed were those visible. 2) Get the warranty in writing if promised a warranty, otherwise why pay dealer prices if they're not going to stand by the work. If it weren't for the tech at the other dealership, we would have had to pay.
So, of course the cam had to go back in. Once you feel the thrill, how can mini expect us to give that up. This time a Pilo/DPR racing head was put in with solid tappets from BBR in Britain with shims and titanium retainers from Pilo/DPR. This was done to eliminate valve float. The car runs very high rpm software. One thing i must mention is that we purchased some performance valve springs and tested them, though they were stiffer than stock at rest, they were a lot worse than stock under load. So... after speaking with a couple people who'd actually tested springs, stock springs were the best option available. Now after 10K on the new engine, the car is really amazing. Its about as modded out as a non twin charged mini can be, and it is nothing but a thrill. We are just rying to get all that power to the ground.

 

=0)
sounds like ur havin' sum serious fun

 

do tell...i would love this...is this without nitrous??

 

doubt it but if the Ring gear on a lighten Spec Flywheel is considered engine blow up then mine at 25k on the flywheel. Replaced last week with the New RPS/M7 one

 

Cosmic Purple, Im sorry your engine blew, but atleast you had a somewhat sympathetic and understanding dealer. Sounds like your new mods are a lot better anyways. nice job

 

I would say the sympathy came from a very good tech. He convinced Mini USA that they should uphold the warranty. I appreciate that and consider it a blessing. The dealerships up to that point told me they would be willing to give a discount if they did the work and told me none of the work they had done was warrantied as they previously said.
I have learned a lot through the experience, and the mini is amazing.

 

I had a dowel pin let go from a lightweight flywheel. Soundless event; I noticed the clutch slipping because the dowel shot through the bell housing side of the trans case; tranny oil everywhere. Was able to find a used trans for $500.

 

About a month ago, my BONE STOCK 2005 MCS lost it's engine. Just a shade over 10K miles. Heard a ticking - we thought it was the timing chain hitting somthing - I tried to nurse it home, ticking got much worse, looked for a safe spot to pull over - boom! Smoke, oil, dead engine. #1 Piston "exploded", found pistion bits in the oil pan - rod went clean through the block. Head was fine, as were the other pistions. No obvious signs of over reving (I never mechanically over reved the engine - but the dealer looked real hard at my valves to see if I abused the car). New engine was eventually covered under warenty. Factory guys think the #1 rod was mis torqued at the factory - manufacturing defect. A person knowledgable in Mini's suspects oil starvation. Either way, two weeks later I had a new engine. No other problems with the car, otherwise.. :-)

 

Originally Posted by jlm
the first motor i heard of/saw that literally blew up was jeff's nitrous dripper, back in '02. lifted the hood...atomic!
-
I belive the nitrous was flowing with the car off and then he started the car and boom!!! But he re-did it and made it Faster

I want another Mini

 

Not really the post, but my feelings had been hurt when someone refered to me as Dr Phil in another thread, and I didn't get to make a snappy comeback before the thread was locked. Now I see I'm famous because you quoted me in your sig! That's wonderful!

My motor didn't blow completely, but I did blow #3 plug out of the head due to not checking it, or putting it in with a torque wrench. Only car I've ever had where "feel" didn't do it for plugs.... Live and learn....

Oh yeah, operator error for sure.....

Matt

 

I broke one ringland and cracked two others. Overall 275whp. I was using a 23% overall reduction on the supercharger (20psi in cold weather) and a 75 shot of nitrous. I was running the GIAC ecu which does have advanced ignition timming (no no with nitrous). Now I am putting the motor back together with CP pistons, ARP head stud conversion, ARP rod bolts, 17% reduction, reflashed ecu, and 150 shot of nitrous.

I was also using the Alta crank pulley (4%) and after 15,000 miles the rod and crank bearings looked perfect.

I went through 2 tanks of nitrous a week for about 20,000 miles.

 

My 03 MCS blew out plug #1 because I did not "re-toruqe" the plugs. I have NEVER re-torqued a sparkplug in my life so I guess I have been lucky up to now (then). Cost a lot less then a new head to have a heatcert (sp) put in it.

Earl

 

Here's my thread


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=46902

 

The end result was a rod cracking inhalf and smashing into the piston followed by taking a kwik flight out through the block. Mods were: pulley17% intake exhaust head cam evotech crank pulley injectors was the last thing I put on the car. The motor had alot of really hard miles on it. No NO2 ever just all your reguar mods. I now have a new block thanks to Dan at Pilo. And much much bigger things are on the way. I would guess the motor went mostly due to hard miles not any specific mod.

 

ouch

 

whaoh, nobody has ever posted pictures before!

 

Wow that sure a blow up

 

...its like being at the scene of an accident. It's horrifying , but I can't look away!