Hey guys, haven't had much luck with my new-to-me '02 Mini so far. 4 miles into my drive home from the dealership, the 5-speed went kablamo. Luckily the car has a 4 month/ 4k mile power train warranty through the ford dealer I bought it from. So 3 weeks later I had a new (reman) transmission in the car. Great. Take it home, left front inner CV takes a dive. Long story short, this Ford dealership's service dept is a joke, and I had to figure that one out for them.

Anyways, new (reman) left axle put in. Great, car was shaking a little bit in second and third gear, now it shakes, but a lot less. Other cv bad too? Maybe, we'll cross those bridges later. However, on my way home from getting the new axle in, 65mph, 5th gear on the highway, I almost lose control because a completely random violent shake slams the car for about 2 seconds. Then goes away. WTF!? SO i pulled off and check the lugs, thinking maybe I had a wheel coming off that they forgot to torque. No such "luck", everything was tight. The car was fine the rest of the 30 minutes home. Hmmm... Took it out for a 20 minute drive downtown, it was fine. Then on the way back, it did the same thing twice at completely different times.

Anyone have any idea what would cause a violent shake at completely random times at highway speeds?

 

Could you give us more information about when this violent shake manifests itself? Such as: Is it speed dependent? Were you on a hill? Under throttle or cruising? Were you turning? What were the weather conditions like? Did any warning lights appear on the dash? Were there any noises associated with the shake? Did you feel it more in the steering wheel or the seat? How many miles are on your R50?


Don't rule out the possibility that the reman parts they installed could be faulty, or the tech that did the work is just not that bright. Also remember it's a ford service dept., they're probably not going to be too familiar with a BMW/Mini.

I hope you get it all sorted out! (before the warranty is up)

 

excellent questions. First, I completely agree not to rule out a faulty remanufactured part. As far as the problem, originally it was a medium vibration, mostly felt in 2nd gear, a little in 3rd. Only under gas, usually while turning or right after turning. Thats why I went straight to a bad CV. No warning lights or anything. When I took it in, they just drove the car, didn't even look at it. The guy who drove it told the service tech to call a mini dealership and see if there are any known issues. That's where I started to get very pissed. It's a basic design front wheel drive car, nothing crazy and foreign like a Ferrari. How is it any different than a Focus? So i took it home and put the car up on jack stands. Couldn't help but notice 30 seconds later that there was a giant ring of grease sprayed around the inner driver's side CV. Problem solved, or so I thought. Anyways, now that there's a new axle in, I still feel a vibration in 2nd, but it's far far less apparent now. I'm thinking the other CV might be on it's way out, or as you said, maybe a faulty new piece went in.

As for the shake on the highway, which is my big problem now: No warning lights. I've felt it both times just cruising at 65-70mph. I haven't noticed it being at a specific speed. Car has been going straight both times. Definitely felt the vibration through the seat, not the wheel, so I don't think it's a tie rod/control arm bushing/whatever issue.

I've done a few 24 Hours of Lemons races, so while I'm not a mechanic, I'm also not completely unfamiliar with diagnosing random problems with the limited tools I have. This one is puzzling thought.

 

Check the lower engine mount. You really need to remove it to inspect. They are only ~$30 so just get one first and plan to replace it. You should also check/replace the front control arm bushings. They are only good for about 60-70k.

 

I sincerely doubt that it is a motor mount issue; if it were it would be apparent under heavy throttle. On top of that, I have yet to see the lower one fail as it is more just a stabilizer than a mount.

It sounds to me like their service dept. is just lazy and dumb. I'm guessing that any decent tech with a little experiance could probably diagnose this problem with a quick visual inspection. If that didn't reveal any problems, I would pull the CV's out for inspection. If they were ok, I would start looking at the trans, the 5-speeds are junk. But don't forget to check the tires for proper air pressure and balance, even odd bulges or wear.

 

The lesson here is to not have a non-Mini dealer do this kind of work.

 

Tip-------bring you car to a MINI dealer, and have them do a prepurchace inspection. The you will have a list of stuff to fix....hopefuly by the ford dealer!! At the very least it will give you some leverage in dealing with the ford place...and maybe they will buy you an extended warrenty. You should not have to deal with so much BS having just picked up a car. Good luck.

 

Just went to the Ford dealership and told the GM that I was going to take the car to Cincinnati Mini and let them fix it, and he was going to take care of the bill. After 10 minutes of listening to my story, he agreed. again, hopefully problem solved. The guys at Cincy Mini are great, so I'm feelin confident now.

 

If the tranny gets pulled again...it might be worthwhile to drop in a new clutch....the part is cheap...and the labor is already getting paid for by someone else. I wonder if the flywheel might have somethng to do with the vibration you felt. It will be interisting to find out. Please keep us updated.

 

I once had a VW Jetta that did the exact same thing. Would vibrate every so often so bad the car would actually start to drift across lanes. Turned out I had a CV joint that was dry, ripped boot, causing the CV joint to randomly lock up.

Was pretty darn scary when it would do it.

 

Mine did at ~100k and vibration at highway speeds even under moderate throttle was massive.