Hi Guys,

My MCS is currently running but having a critical problem. I went to the small auto shop few times but they couldn't find any known problems and told me to go to the mini dealer.

Here is the issue. Bottom line, my MCS is running like a bicycle slow with a full throttle. I cannot hear any wining sound coming from the supercharger. It is going much slower than the base mini. I have not done anything on my car.

I used to get a high torque with the full acceleration but now I can't even put 5th or 6th gear because it is going a way below power.

The small dealer that I went to gave me a quote that it could be the problem of throttle valve? (I'm not a mechanic), supercharger is dead, battery, spark plug. I do not trust them because they ****ed up my car even worse by revving it up so much until I hear boom sounds coming from the exhaust with a check engine light. They didn't know it was a supercharged car as well..


So, as usual, I would like to rely on this forum which I think there are better mechanics here than my auto shop..

Do you guys suggest me to just go to the mini-dealer and get it inspected? or do you guys have any ideas what is causing this loosing power?

BTW, I had this problem before and someone suggested to get a SC bypass value. I didn't change it at that time because I didn't have money.

Thank you all always.. please help me saving my mini..

 

First thing, you should check for fault codes by hooking up a code reader to the OBD port.

 

they actually ran it for the first thing, nothing serious came up. Something about auxility port..and that was it..

 

If they didn't know it was supercharged, are you really going to trust them to read the codes? Is there a Mini club in your area, maybe one of the members has a code reader for the Mini?

 

I highly suggest going to the MINI Dealership to get it worked out. It'd be worth the piece of mind to know what is wrong with the car.

 

Did the problem come on gradual or was it sudden? Does the car over heat even a little? Any grinding noises before the power died for good? I'd suspect the supercharger nose gears. But then I'd expect the car to overheat because the supercharger drives the water pump.

If you didn't have enough money to fix the bypass valve, then you are not going to like the price for a new supercharger... We are talking at least $3,000 or more installed at the dealer.

 

Sounds like th car is in limp mode...
could be a sc/scwaterpump gears, could be the harmonic damper, or anyone of a thousandg yhings....some simple a chep....a loose plug on a sensor....
Get the car to a real shop..
You might ned to afpend a few $$ but better than wasteing $$ a the place you went to.
Dealer, maybe, but a competant shop with good tecs sould do fine...
Simpe odb2 check is often free...

 

Where are you?
Maybe somebody can sugest a mini friendly shop...cheaper than dealer, sometimes better...

 

Sorry about the spelling in my last posts ...the bus ride was bumpy.
Anyother symptoms? High temps overheating, noise?
Likely NOT a bypass valve....with that stuck open, car will be slow...kinda like a cooper, not like a bike.
"Limp mode" refers to a mode the car's computer puts the car in, whereit runs at greatly reduced power, to allow you to get off the road to a safe spot. This mode is triggeted by the cars computer seeing a value well outside of normal limits....sometimes due to a failed sensor, etc....the computer is running in kinda like safe mode on a windows pc, abet very slowly.
It appears the place you went to first does not want to touch your car , and did not do even the most basic checks that any backyard/shadetree mechanic would have done...
When they say "nothing major" for codes...lol...
Those codes are the clue as tp why the co.puter put the car into limp mode...
Heck, hoe stock is the car? Even a failed catylatic converyer or one of a million failed sensors, unplugged wires could be your issue...
Post your location....a person close to you might be able to suggest a shop where you can get competent help....

 

My wild guess would be the throttle body. When it's bad the thing runs pig rich. That causes backfiring. Starts hard, idles high, has no power, and struggles to go 45 mph. I bent a wire on mine by accident and had all those symptoms.