Hey all!

My MINI has developed a new sound... conveniently right after my extended warranty has run out. When accelerating, there is a pretty quiet whining noise that sounds like it's coming from behind the steering wheel. It's hard to describe exactly, but it sounds something like a high pitched whirring fan, although not exactly "smooth."

I can only hear it up to about 3k, at which point it either stops or is just drowned out by the engine/exhaust. When I hold the RPMs steady at any point, it's quiet. It only manifests when it's revving up. I noticed it first late at night out driving in the cold, it seemed to be gone the next warm afternoon I was driving the car, and I heard it again on the next cold evening. Maybe it's just something related to my CAI that I hadn't noticed before?

It's so quiet that with the windows down or the radio on it's barely perceptible, but definitely there, and I haven't noticed it before.

I checked under the hood for a supercharger, but I still don't have one. I searched but was unable to find much information on simiiar problems. Does anyone know what this might be?

If it persists I will try to get an audio recording.

 

I think I have the same whine, I also hear it when decelerating and revs drop from 3000rpm. I have watched a ton of youtube videos, the sound is similar to this: ???

this is an r53 but note the whine when decelerating.

This guy change a bunch of stuff before changing the idler pulley. Since the idler pulley is the cheapest replacement from the list I'll start there

 

- Sometimes it's the Power Steering pump fan/gunked up.
- Sometimes when there is a break at the flex joint for the exhaust manifold.
- Sometimes it's something off the accessory belt
- Sometimes it's the water pump off driver side of Supercharger


Hard to say with what we have to go by for now...

 

Thanks for the responses! After listening to that video and a few others, the idler pulley seems to be the noise I'm chasing. Can anyone tell me how urgent/expensive a fix this might be?

 

I'll check pelicanparts.com first, go to the how to section in NAM. The DIY is not that difficult for the idler pulley, a guess from a mini specialist they should charge you for 1 hour job. They can access the pulley from the wheel

 

I went out to the car, of course I couldn't hear anything from the inside this time, but when i popped the hood and listened near the pulleys it sounds like the same noise, more or less. There is a little bit of a squeaking in there too.

 

Tell your wife to get out of the car that will stop the whining ..... lol

But seriously, get a long thin screwdriver and put it up against things CAREFULLY with engine running and then cup the handle with one hand and put your ear to it It acts as a stethoscope and will help narrow down whatever is making noise. Old mechanics trick

From the video it does not sound like a pulley. Sounds like a pump IMHO.

Let us know.

Sent from my iPad using NAMotoring

 

Hah, that's the first thing I tried, no luck!

Honestly since i posted the thread it's silent from the cabin... of course. I will try the screwdriver trick, thank you! I don't believe it's the water pump, considering I'm not leaking coolant AFAIK and the level has remained even. Is that a safe assumption?

Considering I don't have a garage and we're well into the rainy season here, I'll probably be deffering to the dealership for this one if the costs aren't outrageous rather than attempting a parking lot DIY. I'm going to keep a close ear on it and get it in to at least get a diagnosis when I can.

Does anyone have a ballpark idea of what it might cost me to replace the pulleys/belt, or the water pump if that's indeed the culprit?

 

Are you running a stock / original crank pulley Danny ? If so, how many miles on it...if the noise is the tensioner (#1 below) they run about $130.00. Belts are appx $32.00. New crank pulley = $300.00. Sometimes you can combine labor costs....



If you need a new water pump, OEM cost is below and tack on another $25.00 for coolant ( maybe ask for a flush ? ) Our radiators are a PITA to get to and with regular flushes mine lasted over 200K miles, only to be changed during Supercharger services / replacing alternator. It was perfectly fine but why push envelope.....we were there anyways.

# 11517513062 REPLACE COOLANT PUMP, MECHANICAL $261.75.

If there hasn't been much work done in last 5 yrs., maybe have them triage the MINI first, check for other issues / leaks and then go from there keeping these other maintenance parts in mind.

GL!

 

Thanks for the detailed reply GR! Looks like it's at least a $500 problem if I take it to the dealership... I'd better get used to that I guess

The MINI has been regularly serviced by the dealership. I had a third party warranty and I routinely brought it in for an oil change and "find anything that might need to be fixed or replaced soon," and I've had the thermostat housing replaced and the coolant flushed, passenger side motor mount replaced, oil pan gasket replaced, etc. The last round of service was just six months or so ago, so nothing should be too far gone.

I am running the original crank pulley and the car has 82,000KM on the odometer, so just a hair over 50k miles for my American friends

Would coolant loss be a likely symptom of water pump failure? My level has remained pretty even, so hopefully I'm just looking at a new pulley, and I suppose I might as well replace the belt while it's there.

The car behaved very well for the two drives I took after posting this thread, but today on the tail end of the ride home I started hearing the humming sound again. I managed to grab some audio from the inside of the car, perhap this will be helpful. You can hear it best when I hold the revs at about 2800 for a few seconds. Sounds like a CPU cooling fan with a broken blade.

 

Hello all, just a follow up now that this has been properly diagnosed.

I took it in to MINI, and although they had a difficult time figuring out what the hell I was on about, I had them let it warm up for awhile while I made my way to the dealership from work, and while it was warm the tech listened to the tensioner area with a stethoscope. He confirmed that it is whining a little bit, although "very slight," it is definitely the bearing in the tensioner. He says it's not an urgent replacement, but with bearings "it could be a week or a year."

The OTD cost for replacement is $448, which seems like a lot of money for a pulley, but that's BMW for you I guess.

On the bright side, while they were giving the car an inspection, they replaced some bulbs for free, and noticed there was a small leak at the oil pan gasket, which I just had replaced last year. They fixed it under parts warranty at no cost to me, and I hadn't even noticed it was leaking. I check the oil regularly and it hasn't been moving, but there you have it.

I also had a nice F56 Justa as a loaner. It took a little getting used to, and it does feel quite big compared to my R50, but it's a very nice little car, and quick.