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I have owned (still have 2) and maintain many Saabs over the years. I have been keeping my eyes out for a 2004-2006 Mini Cooper S that needed some mechanical work. I finally found and purchased one yesterday here in New Orleans. There is a good chance the engine is shot but would appreciate the wisdom of the group on where to begin.
A little history of the vehicle. Dad shipped it here from California to his son after he graduated from college in June 2015. A few months ago he had an oil change done at one of the 5 minute stops (he told me it took 4 of them to figure it out). Then about a week ago he had it towed to a shop that said it most probably needs a new engine. It did appear that the oil filter housing was not completely sealed.
It has 67,000 miles on it, 6 speed standard, Monte Carlo Edition. It is in very nice shape considering the engine damage. I purchased it for $750 (with knowing I might need to put another engine in it). I got it home and drained the oil as I knew it was very low from the dipstick. It had about a quart of oil in it. I also did a basic compression test. Here are the results:
The engines in the MC 40 are the same as in the S - no performance mods. Find a good used engine, or work with an engine builder if you wish to create a bit more power, and you will end up with a fun, rare MINI at a great price.
Nice compression numbers lol. It's a shame though that someone killed it with such low miles.
What you do with it depends on you. If you're just flipping it throw in a used engine.
If you're keeping it that still is a choice, and is easily the cheapest option.
Rebuilding is an option too. If you can do a lot engine work yourself this isn't a bad option. Hopefully the spun bearing, or whatever broke, didn't do too much damage. If it did, rebuilding it wil get very expensive fast.
There are already completely rebuilt engines out there you can buy. Sneed is just one place you can buy one from.
And finally, there is the option of buying all new parts from vendor or the dealer.
If it was me, I would disassemble the engine first to see what you are dealing with. With the low miles could just need some new bearings and a little machining.
Hopefully you bought a broken car because you can fix all this yourself. Otherwise you might end up putting more money into it then the car than it is worth.
I am located in New Orleans. I plan on doing the labor myself. I am going to start taking it apart in the next few weeks. I appreciate all of the advice and thoughts of this group. What else would you recommend doing when the engine is removed?
Engine parts are so $$ from BMW, rebuilding is not really an option....
Find a good used motor, check the cam for wear...many run low on oil, and they get chewed up..move the bolt-ons over, and install a new clutch....you could do a ton, but IMO, just look, and replace stuff if it looks worn...with so few miles, the engine mount (upper) is likely leaked it's guts out,, and the coolant tank might be leaking...might be worth looking at the rubber suspension bits...they tend to dry and crack...urethane ones a a decent lifetime upgrades there, with the lower control arm bushings being the most troublesome.
One to...get the RIGHT motor...the "refresh" cars (2005+ got a slight HP bump and revised gearing) got a different wiring harness and computer due to an extra sensor or two...so just getting any Cooper S motor is not really an option...not without some extra expertise and work anyway.
Rebuilding is possible with the right builder and knowledge base. I have a "spare" W11 sitting in my garage waiting to be installed that was built and documented properly, and has a 1 year warranty with it (from installation point)
Rebuilding will cost in the $2-5K range depending on what you need to replace (if it's the crank, then it gets expensive quickly).
For the $5K range you can get a rebuilt engine from vendors like WayMotorworks, or private sales like with other members.
Either way, with an MC40 (and it's proper identification plate which is EOL/NA) that's one car worth saving.
All I had time to do this weekend was remove the valve cover. The timing chain is in place. I ordered the timing tool kit and serpentine tool so next week will either remove the oil pan or the head.
Well another update and hoping for some additional advice. I have removed the head and also the oil pan to get a much better look. The bottom of the engine, pistons, chamber all seems to be in good shape from a visual observation. The head is not in the same shape. There seems to be pretty significant heat damage to the spacers, camshaft bearing caps, and the camshaft which was making it very difficult if not nearly impossible for the camshaft to spin. The camshaft sprocket did not come off very easily from the camshaft. Now that the head is removed, the pistons are moving without any noticeable friction up and down the chamber. I know at minimum a cylinder head is in order. What are your thoughts. I have included some pictures.
That engine ran out of oil very slowly and burned the cam journals up. You need to pull the rod caps to look at the bearings and see if they're good. If the rod bearings are bad you'll need a whole engine, if they're good you should be able to just do the head.
We sell reman engines starting at 3799.95 and reman heads starting at 699.00. We try to keep the heads in stock and engines are built to order (takes about 3 weeks)
I'm not trying to be harsh, i'm just stating the facts of the economics of MINI engine rebuilding.
You can get the crank polished if its not to bad, cost between 75-150 bucks at most shops. If the crank is badly chewed up then you could have it welded and reground cost about 100 bucks per journal and takes about 4 weeks at most machine shops if you can find one who will do it. Most bad MINI cranks will need at least 2 journals done but probably all of them will need to be redone if the rod bearings are knocked out. There are no oversized/ undersized bearings for the W11/W10 engines. Only factory size, you could have some made if you wanted i guess but that would take lots of time and resources. Also, if the rod bearings spun then the rods will have to be resized so add 50-75 bucks per rod for that.
Also you have to split the block to remove the crank on a W11 so you're going to have to pull the pistons. Once you do that, you'll need new pistons and rings plus the boring and honing work to install them. So you're at a whole new engine now.
He could get a used motor, used crank or used whatever parts he needs. That is what it is. Its cheaper than a reman new engine but its all used and will have to be machined to fit with each other if you try to piece mill parts together.
Or like he asked me in his PM, whats the best option. And that is a reman engine or used complete engine if he needs something on a lower budget. If you want to build a performance engine then everything is different because you're changing all the internals but the crankshaft and it would need to be balanced with the new pistons and rods anyway. I'm just talking about a straight stock replacement engine to make the car go again.
If the rod bearings are good then he can just drop a head on it and go and should be good.
Good explanation Chris. FWIW your prices on the engines are very good.
Having someone rebuild the engine can cost in the $2-5K range (depending on the parts needed) and your engines are very affordable when that's taken into account (though shipping both ways with the core charge may put that into question)
Strange to hear you say that oversized bearings are no longer available... They were on the market 3 years ago (I had them ready to buy until my crank was determined to be dead), Looks like Pelican and MiniMania have them now at +0.25 (but I wasn't buying them back in the day)
Assuming there's no damage, can't the old pistons be re-used with new rings and honing?
I'm not arguing with you (especially when adding the head work or if the crank is done), a new engine from you or one of the other vendors may be a good solution, but doing a cost analysis (with shipping included) and comparing that to another engine builder using his old (but decent) parts could still be less.
Also... in the case of an MC40- the engine will still be the original if it's to be a collector piece.
Thanks for all the advice. I will update this thread as I make more progress. Will post some pictures as I make progress. Thanks for sharing the MC40 thread! It does not have the JCW tuning kit.
Everything below is based on my opinion and my experience.
First let me say someone just gave you the car at $750 or don't know if this was a typo and you paid $7.5k, but for $750, I would take the car even if it didn't have an engine or transmission lol.
EU you haven't made it clear what is your intentions for this engine/car. If your purpose is just to have it running car, then you are better off getting a used engine. IMO forget about a rebuild/re-manufactured engine they will cost almost as much an a brand new one IME. there are plenty of used motors for like 1.5k + shipping with low mileage and nothing wrong with them just that they came from a totaled car. Most Junk yards give you a 30 day warranty in which you can return it if there is something wrong with it Before i put it in the car i would Compression test it first. This option is only good if you are doing all the work yourself, because if not then it will get expensive fast and by the second time around you will be having a Zip tied engine bay since most of the clips would be broken and missing a bunch of bolts LOL. By the looks of it, you can handle it. Hope you unbolted the head in the right order, well i guess it wouldn't matter as the only thing that potentially can get deforming is head which is done.
So far from what i can tell from the pictures. Even if everything else checks out, your already at about $1k to reassemble withe new head/bearings/cam/bolts ect.
If you plan on keeping this for a ever and ever. I guess depending on your budget and hopefully you already have all the tools (not mini specific) Like gauges and calipers and everything else it take to build and engine. I would set a max $$$ budget to get it back running with as much goodies as you can throw at it with in the budget.
based on your picture it looks like someone was using the wrong coolant in that engine as well.
Based on the way that cam is fried, I'd be REALLY tempted to get a rebuilt engine and drop it in. There may be something plugging an oil passage in that old engine, because it must have heated due to lack of lubrication. If there's a plugged oil passage, you will be wasting money to replace components. The whole thing could happen again.
If you want to keep the existing block, I'd definitely check all the rod and main bearings, and probably pull the pistons and replace the rings.
Considering the time and labor, I'd come full circle to the rebuild drop-in engine.
Thanks for all the advice. I am weighing my options. Yes, I only paid $750 for the car. He was asking $2350 but I went and saw it (in nice shape) and knew the cost of a crate engine I thought about it and so about 5 days later I offered him $700 with one key or $750 if it had two keys. He said that someone offered him more but if they did not take it he would do the $750. He called me the next day and I told him I would be there to pick it up. I was provided with service records since his dad purchased it in 2007. It really seems that the 5 minute oil change place did not thread the oil filter cap completely down and slowly leaked the oil out to about 1.5 quarts left. He said he did not hear any tapping or anything prior to the failure. It is a project for me so I am taking my time looking at all options.
Contact Edmond at Mini World INC in Los Angeles 818-768-4800.
He has a Mini junkyard. He was able to help me with my MC40 that I rescued last year. I needed a more than a motor, and he did it for a very reasonable price. Maybe he can get you the parts or engine for DIY.
04-18-2016, 05:30 AM
