Hey, I just joined the community and I'm hoping you guys could offer help and advice. My girlfriend has a 04 Mini Cooper and was driving the the torrential downpours we had in the northeast over Thanksgiving. Apparently, she hit a puddle she estimates was about a foot deep at the bottom of a hill. The car started to stall a little bit but was able to make it through the puddle and she kept driving about another 2-3 minutes to her friends house. As she pulled up, the car stalled out. The next time she tried to start it, it wouldn't start at all. Engine wouldn't turn over or really do anything at all. After reading these forums, I was fearing the worst. The car has been pampered from the beginning and only has 16,000 miles on it. I had it towed to a local mechanic and he said there is water in the motor and it needs to be replaced. Anyone know what my options are? I am fearing a new motor will cost upwards of 8-9k if I buy a new one from the Mini dealer. I'd prefer to not get rebuilt or salvaged or anything because we intentionally kept the miles down on her car so she could keep it a long time. Would something like this be covered under the Mini warranty? Or should I go through insurance, my policy says the comprehensive coverage covers water and flood damage so I'm hoping they would cover this. Should I admit fault or will it not matter? Any help would be hugely appreciated!! The holidays are off to a terrible start!!! :(

 

Hmmm. If it hydrolocked, I don't think it would have made in an extra few minutes after the puddle. Hydrolocking occurs when the engine attempts to compress water vs. air. Given that water basically doesn't compress, something metal gives way. The 'diagnosis' from the mechanic seems a bit brief. Any more details?
It's definitely not a warranty issue, and I don't think 'water and flood damage' includes engine internals, but it's worth a shot...
You should be able to get an engine from a wrecker - a crate motor from MINI would definitely cost a fortune.
Sorry to hear about the misfortune.

 

Agree with Eric, doesn't sound like hydrolock. Call your insurance co. and ask them if this would be covered. I think it will. And move the MINI; sounds like that repair shop is less-than-trustworthy.

 

If you have both collision and comprehensive insurance then it should be covered, probably by the collision. I'd tow it to the dealer ASAP.

 

Is the car stock and still under warranty? I wonder if they would cover this since its a 04 with 16k miles.

 

is this problem more likely to occur in an 's'.......I mean, how deep a puddle can a MC go through vs a MCS

 

Or, instead of buying a MINI engine, drop something else into it!

I would do that in a heartbeat if I was in that situation.

-Cody

 

My best guess is that you've got an electrical problem..... seriously doubt the "hydrolock" thing for the reasons listed above. Minis are tempermental when it comes to wet electricals.......
You need to get that car to somebody who knows MINIs. Not some Mr. Goodwrench type of guy.

 

Insurance will cover that... and if you have a good adjuster, they'll check the diagnosis. They wont want to spend 8-9k either. If the insurance co. covers it, you'll more than likely get a used engine though

 

First, check the oil. If it is milky, then there is water in the engine.

If the oil looks ok, then send it to the dealer for warranty work.

If they find something wrong that was caused by the puddle, then go to insurance.

 

This is definitely NOT hydro lock. But, if there is water in the engine there are things that must be done now.

1 Remove the spark plugs.

2) Crank over the engine. If it wont crank then put it in gear and 'bump start' it to get the engine to turn over.

3) Spray WD-40 into all of the cylinders. (It disperses water and lubricates)

4) Repeat step #2

Once you have done this, replace the plugs. Your engine will now not deteriorate due to the water. Now it's time to find the source of your woes. Any competant mechanic can ascertain if you are getting a spark and fuel. My guess is that the spark is missing but fuel is there.

Have they opened up the air box and looked at the filter yet? A sudden ingress of water can clog a filter with water cutting off air.

Your mechanic is taking advantage. Get a new one.

 

I think it is time for a Mini snorkel

 

Insurance should cover your damages with no question...they will likely pay for a NEW (rebuilt) engine...less any deductible. All this, IF the engine has been damaged by water.

 

I would look for a water logged filter, water fouled spark plugs, wet electrical connectors. A hydrolock would cause instant stoping of the engine usually squashing a rod. Check the oil for signs of water. If the oil is clean (most likely it will be) then go to ignition. A single drop of water on a spark plug will foul it. If water is present in the combustion area turn the motor over with the plugs removed, but grounded against the block away from the bores where you may have fuel spray and cause a fire, usually a spray of water will come out of the plug holes. Turn the engine over until this stops. Add WD-40 and turn over again. Finally I add a tiny shot of starting fluid in a cylinder just before installing clean sparkplugs. Then I try to start the engine again. If you get a bit of fire then it stalls again check the plugs for being fouled again. There could still be a bit of water in the inlet system that gets sucked up when the engine tries to run.

 

I definitely agree with Savage. If you sucked in that much water, it would have killed the engine immediately and done a lot of damage right then. Because she was able to keep driving it several miles, I agree that you have something wet in the electrical system.

Just like Savage said, pull the spark plugs crank it over. Look at the electrodes on the plugs, there may be small droplets of water shorting them out. Spray it out like he said. Once the engine has a chance to dry out all over on the outside, it may start and run... may not, but I don't think you have a mechanical issue here.

Good luck

YD

 

GREAT thread and great advice, guys... Sorry this happened to you man, and I hope you get it worked out via Warranty.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys, your responses have helped a bunch. I'm not sure if the mechanic is just copping out and telling me that or not. Before it was even loaded off the towtruck, the AAA guy and the mechanic were both saying its the engine. He didn't seem to think the fact she could keep driving another few minutes was a big deal. In fact, he was suggesting that made it worse because it continued to suck the water throughout the engine. My GF did say that the car was running somewhat rough, but at least it was running. I have submitted it to insurance with Progressive, and am going to request it gets towed to the dealer were I bought it. Maybe they will troubleshoot it all over again and find it is some sort of electrical issue. Is time any concern? This happened Thanksgiving night but the mechanic was off for the long weekend. Thanks again, you guys rock!

 

We "armchair diagnosticians" love to get feed back to either validate or blow up our thoughts. Some of us are old enough to have already done most of the things you guys get into now and then, so we espouse our thoughts from our history banks. hehe

YD

 

I find it hard to believe that this would happen to a MINI in a foot of water. It's my understanding the hydrolock is more common in cars that have the air intake mounted lower on the engine.

Keep us posted!

 

Spent some time taking my range rover through too much water...

I would add a couple of things to the above:

0) Charge up the battery...you are going to be doing a lot of turning over of the motor.
1) check your air filter...if this is not soaked...you did not get water in the engine and you can skip the pulling the plugs part...
1) If you pull the plugs...first pull the fuse to your fuel pump before turning over the engine without the plugs in...this way you wont send fuel shooting out all over...
2) Spray Wire Dry all over plug wire ends, etc.
3) Use some (that is a little bit) of starter fluid to get it moving if drying it out does not work...
4) You may also have water in the tailpipe...but this should blow out once you get it started.
5) Once you get is started, take it in for all new fluids...oil, tranny, diffs, etc.

If you hydrolocked...you would have bent up some serious stuff and the motor would not turn over easily.

I would not worry too much...probably just a little water in the works...

Once you get going...let us know a couple of things...

Where did you see water, does it turn over easily, etc.

 

Oh man that sucks, my engine hydrolocked, don't ask me how it happened but it did. The warranty wouldnt cover it but the insurance agency did. It was 6000 bucks in parts, I only paid a 1000 dollar deductible. And my car was in the shop for a few weeks. It really sucks, but now I have a brand new engine!

 

I spoke to the mechanic that took a look at it to find out how he was diagnosing the problem. He told me he took the spark plugs out and manually tried to crank the engine. It only turned over halfway, then he tried the other direction and it would still only turn halfway. It wouldn't make a complete revolution. He believes it is a abd rod or crankshaft. He tends to think the auto insurance will cover it because I have water and flood coverage but I have almost no chance of Mini fixing it under their warranty. He also seems to think Progressive will offer to replace it with a used engine even though hers only had 16k on it. I will probably have a fight on my hands to try and get a new, or at least comparable, engine. I am meeting with the insurance claims rep tomorrow, then having it towed up to Mini of Peabody in MA. Hope it turns out ok. I'd love to get out of this with only paying the $500 deductible. Thanks again for the feedback guys!

 

I sure hope this works out well for you & your girlfriend.

This is a strange one. When a motor hydrolocks it does so, RIGHT NOW. The fact that the car ran for a number of minutes is quite puzzling to me. I'm very interested in hearing the autopsy results.

 

So when the Mini gets hydrolocks where is the most common place that the water enters the engine?

I have read a couple threads on this forum about Mini's hydrolocking and was wondering why Mini's seem to be more prone to this.

 

The air intake, becomes a water intake.