So, I have an 08 Clubman S which I bought used (I'm the third owner) with approximately 30000 miles on it. I've keep on top of the oil and tires as usual along with the typical recall stuff.

At about 49K the car started running like it was a diesel truck (the car currently has just over 60K). Immeadiately took it to the nearest dealer (who had done all the work on the car since I owned it) and discovered the timing chain had stretched beyond tolerance. They covered it under warranty. At that time they also told me the car was two quarts low on oil and promptly implied it was my fault the timing chain stretched. We got into a heated argument about it and agreed to call it a draw.

I had just done an oil change probably 4k miles earlier. Now when I first got the car, I checked the oil level religously and it never seemed to fluctuate, so after a while I stopped checking as all my experience with other cars indicated that if it isn't leaking than usually you don't have an issue on newer cars.

Jump forward a bit, the car goes out of warranty I take it in for some other reasons and suddenly get told I need to spend $2200 dollars on repairs (front rotors and pads, carbon buildup on the intake, etc). We go back and forth on it and I get so frustrated I begin to look for an independant Mini Mechanic. Had the dealer handle the initial repair (water pump replace for the turbo) along with decarbing the intake. I vet the new mechanic and check his google reviews etc. I call him to get a quote on new pads and rotors and he ends up chatting with me for over an hour.

Ultimately take the car to him to have him do the brakes, a full alignment on the car, rotate the tires, and an oil change. Get the car back and it's incredible - runs great, handled better than it did, stops amazingly and came in at about the same cost as the dealer with much better customer service. He notices an extremely small leak at the head gasket, which he says we will keep an eye on to see when it needs attentions. I ask if it could have been a result of the dealer replacing the timing chain, he says possibly.

So I get in the car on new years eve to go, hit the start button and the car turns over, almost catches and then dies and shuts down. Try the to start the car several times over the First, and it wont start - same symptoms - turns over sometimes almost catches but never starts.

Email new mechanic to find out when the reopen after the holidays and promptly get a response telling me that they open back up at 8 am on the 2nd. Email came from the owners wife who handles all the office side of things for him (the owner is a german car specialist mechanic, bosch certified as a master technician, etc.).

Arrange with AAA to get the car towed in first thing in the morning on the 2nd. Have a chat with the Mechanic (who remembers me and the car) explain the problem and have him look at a couple of other niggling little issues along with do an oil change.

He calls me at the end of the day and lets me know that I have low compression on two of the cylinders (30 - 40 psi and 160 or so on the other two) and he needs to dig deeper to figure out what the problem is (never good when he starts with "it's not good news"). He tells me it could be as simple as a broken valve spring to potentially needing an engine rebuild.

Sigh. So the car was asymptomatic more or less. Since the argument with the dealer over it burning oil earlier, I check every fill up or every other fill up. The car was due to go in and have an oil change. I went ahead and added a quart at about 6k since the last change (we agreed on doing the oil change every 7.5K). My gas mileage was off between 1 - 1.5 mpg over the last two tanks. The last 8 fill ups prior the car was over 27 mpg.

So now for the questions:
1.) in looking on the web, the most common problem for pressure loss in cylinders seems to be a leaky head gasket. Most state that if the pressure loss is in adjacent cylinders it usually is a head gasket issue. I don't know if my issue is adjacent cylinders or not. Assuming it is a head gasket issue, could this have been screwed up when the dealer replaced the timing chain?
2.) Any suggestions on what I am looking at in terms of rough price for a head gasket repair assuming it is nothing worse?
3.) has anyone else experienced this on a car with only 60K on it?
4.) any thoughts on what I might be up against here?

Sorry for the long, rambling email. I'm new here so forgive me if I posted in the wrong place or transgressed in some way.

Any encouragement and help offered would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ian

 

What do you mean by running like a diesel?

 

Typical timing chain running-extremely rough knocking a lot etc.

 

Anyone?

 

I think you'll find that something has broken in the timing chain area and your valves and pistons have come together.....

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but that's about the only way one of these fails.

The other possibility is a failed turbo and some metal got into the valves, but that's unlikely.

If it's the first, you're probably looking at a new motor or a total rebuild, if the second, you might get by with a new turbo and a valve job.

good luck and let us know what he finds, OK?

 

MiniDan, Thanks for the thoughts.

My mechanic called me this morning and started the conversation with "Your Mini is making my brain hurt." Apparently, he was up most of the night stewing on the facts that my mini was presenting, just didn't add up. So he came into the shop this morning and sat down with the mechanic working on the car and said lets think outside the box on this one. What if it isn't a top or bottom end problem but a fuel problem.

He suspected that with the cold weather we've been having here in Southern California, that when I tried to start the car on new years eve, the computer, sensing it was cold outside, overcharged two of the cylinders, causing fuel to blow by the rings resulting in fuel wash of the cylinders. When the fuels blew past the rings, it washed out the film of oil which seals the cylinders and that was why we were getting low compression on those two cylinders. He had the mechanic add a little oil to each of the cylinders in question, put the valve cover back on, restore the spark plugs and try to start the car. Guess what, fired up on the first try.

There are no fault codes in the computer, no indication as to what it might be. He's going to keep the car over the weekend and see if he can come up with any imperical evidence as to what might have caused this - temp sensor, thermostat, whatever.

Some of these engines had a recall on the high pressure fuel pump so he asked me to call Mini and see if there were any campaigns out for my vin. there aren't.

If by the beginning of next week we still haven't found a smoking gun, we've got a couple of choices 1.) replace a few likely candidates and see if that resolves the problem or 2.) leave it be and see if the problem reoccurs, hopefully with more information.

I'm an incredibly relieved owner. I have to admit that I truly do enjoy this car. Don't know that I will ever by another one, but this car just puts a smile on my face.