my 72000 mile cooper clubman s was recently diagnosed with a host of issues. Most of which i am confident tackling myself as i have been working on cars for a while now. Thankfully, most are timing chain related meaning timing chain, guides, drive belt, water pump, friction drive, etc. My first question relates to the timing chain procedure. I know i will need a cam locking kit and they arent cheap. Does anyone rent a tool like this? I dont mind spending money on quality parts, but 350+ on a tool i will use once is a little off putting.

Second question relates to the second part of the diagnosis. The vacuum pump is leaking oil onto the catalytic converter. I was quoted a 500.00 price tag just for the pump. I am not looking to shop the price around, but i am trying to figure out what the pump does and where it is at so i can locate the correct part.

Thanks in advance!

 

Firstly, I would have the dealership see if your timing chain service is covered under the new service campaign that was released by MINI specifically for failed timing chains and non-updated tensioners.

Secondly, the vacuum pump is located on the driver's side of the engine, underneath the turbo inlet pipe. It has a hard vacuum line that connects to the top of it, and runs over top of the inlet pipe to the brake booster, which is located behind the fuse box next to the driver's strut tower. The part is expensive, but the labor isn't. So any sort of quoted cost for parts and labor is primarily in the part itself.

The pump is responsible for creating vacuum in the brake booster, which helps your brakes work when you press down on the pedal. It's fed off the camshaft, and there have been a couple cases where is the vacuum pump locks up, it could seize the camshaft, since it's oil fed.

 

yeah i figured since mine had 72k miles that i was SOL on getting mini to fix anything. The tensioner had been replaced by mini about two years ago. I put in another one six months ago and that seemed to help a litrle since i discovered the one they replaced was finger tight. The vacuum pump is leaking and from the quote a little over 100 to replace. Should be an easy task on my end now that i know what to look for. Thank you!

 

I would personally call MINI USA and pitch a fit if the timing chain components failed again. I would be highly surprised if they didn't end up covering it, simply because it's such a widespread issue. I personally think that the service campaign isn't doing enough for the problem, but that's just me. If you have all your receipts from when the work was done, parts were bought, oil changes, etc. I think you have a good case to get it fixed on MINI's dime.

 

yeah we only have the one dealer in southern nevada so they will have all of my records. Will see what they say about it. And random odd question. Is a vacuum pump a vacuum pump is a vacuum pump? i am looking at prices and seeing everything from 200 to 500. Is it a critical part to where i need to use genuine mini? Just curious...

 

Here is a link to the thread where I talked about it and the diagram, which helps with what is discribed above. This is for the N14 engines on the Cooper S & JCW MINI part # 11667556919 . There is a different part number for the Cooper ( Non- S ) models N12 engines 11667570813 . Same location though.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3838581

Thanks and good luck.

 

So i ended up making an appointment with mini of las vegas. They did confirm that even though my car is out of warranty, they will be fixing the timing chain issue because i had it diagnosed recently. Many thanks to you for giving me the heads up. Saved me 2300.00. Can send a case of beer out as a small token of my appreciation...

 

I've a similar problem, and am inclined to replace the pump. There's a significant amount of oil present in the lower pump fitting, enough to coat the outside of the vacuum line, even after short test drives trying to resolve associated vacuum issues (half-power indication, no turbo boost) I was looking for the source of a mysterious oil leak which turned out to be coming from the vacuum tank, leading me upstream to the pump.

Is this normal, or am I fortunate that the symptoms appeared before the pump killed my valvetrain? The pump is made by Pierburg...so why is the "Genuine MINI" one 2x as expensive?

 

Hi everybody. Our 2009 (50,000 mile) clubman check engine light came on so we took it to the dealer and found out we had a bad vacuum pump. After searching on the internet, I found that this is a common issue so I called Mini N.A. and they "helped" with the price of the repair -- I guess they know they have faulty vacuum pumps. We took the car to the dealer and they replaced the vacuum pump. The following day the car died at a stop light. Check engine light came on and we took the car back. Turns out it was a bad vanos solenoid due to low oil -- that was low because it had leaked at the faulty vacuum pump. On the phone again with Mini N.A. and they said they would not help with this issue because it is not the same repair even though it was caused by the low oil from the leaking vacuum pump. What to do now? We are out $600 -- and that is after Mini N.A. "helped" out with part of it -- because of a faulty vacuum pump that is obviously an issue. A bit frustrated.