Hi All,

I have a 2008 mini clubman s. In the past couple weeks as the temperature here in Oregon has dropped, I've been hearing a pretty loud rattling/vibrating type sound coming from the engine. It's seems even more apparent from passenger side. It does not seem to affect the performance or ride (other than the obnoxious noise) and goes away once the car had warmed up.

Anyone have any idea what this might be? I'd like to be clued in before I take it in to the shop.

Thanks in advance.

 

You are familiar with the death rattle right?

 

There is some noise to the lifters as the temperature drops. This is normal. There is also the death rattle which is def louder. Maybe a video or audio clip will help? I was terrified my first winter with all the news on death rattle, but I had my tensioner measured and no issues

 

Is there oil in the car? Low oil can cause clatter, but chances are you'll need a timing cassette.

 

+1 on very low oil. If it get low enough on turn you can get a oil light pop up.

Check you oil level asap.

 

Hmm?, Timing chain replaced at 55k, now at 73k. I'd like to think its not that, but it is a mini. I will double check oil Levels. Thank you !

 

You are welcome. Yes, check the oil first asap. Then is you had it replaced , make sure the tensior did not back out or something, if it did you will have a oil leak on the back side of the engine near the passenger side. Double check that.

 

Will do, thanks again

 

So I added a quart of synthetic 5-30 this morning, fired it up (34 degrees here), let it warm up fir a good 5+ minutes or so, it ran perfect on the way in to work this morning. I can't believe the racket it makes being down a quart. I will keep checking in the next couple of days to see if it's still thirsty.

Huge thanks to all!

 

It'll probably be a band-aide for awhile, but the rattle will most likely come back and at that time is when you'll be left with nothing to do but replace the timing cassette.

 

It's pretty much understood (and this thread helps confirm this) that these engines need constant owner attention or bad things will happen. I am sure more than half the horror stories we read here are from people who check their oil every 10,000 miles (not saying the op did this ). Oil gets low bad things will happen on any engine. But even with proper maintenance things that do go wrong with gen 2 engines shouldn't or at least not to the degree I am been reading on here. Burnt valves...timing chain...etc. With that said....I would expect MINI/BMW to have released a better designed engine that couldn't be so easily damaged. I have 2 2003 Acura S types. U can't hurt the engines. Bulletproof. Just saying. That was 8 years before my 2011 JCW came out. Anywho.

 

Welcome, check for oil leaks. Also carry bottle of oil in your boot and check your oil often.