They are no different than any other dealer network. Any proof to your statement. Ive encountered loads of thieves in the non dealer shops over the years, not really any different, you just have to either be super knowledgeable or get second opinions on all major repairs.

 

Agreed. Most dealers are expensive but their people are competent. Indy shops can be good or bad; ask around about them. As always, this is one reason you SHOULD know enough about cars to ask intelligent questions and get reasonable answers from any repair shop.

Ignorance is expensive. Being ignorant about your car can be VERY expensive.

 

I'm a woman...live in nyc...found a rat under my hood the first time i made an attempt to look myself...so that may never happen again

not many people here drive. i wish i had someone to teach me.

 

Dang! In 40+ years of working on cars, I haven't run into that! Talk about negative reinforcement....

One thing you can do if you suspect a problem is to Google the symptoms in a forum like this. YouTube has a fair amount of helpful info too, provided you can narrow down the symptoms to make a guess. And if you have a "car guy" friend, it doesn't hurt to ask for ideas. My friends do it a lot.

I found your post;

"Blowby" isn't a very precise term. It normally means something like "the engine is worn and the piston rings aren't sealing as well as they should, so you have low compression in this cylinder. Therefore, compressed gasses from the cylinder are pushing past the rings into the crankcase, causing the crankcase to be pressurized."

This is a specific problem that testing for a water pump or a valve cover would not necessarily find. However, if there was a lot of pressure getting into the crankcase and inside the engine, that excess pressure might have been responsible for the leak in the valve cover gasket. Too much pressure could force oil past any gasket.

In that regard, the third inspection might have been necessary to get past the other problems and find a deeper cause.

A compression test at an independent shop should tell you whether you have a problem cylinder or not. Those numbers are not hard to interpret and a bit of Googling will explain them. This is basically getting a second opinion before spending a lot of money, which is a very good idea. The shop can explain the numbers, too. (More info: http://www.gregsengine.com/cylinder-...n-testing.html)

IF you have a major engine problem, you don't need "a new engine". That's what dealers do, because they'er not in the practice of rebuilding engines. You can have the engine rebuilt at an indy shop - it isn't cheap, but it's a lot less then buying a new engine from a dealer.

OR - you can have an indy shop check wrecking yards in the area for a crashed Mini with the same engine as yours. You can buy the used engine and have them install it. Hey - it's a used car, why not a used engine? I did this for my daughter's 1999 jeep Cherokee and got her back on the road a few years ago for $1700 installed.

Does this help?? Forums are helpful with stuff like this...

 

I'll add some...while the compression test tells you that you have troublesome cylinder, the leakdown test gives some insight on why. Basically you pressurize the troublesome cylinder with compressed air and listen for air hissing. Air hissing from:

1. Intake manifold - possible intake valve problem can't remember your model year but if you have a turbo S model this could be carbon build up on the valves if it is bad enough. Or valve stem seals.

2. Tail pipe - possible burnt exhaust valve.

3. Through the PCV system - "blowby" - possibly the rings or a broken cylinder. Repair that cylinder only if possible.

A boroscope down the spark plug hole can inspect for damage. These can be had from harbor freight for under $100.

 

Great idea!

If you pressurize the cylinders in the engine when it's NOT running, you may be able to hear air escaping. If that happens on one cylinder but not the others, then you know which cylinder is leaking.

It's true that IF you have a problem in only one cylinder, you MAY (no promises) be able to have that cylinder fixed. Could be a bad piston ring, could be other things. As long as the cylinder walls aren't damaged, you may be able to have them pull that piston and fix the problem. That would require some luck, but it has been known to happen.

 

Current article on old problem.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/owner...3Jx?li=BBnb7Kz

 

I actually read that article and found it very informative!

 

Hi all
Had an oil change 900miles ago today I took my car to get some new tires and they also checked the oil and other things,the tech came and told me that the car (2009 s R56) 55k miles is qt and half short in oil in 900miles since the last oil change, I asked for a full inspection to see if there is any leaks and left the car,few minutes a go I got a call that my car was ready, went and talked to the tech he told me there are absolutely no signs of oil on any pars of the entire engine that all is dry.!!!

 

I find it really , really hard to get a good oil level reading right after the car has been driven. I can only get good consistent readings after it sits overnight in the same spot. So, with that said,
1: It might have been filled low ( Mini dealers usually fill high, did you take it to a Mini dealer?)
2: It might have been OK,because the level is hard to read and now is over filled if he added any
3: It could have used it( unlikely to show up all of a sudden) because of the cam cover breather system being faulty , it would need to be replaced.
4: The engine all of sudden started burning oil for internal reasons(again, unlikely to happen all of a sudden)

 

One fairly common culprit for oil usage in the Mini Coopers are the vacuum pumps. These pumps have both an external and internal oil ring. when the internal oil ring seal fails you engine literally sucks the oil out of your engine and can result in catastrophic oil loss in a very short time.
Moe than one Mini has lost an engine because of the vacuum pump.




https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...reasons-s.html

 

The car is going for mods next week and since it will be at a minI performance shop not a dealer I'll have it checked. And no the car was at Firestone for tires, yes you are correct it was only an hour or so before they checked the oil.