Found you guys after some extensive research on a recent problem I've been having.

My car: 2011 Mini (base/auto), with 34,500 miles on it.

It's started happening ever since I came back from a 5 day vacation.
Since 3 days ago, when idling, the engine starts to rattle and die. It'd do it This happens usually after a long drive and I come to a stop. After restarting the engine, I have to try put some acceleration so it doesn't die again, seems to die whenever RPM is less than 1k. I recall my engine stopped on every stop I took at one point yesterday. The symptoms are somewhat random but I feel they are increasing by the day. Temperature here is 60's in Socal. I wish I knew what makes these worse, perhaps long drives? High RPMs?

Anyhow, I took it the repair shop yesterday and he couldn't find what's wrong because there were no engine light at the time and we couldn't reproduce the issue at the shop while test driving. However, he did say that the repair might cost a lot of money (where he mentioned the parts alone could cost over $900!). But as I was driving home, the engine light came on and now it seem to be on all the time.

Here is video:



My questions:

1) I've read this could be HPFP and I hear it may be covered by warranty so I called Mini USA but they said I need to call dealership I bought it from. But I bought it used from a Nissan dealership a couple years back, do I call them?
2) Is it better for me to take this to dealer or should I just take it to local repair shop?
3) How much did it cost you for the repair?
4) Also, the repair guy said the problem may just go away on it's own if I keep driving it. How much of this is true?

 

Where are you at? My local Mini shop did my HPFP for ~$400 last year, oem parts. Lots of info regarding this problem on here. I had the same problem with my 2011, see this post:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-2011-n18.html

If it is a HPFP it should record a low fuel pressure code. If you can duplicate the problem while plugged in, the scanner will show active fuel pressure. Cars never act up at the mechanic though.. Good luck keep us updated

 

I'm in Los Angeles. I'd be very interested to hear where you got it done for that price, thanks!

 

He got it done last year, this year it is going to be a lot higher do to part price craziness.

 

I'm also in Florida so the commute would probably make the job way more expensive for you

 

You have a base car, there is no HPFP on your car.

You need to look into other options, find a local indy shop that can diagnose the problem.

Could need spark plugs, coil pack/s, is there oil in the car? Lack of oil will cause an extremely poor running car. I've yet to replace an intank fuel pump on these cars, but anything is possible.

 

You have a Cooper ( NON S ) so no HPFP. I would get a better scan tool to read the codes. Some code readers will not pull up unless there is a CEL.

See below:

We have one here for MINI specifically.

We just landed this Schwaben by Foxwell tool and it reads allot of things, I used it for ABS testing and it pulls and tells which side is bad. Also found allot of old stored codes for a dead battery in my R58 which is like a history lesson of the car, showed the faults in the climate control for the low battery. Unlike my Actron unit , which took a couple time, this read codes right of the bat. Pretty cool device and read much more. What it all preforms is listed in the Product Details on the item.


Once you have a check engine light or sometimes it will find codes that dont have a Check engine light, you can find that P code PXXXX and then google search it or copy and paste into the MINI forums search box and presto , you have some answers.

Professional BMW/MINI Scan Tool

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/ES2975699/









Then you can get it to an indy shop once you have the codes.

 

If you do wish to diagnose this yourself, we have a very good tool HERE. Was this shop familiar with MINI's? If not, check out this site HERE to find one close to you. Now that the CEL is on there should be a fault "P" code stored in the system. If you don't have the proper scan tool and don't want to invest in one, I'd recommend taking it to a MINI indy shop for a diagnosis. That way you aren't throwing parts at it, which may not even need to be fixed.

 

Thanks guys! didn't realize HPFP was only for the S, the symptoms do look very similar to the HPFP issues I'm having I thought.

But I do worry going back to the repair shop because they said it may cost a lot of money to repair this thing.

 

If I don't have one of those scanning tools, how much does it cost to get local shops to do the scans for me?

 

Most reputable shops will wave the diagnostic fee if you agree to the repairs, in many areas legally they have to, but you will spend between $30-125 to have the car scanned depending on where you take it.

 

Most shops charge a diagnostic fee so it depends. Call the shops and ask what their fee is for pulling a CEL for you. You can pay that fee once they pull the code and maybe work at further diagnosing/repairing it yourself. The code will give the technician and yourself a better idea of what it could be and that way you'll most likely get a much better quote for the repair. At the shop I worked at we charged a diag fee, but waved it if the customer decided to go ahead with the repair.

 

Welcome.


A MINI dealership usally charges about one hour shop time to scan. Call around to BMW / MINI specific shops , or dealers to get a price.

 

But back to the question, do you guys think this problem is due to as something as simple as, low engine oil?

 

Did you check your oil,. when its extremely low you will get a timing chain rattle sound and the oil light will come on , or around corners.

Check your oil.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3639300

 

Low engine oil doesn't always produce chain noise, we've had cars come in that struggled to stay running with zero chain noise and about 1.5 quarts of oil in them.

Yes, low oil will cause serious drag that the engine will near stall trying to fight.

But again, you need to get the codes read. This could be any number of things, most prominent of which would be spark plugs, a coil pack, low oil.

 

Just took it to a local shop and they said my car had no engine oil left! They checked the timing belt and fixed some oil leakage and after that car is running like new again. Cost me about $450 for the whole repair though.

 

Yikes, thanks for the update, oil light did not come on ? Yes, check your oil.

Glad you are ok now.

 

What did they do to justify $450?!

We recommend you check your oil at least once a week until you are able to gauge how much you are using. Once you are able to gauge how much you use you can start checking it every other week, but checking your oil at least twice a month will save you from costly visits later on in life.

 

He said timing belt was good and I got lucky that nothing else got damaged due to not having oil (he said I had about 3 quart left so it won't even register). Besides oil change, only other thing he did was fix the oil leak. I did get a full 32 point inspection btw. Just curious, did I pay too much for this? The guy charges $125/hour and I think he spent a couple hours on it.

 

Its a timing chain , not a belt. The main drive belt is the outside, serpentine belt, passenger side. Did they pull the valve cover off. ? Looks like it was mostly labor for that amount.

 

Oil change- Our cost is $96 with Royal Purple oil and an OE filter.
Pulling the valve cover and reinstalling is about an hour job, so $125 by their cost.
Did they actually check cam/crank timing with the required cam blocks and crank lock?
How much did they charge you for an inspection?
What oil leak was fixed?

To me $450 is way over what you should have paid, based on the information you've provided.

I would call back and see what all they did, descriptions of what they found. I'm not a fan of charging customers "per hour" your car is in the shop, that is the case with some shops as you are on the clock from entry to exit.

 

"Just took it to a local shop and they said my car had no engine oil left!"

"he said I had about 3 quart left so it won't even register"

3 quarts does not equal no engine oil left.

 

~4.5 is full , yea 3 quarts is low , but not near no oil. maybe then meant 3 qts lower near empty = 1.5 qts ? Which is even more scary.