Patient: 08 R56S with 107,000 miles, K&N intake, soda blasted valves, new timing chain, new valve cover, new HPFP all within the last year. OCC as of 2 months ago.

Problems: Small exhaust leak near V-band clamp. Possible oil leak but nothing obvious. Smoke at low speeds, especially in stop and go scenarios, smoke comes out from engine bay, hood scoop, into the cabin (because **** me right?) and seems to also come out of the exhaust behind the car although it's possible the smoke is coming from under the hood and only seems to come from the back on occasion when I go forward and push through the smoke... if that makes sense. Smoke smells a lot like burning plastic, I'm pretty sure it's oil. There's no coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant.

Also, I'm getting all the sounds appropriate for a turbocharged car, spool-up, wastegate whoosh ect, but my scan gauge has never registered higher than 3lbs of boost at pretty close to redline. I finger ****ed the turbo and it spins extremely easily but there's a very noticeable amount of "play" laterally. pushed in or pulled out it still spins freely with no noticeable hang ups and if I had to put a number to how much play we're talking about I'd say it's about an 1/8th of an inch. I know and understand why the scan gauge registers negative boost pressure at low rpm but from what I've been able to gather under boost I should be seeing at least 8+ psi.

The car still drives fine. I've got almost a complete exhaust system ready to be installed to "repair" the exhaust leak but I've been held up by choosing a tune and timing it right between paychecks and having the time to send the ecu of my only car off to be reprogrammed. Now with some of these developments and the evidence from the scangage (BTW there are no CEL's or anything at all) it seems like I may have to replace my turbo and all it's oil feed lines and hardware (because living in new england all the nuts and bolts have rusted to **** and getting them off will likely destroy their ability to serve a purpose) ...

I simply don't have the money to have my exhaust welded, ecu tuned, price of new turbo.. I love my car, I've put a lot of time and effort into her but this is really putting me between a rock and a hard place. I'm moving back to seattle in july and the plan was to drive from here to there... I'm not confident she could make the journey. What do you guys think?

Also, I've seen some turbos on EBAY and a few other sites from 400-650 or so... anyone have any experience with these?

Thank you all for your time, any input at all is much appreciated.

 

Your oil leak is from one of a few areas. First if you've not replaced them the seals between the oil filter adapter housing and the block will leak at those miles. While your there replace the oil cooler seals, and the turbocharger oil feed line and return line under the turbo as well. Take off the turbo and exhaust manifold and you will see that your waste gate pivot arm and shaft are worn out . This will effect boost. It could be your exhaust leak. http://m.jmturbocoopers.com/ Will sell you a reconditioned or new exhaust side of your turbo. I've just done
This repair and no more leaks, smell and wow I've got real boost!

 

Part of me wants to go on with your advice, but I'm also kind of surprised no one else is chiming in...

I've gotten to the point to where I'm really concerned about whether or not I should keep the mini... I love it, I've put a lot into her.. but she's my daily driver and chasing after every little problem constantly is wearing me out.

I'm confident that I could do the turbo work.. but there's also the part of me that says "well if your going to bother through going through all that effort then you may as well just replace the whole damn thing"..

So I'm at this cross roads of either dropping 3.5k on her in an attempt to "fix" these problems and I'm not even completely certain that some of it needs to be done. No one has chimed in on how much in and out play is acceptable with the stock turbo and the generic answer I've found from youtube and google is that theres always a little bit of play and there's no specific "if it moves this much in such and such direction then your (flux capacitor) needs to be replaced". An 1/8th of an inch seems suspicious to me but I'm obviously not a turbo expert. I could order a new thrust bearing, shaft bearings, seals ect... but for a little more I could just buy a K03 and not bother with the work.

Attached is my wish list for "fixing" the problems I have with my car, including the **** poor breaking performance but is it worth it? How much longer will a N14 with 110k miles last now that I expect it to perform better than it ever has with these new parts? For this much money I could buy a rebuild kit and atrociously over pay a unionized mechanic to do all the work...

However, if this did fix these problems I'd have a pretty beastly mini.. so again I ask, hive mind, what say you?

 

If your looking for support in this forum I think your in the wrong place. I kind of gave up on this site cuz it sucks. Seems like most of the useful contributors have moved elsewhere idk. I'm surprised 100 vendors haven't jumped on this thread yet...

Anyway there should be no shaft play in the turbo whatsoever. You need to buy a new turbo and replace the cats or remove them at the same time.

Jm turbo coopers gives the best deal on refurbished turbos I could find and you'll just send the old one back after u get it off for a core charge. You can definately replace the turbo as a first timer and Arik at Jm is very helpful with questions. Goes above and beyond for diyers. The turbo comes with a directions sheet with torque specs etc and u should replace oil lines as well.

Don't pay someone to do this just buy a brand new refurb and get it done for less than a grand. Boom.

 

Its sad that it's difficult to get any kind of human interaction, there should be a thousand people whove been here and done that but it's crickets everywhere. Thanks for the clarity bro, really appreciate it

 

Ya man if you want to go "post something positive" you'll fit right in but if your looking for real info I'd take the show down the road. Lol

 

My turbo has about an 1/8" of an inch end-play, it's been like that for 20,000 miles. When, if your turbo goes south you'll hear it.

 

So why then would my ScangaugeII show at BEST 3.9 boost when most people are seeing 10-13 on stock cars with the same gauge..

 

Haha that's hilarious. Your turbo has already gone south for the past 20k bro. You can wait until it grenades and sends bits into your motor if you want. Stop spreading mis information dude. If you think shaft play is cool just leave it and see what happens.

That shaft play is your pressure seals wearing paper thin, one day your exhaust turbine will smash up against the housing and xplode. You'll definately hear that.

Educate yourself and watch this video if you want to help people you've been on this forum way too long not to know this stuff

 

+1 There should be no end play in the turbocharger's shaft.

Also, have a look to see if the diaphragm in the exhaust recirculation valve is torn, it is not uncommon for that to happen.

 

So I caved, bit the bullet and now I'm choking on the barrel...


I have an upgraded Turbo coming in via MiniMania, eventually... when I begin the work of installing it (using Detroit tuned lube lines) I'll also be sending my ECU to them to have it remapped. So it was just a waiting game..

but now my brakes are squeaking while driving, it goes away under braking. No pulsing in the pedal, brakes are fairly new, it seems like the parking brake is stuck on except it's not... helpful local shop says it's something to do with the mechnism in the caliper and how it returns and recommended new calipers + new pads and all the work that goes with it, yall know the deal.

So, I'm already in hot water, having purchased the turbo, everything I need for the exhaust system, I've got a 22mm sway bar waiting to be installed that I purchased before **** started going down hill, and now not only can't I drive my car above 2k without smoking myself out but it squeaks like unholy hell while in motion... and as we all know the brakes on these cars are abysmal..

So again I summoned the financial blood demons and performed the rites of sacrificing my first born to the green paper gods and found Todd at TCE Performance and ordered the whole wilwood brake refit, front and rear... With any luck I'll have a very nice driving coop in the next couple weeks...

But I would like some input on a couple things:

1. Order of precedence. I'm still waiting on parts but I've been considering going to the muffler shop I plan on having weld my new exhaust together and having them fab it all up before I get the new turbo... Ideally when I replace the turbo I'd be able to connect the new downpipe directly to new system via V-Band... But I've seen some controversy out there about changing your exhaust Before getting your ECU remapped.. So what say you guys? Wait for tune or take her in and welded up?

2. Rear sway bar end links: So a constantly reoccuring them with my COOP is that it's from up here in communist new england, so it's seen 8 winters of humans putting more white **** (salt) on the streets than nature, so practically every single time I turned a nut or bolt that isn't new or regularly serviced it get's stripped. And it's not just from me being an apeshit crazy monkey with a hammer either, using the right tools, using penetrant and heat on occasion something is doing to die eventually. And right now that happens to be our damnable end links with the allen key centered on the bolt... So it's time for them to go. I've looked around for end links and of course everything branded specifically for the mini is 2-4 times the price of "comparable" end-links. I've thought about making my own but compared to the price of a normal end link it's not worth my time. Does anyone know how long the factory end link is center to center? I can find 200 dollars adjustable all day adding the word length to any search but the answer I need is no where to be found. If someone knows or has one and can measure it for me I'd be very grateful. I'm also mulling around the fact that being on the bilstien b12 suspension that I'm on and that it brings the car down a good 1.5" I may want to get slightly shorter end links, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.


Thanks guys

 

So your still smoking? This sounds like my own personal saga. I eventually found that I needed a complete rebuild. To sum it up the cause of smoke was valve guides, and tapered/oval cylinders even though the compression came back within 1 psi. Car ran fine just smoked and consumed a ton of oil. It would only smoke after idle and downhills. It was wierd. The turbo needed replaced regardless.

Your fine changing your exhaust before a remap. Did you go with a bigger turbo? What size? I heard just to run it lightly before a tune and there won't be problems. Not too sure about the second question.

 

Considering the costs of all the parts I'm putting into this car, let alone the heart ache, blood sweat and tears, I've had to stop myself and consider the "is it worth it?" factor from time to time.. I still owe money on this car.. I'm dumping more into it in the hopes of making it awesome but I easily could have gotten some old econo-beater for less than what I've put into this...

But the fact is this particular mini is worth more to me than anyone else. I'd never get my money "back" so the return on investment here is going to have to be when I'm pulling a G and a half on the on ramp at 80, or actually being able to stop without rear ending the ******* who decided to a stop in the middle of a busy intersection. But for now that's practically a pipe dream... Until the parts start coming in. Thank God I have a pretty good idea of how to do all this work, I can't imagine paying someone to do this, especially at typical mechanic rates, 100/hr? I'd have to start selling organs..

The turbo I got (that I ordered the Wednesday before last and I still have no idea where it's at or when it will get here) is the K03 super 42 refurbished from mini mania.. Can't blame them for the shipping, btw, the issue seems to be with the manufacturer, the other parts I purchased from mania showed up well packaged and in a reasonable time. We just seem to be having a hiccup over the turbo...

 

Hey bro, if I wanted something cheap I would have gotten a tercel lol. But I feel your pain, it's only temporary, Yolo. Save all your stock parts in case you want to sell it you'll make some of your money back parting out mods. You can mod these things relatively inexpensively compared to some of their German counterparts so I feel like I'm getting off pretty cheap. Going Japanese for me is out of the question just depends what you like.

Tell me how u like them Wilwoods? That would probably be my first choice bbk kit.

 

Goes to show perspective is everything, looking at it from higher end beamers and vw's and the like I can understand why you see it that way. I am coming from a slightly different perspective, lol, I'm a domestic guy at heart and Jeeps run in the blood. I'm not the biggest fan of most of their newer stuff from 2000 to now.. But the wrangler has stayed pretty true to its origins. I don't care for all the plastic bits but that's what we get on everything these days. However I digress. Parts and mods for almost any jeep can easily skyrocket, but for the most part everything is very affordably priced. End links, for example, are basically a consumable for 4 wheelers, if your serious you get disconnecting end links for great range of motion (articulation). Can easily get different, specific length, endlinks for 10 bucks. Mini Cooper? 40, oem, 25 Chinese knockoff, and "custom" /adjustable? 150+.... How long is it? Nobody knows.. Nobody seems to care.. A lot of us are on lower than oem suspensions, you'd think there would be specific end links to compensate for that drop but no, there's adjustable links but it doesn't mention how adjustable.. What's the minimum and maximum length? Little details like this, things I feel like should be kind of a big deal, but for mini Coopers? Complete mystery. It's like the manufacturers are saying "here, we made this for your car. It'll fit. Trust us. 200 dollars." and for whatever reason (partially because they are reputable companies and partly because there's not much by means of choices) we mini Cooper enthusiasts eat it up... I don't get it man.

I can get a set of chromed headers, meaning two headers, for a v8, for less than what we get charged for a downpipe... It blows my mind.

But compared to a Mercedes? Yeah, I guess our stuff is reasonable...

And just to prove the point.. 200 dollars, chrome shorty headers for Ford 5.0, free shipping
http://m.summitracing.com/parts/bbk-1515

One of the lower end down pipes still generally considered to be of good quality before dipping down to the fleabay versions, 350 dollars.. For a flange, a 90* bend, 2' of pipe (or a catalytic converter) , another 90* and flared out for a v band clamp.. On sale from 400!
CNT downpipe

 

That cnt downpipe is so janky your better off getting a press bend custom one lol. No idea why it's in 3 pieces. Headers for an M were like a grand used HA! Ain't no domestic that's for sure.

Here's some end links. 25-30 mm center to center adjustment. Get some cambers. Lots of other goodies on that site too, hard not to get carried away. Theres dps on there.

http://jmtcperformance.com/product/w...-bar-link-kit/

I haven't started on suspension yet but how low did those eibachs take you? How do they ride? Pics? How much u spend on shocks n springs? Im trying to decide if I want nice shocks and springs or cheap coil overs being as they're about the same price.


Give JMTC a call if you have questions. Aric always takes time to make himself personally available to explain stuff in an educated manner, even though he must be a busy dude. Plus he's not a salesman, he's a very technical guy. I like that, that's why I choose to do business with them. His knowledge and availability earned him thousands of dollars in my case. Nothing worse than not being able to speak to a human when your spending so much coin, I hate that crap.

I see some distributors/tuners, (not going to mention names) with no contact number! Lol they claim they do not have a contact number for reasons of being spammed. In the time it took them to reply to me via email I had already found Aric.

Their loss....

 

I had written a full reply but apparently falling asleep and trying to post in the morning makes your "token" expire...

So here's the abbreviated: Those guys from the link you shared are doing EXACTLY what I want to see from distributors, ex:
Granted, considering these are "packaged" dimensions their motives aren't what I'd like but it's better than the "don't worry, it'll fit" mentality of practically everyone else. Now I'm in the ball park. I would just measure mine but I'm avoiding driving the car atm, and the garage I do my work at is not my home.

As for the B12 kit, I have a lot of pictures, I'm just not certain where they are, lol. When I find them I'll try to post them in some sort of cohesive fashion. I ended up going with them because I got a wicked deal, they popped up on amazon's daily deal for 500, I knew they go for a grand and pulled the trigger. I wish I had bought all three bought I didn't have the monies at the time. I considered selling it at a profit and using that to get coil overs but time and money weren't on my side, when no one bit at my reasonable offer and winter was over I installed it. Ran into more of the rust related bolt/thread/allen key stripping issues but all in all I got it done in a day. My suspension lowered an inch and a half, I haven't measured what it settled down at, it's been over a year now so I think the results would be fairly concrete, lol.

As for how rides? I explain it like this, it's like everything about factory suspension that made you smile as you turn in ways that would roll a normal car but better. Yes, the ride is a little stiffer, you will feel more bumps, pot holes will make you wonder if it's caused permanent damage to your car, but it's all completely worth it. And for me, having got the kit for 500 and replaced the entire factory setup after 100k miles... it was completely worth it. Frankly I haven't even looked at coil overs since I put the suspension on. My only suspension plans for the future are sway bars, shock tower braces, upgraded end links and bushings. The road hear in New England are some of the shittiest roads I've ever seen and I don't have a problem with the ride being "too harsh". I tell you what though, when I move back to Seattle I might change my tune about coilovers... our roads back home are practically pristine compared to this place, roads here make the Nurburgring look like glass... :shock:

 

Sloooowly I've been getting the parts in I need. I'm close to being able to install the new turbo, send out the ECU to minimania and install the wilwood BBK from Todd at TCE Performance, Great Guys!

Ran into a problem last night, installed the rear M14x1.25 to M14x1.5 studs and the "tuner" nuts I have for them don't have enough thread to actually hold the tire on. So I can get longer nuts... or wheel spacers... what do you guys think? With the B12 kit my car is lowered 1.5" and the new wheel tire size is 205/45R17, I'm not a big fan of spacers but it would "fill out" the fender wells a little more. I think I need at least 10mm to get the nuts torqued properly. What do you guys think?

 

Been working on the mini damn near all day... Thanks to new England's shitty weather, despite spending 20 ****ing dollars on the right 11mm flare nut wrench at Napa, I get to learn how to replace hard brake lines... ****. I swear try to do one thing and it turns into 15 other things! Haven't even gotten to replacing the turbo, downpipe, ecu remapping, just want to get brakes and wheels on her so she can sit on the ground instead of sinking the jack stands into my landlords shitty driveway... Seriously 15 other things! And yet another stripped brake disk retaining screw... So **** me

 

Hang in there, you will get through it! When you take the first drive, it will all be worth it!

 

I feel your pain. Here is what I do -
I own 6 cars. 3 MINIs. I work slow and try not to get pissed off. Much more enjoyable if ur not upset. If I am having trouble I walk away and try again later. Cars cost money but you save a ton doing the work Urself. So even if you screw up sometimes you can repeat the repair and still pay less than a shop. One of my 3 MINIs will get modded and used for fun track days. Can't wait to start.

 

I thunked I has a problem when I watch video but realized I had a buick converor.
ISAMIN