Like the title says,

2010 Mini Cooper S (6 spd manual)
72,000 Miles second owner. Stock
Wife primarily drove - Regular Maintenance performed.

Recently Noticed the car start to feel like it was loosing power in the upper powerband. Short time later, it stuttered at the turbo spooled up and went into limp mode.

Local Mechanic checked it out and got the Cylinder 3 super knock. We tried to flush the intake valves hoping it was a intake valve carbon build up. Drove it for one day, made the super knock stutter again and went back into limp mode.

Today took it to Mini of Escondido for diagnostics.

Verdict = Faulty Turbo - Repair $3800

It's hard for me to believe a well cared for Mini with 70k has a blown turbo. Diagnostic fee is already $180 which is craaaaazy high already. 2nd opinion and I will eat that again and be 400 down and repairs have not even started.

Totally disappointed with the quality of MINI - Love the Car but this is absolutely mind blowing. I just changed to jobs and don't have the money for these repairs.

Spoke with Way Motor Works and I can get a new turbo and source a shop to do the repairs?

I am down in Southern California any shops out here? Any Ideas?

I hate dealers and don't trust them

 

any blue smoke coming out the tail pipe?!

 

whats the code?! and whats super knock ?

 

Find an indy shop to diagnose the problem. Are you running premium?

I've seen turbos fail on these earlier than 72k miles, so it's not too shocking.

A print out of the codes stored would be helpful, as well as near required if they are telling you there are codes stored..

 

Always ran quality 91
Picking the car up today. Mini has a turbo heat shield recall. This was not addressed, could the excess heat in the oil feed line have caused the failure?
I also like how they have not offered to fix the recal issue

 

Oil coking in the feed line restricting oil flow to the bearings could cause turbo failure.

 

My 2010 cooper S needed a new engine after just 55 000 miles. Piston rings in cylinder 4 were shot. Lots of blue smoke at idle when giving it a rev. Its ridiculous how many n14 engines and turbos fail (my turbo was ok though.. I think).

Luckily for me my mini had extended warranty from MINI.

 

Change it out yourself.
http://www.detroittuned.com/mini-cooper-s-turbo/

 

Here is my pickle, I just changed careers and had set aside enough savings to float me through the transition. A blown turbo was never factored into this equation.

I don't have the budget to tackle this, I am going to call MINI USA and I am sure they will tell me tough luck. But this car has not had the Turbo Heat Shield Recall issues addressed prior to this issue. I feel this is what probably led to the failure!

 

I am going to call MINI USA and I am sure they will tell me tough luck. But this car has not had the Turbo Heat Shield Recall issues addressed prior to this issue. I feel this is what probably led to the failure![/QUOTE]

It's my understanding that the heat shield is intended to protect the end fitting on the oil pressure line from excessive heat because it has a rubber "O" ring inside that gets cooked and then starts leaking oil. If your engine suffered oil loss at this fitting and that contributed to the failure, you may have an argument but I doubt it. A leak at this joint causes lots of unpleasant smoke and smell that you would have / should have noticed and dealt with long before it caused the turbo to lock up or the engine to suffer damage from oil starvation.

Most likely they will point the finger at you. Never hurts to try though.

 

You can try but really, it's not their fault you didn't get the recall done.

 

My wife has been driving the car for the last 2 years. I don't get on these forums much anymore. How was I supposed to know about the recall?
I didn't know anything about it until I took it in for a diagnostic.

 

You weren't notified when you took it in to the dealership for service? I understand your frustration but having the car for at least 2 years and not checking into any recalls isn't necessarily MINI's fault. You can send some strongly worded emails but I doubt they'll accept any fault. Extended warranties are a beautiful thing, especially with cars as problematic as MINI's tend to be.

 

instead of buying a new turbo why not just have your rebuilt? If you can install it yourself you could save some money. If not go to an independent shop.

 

I am the second owner of the car. Extended warranties are BS they always fight you tooth and nail when it comes time to fix anything.

Sorry, but I don't need to pay MINI 150 bucks to change my oil. My independent mechanic maintained the car once it went out of warranty. I also live over an hour from the nearest MINI dealer.

In my opinion I shouldn't have to check every so often for recalls on a vehicle. Regardless if I was aware of it or not. Isn't a recall an admission or a mistake/guilt by the manufacturer that something is wrong with their design/patent?

Anyways we could go round and round about all this.

Research says don't waste your time rebuilding the turbo. Trust me MINI will not be repairing it. I'll most likely have to wait and buy a turbo for 1k and pay a mechanic to replace. I don't have the time. So 1600 to 1800 on my end vs MINI quote of 3900 LMAO!!

Just irritated. There is a reason MINI has lawsuits!!

 

The mini uses the same K03 turbo as my Audi S4's did so I has spare rebuild kits in my tool box which I used to freshen up my Mini last year. The process isn't very complicated and the parts are cheap but you need a place to work and some mechanical experience is an asset. In addition to replacing the bushing and seals, you need to decoke the turbine because it will be loaded with crud from the exhaust stream. This takes time to do manually or if you have access to a blast cabinet you could return it to like new condition in a few minutes.

Buying and swapping your turbo out is another option that will cost a few more bucks (lots more actually) but it would provide peace of mind. The job isn't hard really since the turbo is right in front of you when you open the hood. Try that on an Audi and you will be yanking the entire engine so be happy you have a mini.

Here are some shots of my turbo just for kicks.
Oh, I should ask what they say has "Blown" in the turbo? Are the seals shot so it's burning oil like crazy or is the seized?

Here is the assy with the shields removed. It's like a ripe strawberry waiting to be picked. Great access IMHO.



Rebuild kits are here...http://gpopshop.com/products-page/kkk-rebuild-kits/

Turbine and seal showing evidence of some oil leakage and buildup on blades.


This is the shield that lives behind the turbine. You can see that the turbing was rubbing on the crud that had built up so it was most definitely slowing the rotating assy, making the turbo sluggish.


Oil pressure line showing evidence of seal failure. It was just getting started so I installed a new one.


Here is the turbine after clean up and reassembly.



So all this is just to say that this job isn't a huge deal and doesn't take a very long time to accomplish. Any shop charging more that 3 hours for a swap is ripping you off. If they rebuild it you need to add another 3 or so just because of the cleaning.

 

To the OP: this isn't due to poor quality on Mini's part. Any turbo can fail, and how it's driven plays a part. The economical option is a turbo rebuild, and that turbo doesn't look hard to get at. I'd get a rebuilt from a shop or have that one rebuilt, and use a rental car in the meantime. The timing sucks since you're tight on money, but it's MUCH cheaper to get this one fixed than to buy another car.

 

This and worse happens all the time. Our turbo died at 42K miles, but fortunately it was under warranty. I suspect a (major) contributing factor is the factory-recommended service interval. Combine that with an oil feed line that's a little too small with a little too-tight of a bend, and blam! goes the turbo.

At six years and 20K out of warranty, I doubt you'll get Mini to cover the repair. You can try, and you might get some discount, but you'll probably pay less overall if you find a good independent shop and have them rebuild or swap it. A reputable shop will give you warranty on both parts and labor.

And start changing the oil more often.

You should probably go ahead sell any German cars you have now, then, and buy Japanese instead. I'm not saying that to be snarky, but an older VW/BMW/Mercedes is not for someone who has no (budget for) risk tolerance.

 

I don't know what "cylinder 3 super knock" means, but that sounds like something you need to bottom out and make an informed decision about whether to keep the car.


There were a lot of design changes as PSA & BMW learned about common failure modes of these N14 engines, and a lot of them died from heat management (or lack thereof) problems. A 'super knock' sounds like it could be an early symptom of those problems.

 

Fair enough. Thanks for everyone's input. Looks like I have a few different options. Space isn't a problem. I have a large shop on my property and I'm mechanical. I have a small CNC shop I run a small business out of.

One thing I find shady. The service advise stated "turbo failure" on my paperwork. I asked how they determined that. Was told a pressure check or something. He said the tech ran a test and the turbo wasn't building boost/pressure and said waste gate failure. I had to pay 180 bucks for the service diagnostic. I stated I wanted some paperwork showing what test was performed and details of the results. I was given some paperwork that sti doesn't really identity what the issue with the turbo was.

As I drove the MINI home limp mode went away and I've been driving it. Definitely feels like the turbo is weak. Guess it's a "Justa" now lol

 

I would pull the inlet tube off the turbo and take a look at it. It will only take you 5 minutes. If something related to the waste gate is bad, you might not need a whole new turbo. Also if the car is throwing codes it might not be running full boost.

 

Good idea. A waste gate is a separate part than the turbo.

 

It's actually built into the turbine housing of the turbo. Quite a simple device, it simply bleeds off exhaust pressure past the turbine and it's operated using the vacuum diaphragm you see mounted under the compressor. You can see it here clearly in this nice picture provided by ECS Tuning.

 

Question do you like the car? if so then is doing your own work ok? rebuilding a turbo is a great project. Second while you can work from the service mode I would recommend learning to take the front off, I stop in and give that thought once in awhile and not sure what people think of it, but once you strip the nose off (you can lay the ac on a box) its a whole new ball game, its like working on a motorcycle almost,,,,

As for the turbo knock question all direct injection engines can or rather will get carbon build up, you need to be sure that the combustion chambers, intakes, etc. are not all carboned up. Once you get things clean and running again you need to find a way to keep things clean, Seafoam, walnut blasting, other mods, Ive tried super hard to filter crank case vapors and found that only the smallest amount is trouble,,,, you need to make your own decision on that. Oh turbo seals can leak so need to be watched just check the intercooler once in a while.

PS what are your CNC rates I have a sprocket I am drawing up on a dry sump project for my mini not 100% sure how I want to do things yet thought I would ask?

 

Great find on that photo, DB Cooper!

Yes, that illustrates that the waste gate mechanism (both the external or internal parts) are something that can be replaced separately from the entire turbo.