I’ve been getting an intermittent CEL. First few times I was getting P0301 & P0303 (misfire on cyl 1 & 3). Cleared codes and it came back again. Swapped 1&2 and 3&4 plugs and coil packs and that seemed to take care of the CEL (wired). Now the CEL is back and I’m getting P1497 (downstream throttle air leak). I checked the pvc hose today and there’s no leak in it. Cleaned the MAF. Cleared the code and went for a 5 mile drive. No CEL so far, but I expect it to come back. While doing this I heard the sound in the YouTube link below which based on the title and comments indicates a vacuum leak cased by a cracked valve cover.


So having said all that, is there a typical place where the valve cover cracks? I do have a very small amount of oil residue on the top of the valve cover. Car idles good. It does stumble occasionally when you first start it, but nothing bad. Nothing really stands out indicating an issue other than the CEL and the sound in the video. Only engine related maintenance I’ve done in the last 3-4 months is to replace the turbo oil feed line. I’m assuming this potential cracked valve cover may be the cause of the P1497 code. FWIW the car has 89k miles on it.

Any input or guidance will be much appreciated.

 

Perform a smoke test it will definitely show where it's leaking from.....

 

Misfire codes in combination with the downstream throttle air leak often point to a faulty timing chain - a very common failure on these engines. In fact, there's a TSB for this.
It's easy to check with a special tool that screws into the hole where the tensioner goes. You can find some youtube videos on this.

 

Thanks for the responses. Hadn't figured out how to do the smoke test yet based on results of Google search, but I understand the principle. Haven't explored the timing chain thing yet.

In addition to my inquiry, I remembered that I can access internal codes via the hidden menu. I have 2 codes:
Err01 - 931A h 200028568E00
Err02 - 9314 h 200031FE7900

Anybody got a clue as to what these code represent? Will talk to a couple of Mini service places tomorrow to see what the can/will tell me.

 

Pcodes start with P followed by a number
Mini codes start with 0x & a number

 

Update on the hidden menu codes I mentioned above. I went to the local Mini dealer (Mini of Knoxville) and they couldn’t find the first error code. Second error code was basically an “air fuel mixture” error. Told them about the sound it was making from the video above and they were pretty confident it is a valve cover leak. I will still probable get a smoke test.

That being said, is there a preferred replacement? Obviously, there’s OEM. Is there a preferred aftermarket or ones that have been pretty widely used with success?

 

I got one off ebay since the pvc valve gets stuck.
or ECS not sure what engine you have but they have them.

Valve Cover With PCV - N14 Engines

 

n14

 

I bought one from ECS.........really wasn't that much.....

 

I used the bremmen parts stock plastic version and still running it, Genuine one crapped out on me after a couple years. Going to got to the metal one here soon. I like the metal and the color it adds.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...h/11127646555/

 

Sorry it took me so long to update the status of my issue. I bought a plastic Bremmen valve cover from ECSTuning and installed it about a week ago. Cleared all the codes and fired it up. The noise in the video I was hearing is gone and I’ve been running code free ever sense. I hope I remain code free for a good long time now.

Ordering from ECS was easy and the part arrived as scheduled. Unfortunately, the small cap that goes where the red pull tab is was missing from my order and my original, oem valve cover did not have that port on the back side of the cover. Called ECS and the guy I talked to (nice guy and seemed knowledgeable) said that Bremmen is bad about not including the small cap. He hooked me up and the small cap was here in a few days. Overall, the new valve cover looked to be made very well and installed easily. I’d definitely buy it again from ECS.

Also checked the timing chain and guides while I was at it. Didn’t see any damage to the guides and chain wasn’t loose. Not bad for just shy of 90k miles!