First off, forgive me if this is not the place to post this, still learning to navigate this site.

I picked up my first Mini Cooper S - 2013 with 76k on it. N18B16A engine. --- $1000 = too good of a deal to pass up!

Purchased this as a project and might be in over my head. The Cooper is mint inside and out, but the engine needs help. I picked this up non-running, with low compression, and misfires in cylinders 3 and 4. I knew it needed a new head gasket because of what the previous owners told me about their breakdown and all the white smoke. I've replaced the head gasket and all head bolts, valve cover gaskets, and plugs, along with the timing chain, because why not? Finished buttoning everything back up, and I could not get the car to start. She will crank and almost start but nothing. Also has a lot of error codes listed below, which seems surprising.

Things I've checked - compression seems fine, the fuel tank is full, fuel is getting to plugs, and the new plugs seem to be burning what is there.
I did lock the cams and crankshaft when changing the timing chain and head gasket, so none of that should have changed, causing poor timing.

Any help would be appreciated - Not afraid to take it to a dealer, but if I can solve this at home, I would much rather do that.

Here's the list of codes:
P1644
P053A
P15B8
P15B9
P18B9
P18B8
P1776
P1777
P15C9
P15C8
P0300

 

P1644: Could not find any MINI specific info on this code.

P053A: PCV heating element issue.

Link:

https://www.autocodes.com/p053a_mini.html


P codes are power train codes. The '1' means the code is manufacturer specific. You need a trustworthy list of MINI codes for your MY MINI.

In the meantime you can search the various codes using something like this:

2013 MINI COOPER S P15B8

Think you can put the P15B8 in quotes and the search will show hits that have the code present.

P15B8
P15B9
P18B9
P18B8
P1776
P1777
P15C9
P15C8

P0300: Random/multiple misfires.

Go through the code list and build up a document that has some info for every code. Be aware a P1XXX code for a MINI will not be the same as for some other brand of car. So be sure if you get a link to some info regarding P1XXX it is for a MINI and ideally for the model year of your car.

Once you have the document as complete as you can make it you will probably see a pattern.

I will make a WAG and offer all those codes suggests an electrical issue, battery is weak or there's a wiring issue. My info is that at least with some model years a low battery can result in damage to the ECU. So you want to be sure the battery is good. Fully charged. And all the battery cabling/ground straps and connections are good.

 

Start going through the codes here: https://bmwfault.codes