Good catch on the VANOS connector. I hadn't noticed that. 99% of my attention was outside of the engine compartment. I just went out and looked and the connector is broke. The lockbridge (metal part under my hand that goes front strut to strut and supports the radiator) was bent. During my NASCAR repair, I straightened it best I could. I am guessing the boost air duct got it as nothing else in that area is/was bent. I bet that is the reason for my limp mode.

I think it is doable as well. I am not looking at resale, I will drive it till it drops. I have been monitoring two Auto Salvage Auction sites. Two sold this week that would have gotten me all the parts I need for $2400 & $2600. I really didn't want either, one was in NV farther than I care to pick up, the other had an automatic tranny. If I buy one, I would rather have engine/tranny to rebuild as a hobby if mine lets go.

 

A lot of that depends on your financial situation. I am 59 years old, I have had one at fault accident (I was 22 then), and hit 3 deer (Had full coverage on the vehicle I was driving then). Since I have worked sales all over the Midwest, I have driven over 1,500,000 miles. My last three work vehicles add up to over 1 million miles when I sold them (1992 Chevy S10 210000, 1996 Ford 350 Powerstroke 365000, 2016 Chevy 3500 Duramax 465000) I have had no other accidents in my life. I am a defensive driver but this one just happened too fast, too close to even react.

The one thing I did find out is you can get uninsured motorist coverage for your car CHEAP. I will add that. There are too many out on the road today.

 

CSM - USAA all the way, esp for folks that wear the uniform.

 

I quoted a few years ago. They couldn't beat my current State Farm price/coverage.

In the past whenever a insurance rep said uninsured motorist, you never really heard the "bodily injury" part. I thought it was anything. Now I know.

 

Went to a pick & pull and got a new to me connector ($7.50). Soldered it in and now my go fast is back, no more limp mode. Thanks for catching that.

Now if I can just find out for sure if the other driver had insurance or not, will determine my course of action.

 

Why isn't your insurance company trying to find that out? It'd be in their own best interest to limit their own financial liability and dig that money out of the hide of the person (and their insurance company) that crashed into your MINI. They're supposed to be looking out for your interests here. Along with their own.

No lawsuits involved? Would this be a no-fault insurance claim?

 

They still haven't received the police report. I am calling the Sheriff's office again tomorrow with a "WTF" where is my police report question. Today was two weeks since it happened.

BTW, fixed the boost air duct with tile tape. It is basically 2" heavy duty electrical tape. Once you have had it, you will always want some, kind of like duct tape.

 

Speaking of ducts, and to keep this thread within the bounds of this MINI Coupé (R58) discussion, this story:

About a year or so ago, I went about changing the air filter. Popped the cover and found that much of the space below the filter was filled with seeds, acorn bits, and lots of leafy bits. Turned out that a chipmunk thought he or she had found the perfect spot to snuggle down for the winter and keep a food stash handy. Not what I wanted though. So after cleaning it all out and putting in the new air filter, I made this simple mod to the air intake just inboard of the driver's side headlight:


Critter barrier

Works like a charm, needless to say.

.

 

Chicken fence to the rescue! I used that as a temporary grill on my Chevy 3500 after plowing into a deer till I got it fixed properly.

We don't have a chipmunk issue but field mice. They will nest in an idle vehicle and chew through wires causing an electrical nightmare. My dad had a truck that sat for one week and the little buggers chewed through a couple wires. Took my brother and I over two hours just to find where it was, 10 minutes to fix. Thankfully it wasn't severe.

 

The most expensive chewed wire issue I've had to deal with was after another nest of chipmunks chewed through a cylinder head temp sensor wire in my 2011 Ford Flex. I gave up trying to get to the sensor connector which was located in the valley between the V6 cylinder heads in top middle area of the engine. Doing it properly would have required disassembly of everything above and including the intake manifold, a job I was just not willing to do myself, so I took it to my local Ford dealer to take care of. $500 later it was fixed by splicing a new wire to the sensor connector. Never a dull moment.. https://www.fordflex.net/forums/view...242442#p242442

 

Well I bought a parts/donor car. Going to Alabama Sunday to pick it up Monday. It has the stuff I need plus some stuff I wanted. Being it is a JCW, it has the color side rails and the R112 rims and the headlights. Once I get all I need off it, I plan on taking a few "backup" parts like the drive assembly for the spoiler, any and all electric boxes (footwell, fusebox etc.) then offering anything else for sale.

 

Drive from Ohio to Alabama 11.5 hours. No major incidents but a LOT of idiots on the road for a Sunday.

Pick it up tomorrow at 8:30 AM then the drive back.

 

CSM - have a safe trip back. I'm sure that more than a few folks here would take that R59 off your hands in a skinny minute if you decided not to use it for a parts vehicle. That's a rare bird you've gotten yourself.

 

Yes and no. Vehicle history has a couple owners and several fender benders. I don't think it was shown much love.

If it weren't for the flood damage, I would consider repairing it but I have no idea on the electronics/mechanical ​​at this point. I also do not care for the brown interior.