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R60/R61 Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for R60 AND R61 MINI Cooper and Cooper S MINIs.
Stopping in to look for some ideas about where I should be looking.
While on a recent road trip the reduced engine power light came on while climbing a grade. The light will go out after turning the car off and then back on again.
After running a scan tool the codes shown are:
2C57: Boost pressure control, plausibility: Pressure too low.
29E0: Charge air temperature sensor, electrical: Short circuit to positive.
I can only get the code to happen when climbing accelerating up a steep grade between 75 mph and 85 mph. Note, that I have to be going between 75 mph and 80 mph, then try to accelerate. Other than that situation, the car runs great and everything is fine.
This morning I dug into it.
I put a scope into the turbo and used a vacuum pump to watch the waste gate, it appeared to be operating correctly. Though I couldn't get and angle that would allow me to see if it was sealing.
I pulled the diverter valve, and it appears to be in good shape (isn't missing any plastic parts and still moves freely.
My cold side intake tube was covered in oil, but very little oil inside the tube. No oil in the input or output of the turbo its self. I cleaned everything up, but don't see where the oil would be coming from.
My local MINI dealership says that this is always a waste gate issue, and I would need to replace the turbo. It seems like if it was the waste gate it would happen more frequently? Also at $4,200 it seems like an expensive way to resolve this.
I'm still wondering if it might be the diverter valve?
Any one have any thoughts? Tests I can run to narrow down the issue?
Update, I replaced the diverter valve with the Go Fast Bits product. So far I like the new diverter valve, you can feel the difference. Side note: if you have a manual transmission, the install location matters a lot.
Unfortunately, I was still able to get the code to trigger. Afterwards I noticed more oil on the cold side charge pipe connection near the MAP sensor. I replaced the Intake tube with a Forge replacement, and added an oil catch can tonight. I'll see if the code still happens.
If this doesn't work then I guess I'll need to bite the bullet on the turbo.
Same exact symptoms as yours and it was a new turbo. Wastegate shaft wears out the exhaust housing causing poor operation. If you have under 120k, do a search on "MINI USA N18 extended turbo warranty. MrGrumpy is persuing this right now for his turbo replacement.
Reached out to Mini USA today. Unfortunately, my VIN isn't currently covered under the extended warranty. I wonder if it is due to mine being a JCW and not a S?
Now I have to decide to take the time to push back, or upgrade?
Hey, I’m sorry to hear about your issue. Sounds pretty much exactly like the same symptoms as mine has. Mine IS the wastegate not fully sealing. Same issue under a load at highway speeds.
So far it’s looking like anybody that has a Countryman that was not produced in 2011 is out of luck on the warranty extension. I’m still fighting with them over it, but I don’t think I’ll get anywhere, that’s why I went ahead and ordered a replacement from JMTC this morning, and am just going to do it myself.
I figured if I’m going to do it, I’ll kick myself if I don’t upgrade a little bit, so I got the JM40/JCW turbo. I’ll post results after I get it done.
Temporarily, for your sanity, here’s what I have been doing. Mine is an automatic, but it should work with a manual too.
There are several hills and inclines around here that will trigger it, so before hitting a known one or an area that looks “suspicious” lol, that may trigger the code and limp mode, I have been downshifting a gear before the incline. RPM goes up, boost goes up, and the ECU is fooled into thinking everything is fine. It’s not a solution by any means, but it works for now.
Let me know what you find out, and if you are interested in doing it yourself I’ll let you know how it goes when everything gets here.
On the plus side, I was able to buy the turbo, install kit, aftermarket intercooler down-pipe, and gaskets for fixing an oil leak while I’m in there, and am still well below half of what the dealership wants for a straight replacement.
The real killers are that MINI wants over $2000 for the OEM turbocharger and then want to charge for almost 10 hours of labor on top of it! I ...... I just can’t do that!!! It physically pains me....lol
Sorry for the delayed replies. I got busy over the week, work getting in the way of progress .
@Manny -- Thanks for the input. I've been following MrGrumpy's thread. Doesn't look like it is going well. Also thanks for the advice on the two nuts. I'm not sure I want to figure out how to get to them right now. (See below about wife's R56).
@MrGrumpy -- Thanks for checking in. I've been looking at the JMTC turbo also. I need to do some work on my wife's R56 before I can spend any more time on mine. I've actually been doing the same thing, down shifting for accelerating before the hills. In the rare case my wife is in the car I *gasp* slow down some. I agree, I can't bring my self to spend that on this issue.
So far my wastegate doesn't seem to be as far along the terrible path as MrGrumpy's, so I'm just going to sit on it a while. Wife's R56 needs a clutch and I'm going to do the timing chain, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, front seal, and the rear seal, while I'm taking things apart.
I don't think I have the will power to fight with MINI over the replacement turbo.
I've been amazed at the quality and price of aftermarket parts for these cars. I don't know why I never looked before, but I might be hooked. On the R60 I added an Oil Catch can, cold side Forge tube, M7 Hot side tube, and the Go Fast Bits diverter valve.
I hear you there, on top of the turbo issue, I have to fork out over $5K for my dog to have surgery to boot! Sheesh!
The downshift has saved my sanity so far. I also wanted to throw out there that another member on here has a slightly used stock turbo he’ll let go for a really good price, I think right around $200
My car is a JCW, which has a different turbo than the S. I need to be careful that I don't undo any factory goodness. I would be really disappointed if I lost horsepower during this exercise.
My car is a JCW, which has a different turbo than the S. I need to be careful that I don't undo any factory goodness. I would be really disappointed if I lost horsepower during this exercise.
The JMTC JM40 as far as I know is a direct drop in replacement for the JCW. Don’t trust me on that though,lol. If you email them they can help you out. Arric there has been excellent about answering the questions I emailed to him.
2015 with 63K on the clock. Was driving up a grade and gave it some gas to pass a slower car and boom.. reduced power light.
Spoke to my local mini guy. He has been seeing JCWs losing their turbos lately.. This is upsetting that this is becoming more common.
I haven't pulled the trigger on replacing it yet as it is fine for the daily but I need to do something about it. There is a small voice is telling me to get out now and move on to another car..
I just finished doing a turbo swap on my R60. It really isn’t that bad. It’s time consuming because of the tight space, but I figured out that putting it in the service position really makes a difference! The first time I did it, it did add a couple of hours to the job because I had to learn that as well, but I just put mine into and back out of the service position for the second time yesterday and it didn’t even take me a half hour, it’s really pretty simple to do and you gain enough room to confidently work in there. If you decide to do it PM me and I’ll walk you through it.
If I do it. I'm having my local guy do it .I just don't have that patience to do it. At the age for 40 you learn what you can do and things that should just go to others.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for updates. This is sounding to be more and more common. Hoping something happens like an extended warranty comes out or compensation if this grows .
If I do it. I'm having my local guy do it .I just don't have that patience to do it. At the age for 40 you learn what you can do and things that should just go to others.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for updates. This is sounding to be more and more common. Hoping something happens like an extended warranty comes out or compensation if this grows .
I spent a good deal of time arguing with MINI USA and BMW NA about it because they did extend the warranty.....through 2011 mine was built 1/2012 ! They not only would not cover it, they flat out refused repeatedly to answer my question of what was done to resolve the problem at the end of 2011 during production? Did they switch parts? Add or remove something? Change the production process? What was done? They absolutely refused many many times to answer me. One guy just kept saying “my answer is that your VIN is not covered “ and he actually hung up on me! If I could afford it I would have tried to go after them with attorneys, but instead put what I could to just fixing it myself.
And being in my 40’s myself, I can say after wrenching on a lot of older cars in my younger years, I was very intimidated at the thought of working on my Mini because of how advanced and integrated the computer is, not to mention the mechanical advances made over the years. But I spent a lot of time researching everything I could about the job I needed to do, and eventually said “screw it” and dove in! Lol. I can say that I am very much more comfortable and confident in doing most of my own maintenance and repair on it.
And as an added bonus, my teenage son is now learning how to maintain a vehicle the same way I did with my dad..... and I would not trade that for anything!
Digging up my own old thread. I've finally decided that it is time to do something about this turbo... I know, I've been sitting on it for quite a while. I adjusted my driving style and we didn't need to take this thing on any long trips (F350 tow pig has been pulling that duty). Now that I'm working from home for the foreseeable future, it is time to sort this out.
I've decided to go with the JMTC JCW Turbo. I'm not too interested in making big performance improvements to this car at the moment. I'll take them if they are easy to get while doing other work, but not interested in turning this into a race car of any kind.
This is also where I'm running into a dilemma ... Replacing the downpipe with a high flow version seems to be my only real option at this point, but deciding where to get the ECU tuned is causing me a lot of confusion. Since this is a JCW it seems like there are differences in the existing ECU tune, and not everyone has the right tune for it. I'm hoping that MarioKart help point me in the right direction. Based on what I've read here he did a bunch of upgrades to his JCW Countryman. My car is a 2013 JCW Countryman, just incase we aren't keeping up.
Thanks for the update. I went through this myself just recently. 2012 JCW Mini Cooper. Turbo was bad for almost 3 years, adjusted driving style otherwise the dreaded "reduced power" error would easily happen. Went with Arric's JMTC40 and Mario's catless downpipe. I will have Mario tune it soon once I recover from Christmas a bit lol. I did the work myself and was surprised at how easy it was. While I was in there I also did the oil filter housing gaskets and a ton of other stuff, see "what did you do to your mini today" for R56.
Once the new turbo was installed the same thing happened! Long story short it turned out to be the BOV had a small tear.
You can't go wrong with the setup I have, it sounds very nice and man does it open up the car! You can always have Arric clean your cat instead of purchasing a new one. No regrets at all purchasing Mario's DP.
I've been thinking about having the cat cleaned. Just not sure what is my best option right now. I sent Mario an email about recommendations for downpipe and tunes. I'll see what he says when, then make a decision. Thanks for the info though. I'm happy to have more info.
I got this error in late May, three years ago and then again a few days ago. Both times going up hill. The car didn't go into limp mode either time. Based on what I've read here, I tried to recreate it a couple of days ago but couldn't. I guess it could be an occasional glitch with the wastegate closing or a vacuum hiccup. This weekend, I'll inspect the vacuum lines. If they are ok, I may pickup a vacuum gauge to check vacuum. Next step after that would be a vacuum pump and scope, I suppose. I'm open to other suggestions.
It's probably worth a quick look at the blow off / diverter valve. It is relatively easy to get to with some long Allen keys. Check for tear in the diaphragm and that it moves easily. Use caution not to loose the spring inside.
I upgraded mine to a Go Fast Bits model early on in the process. It was a bit of a chore to get it installed correctly with the manual transmission.
I just realized that I never updated after I finished my work. I ended up with Mario's downpipe and a stage 2 tune from Mario. He was amazing to work with and everything has been great since. The CM is a blast to drive again. As troyegly said it was pretty straight forward to do. I did break one bolt while doing the oil cooler after reading the wrong torque spec. If anyone is interested I took the time to create a spread sheet with every torque spec I could find for the entire car, because some are importantly different than the N14 and R56.
Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that I was planning to check the diverter based on troyegly's post.
When I started looking around today, I found that the rubber boot (for lack of a better term) is torn where the air duct attaches to the turbo (see below). I don't think that's the cause of the 2C57 code but could it be problematic in other ways?
No problems with the diverter valve -- it looked about perfect.
Last edited by dmath; 06-05-2021 at 12:02 PM.
Reason: Updated with condition of diverter valve.
I agree, I don't think that tear is related to the 2C57 error.
This afternoon, I went for a drive on local hills similar to what I was on when the code occurred last week. I accelerated hard but couldn't reproduce the error. Since both the vacuum lines and the diverter valve look good, I'll probably not do anything with the turbo unless/until the error returns. Then I'll dive into trying to diagnose the waste gate.
I'm going to try to repair the torn rubber on the air duct with SuperWeld. Usually I'd just replace it but nothing to lose -- if it doesn't work, I'm no worse off.
05-12-2018, 06:57 PM
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