I just got in my car this morning and there is a loud clacking noise coming from the engine compartment. Once I've driven it for about 10 minutes the noise goes away. The sound happens in any gear at any RPMs.

Also, my car recently overheated on the first really hot day this year (100 degrees +) while stuck in traffic. I shut it off immediately to avoid damaging the engine and it hasn't done it since. I'm not sure if this may have damaged the engine in some way but that was about 3 weeks ago.

I have a 2003 JCW with about 46000 miles on it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated at this point. As you can see my Mini hasn't been the most reliable of cars so far.

 

Could be an exhaust manifold leak.

 

Yeah I thought about that but would that go away when the engine warms up?

 

My ac compressor was making a loud clacking noise before it died and left me stranded in a not so great part of town, had to tow it to Global imports mini

 

If my compressor is going out I'm gonna just give up and ride a bike. I just sold my old BMW 325 because the A/C went out and got my Mini!

 

I had a rattle that would be really bad until the car warmed up. I dropped it off for a service, and it ended up being the O2 sensor knocking and also something within the clutch knocking. I get the car back today, all fixed under warranty.

 

Yeah the day my warranty was up my car overheated. Then 3 weeks later this happens.

Anyone know of a good Mini shop in Dallas?

 

Sounds like a valve that is sticking or has excessive clearance until it warms up. I can't remeber if MINIs have hydraulic lifters. If so, a lifter may need to be replaced.

 

Could a valve, compressor, flywheel, clutch, alternator, belt, or belt tensioner.

I doubt its a valvetrain problem (short of being low on oil) those are more apt to become vocal in colder temps than hot. So that would be low on the list... But if so then the noise would be more on the top of the motor. Did you replace spark plugs anytime recently? If so, check their torque and make sure they are tight - loose plugs can rattle (and blow out - which is not fun).

If the noise is on the passenger side, I would be apt to check the tensioner and belt condition. When my tensioner failed it would rattle/chatter/clatter for the first 10 minutes or so and dissipate. If those are good, then look into the alternator and make sure it is running properly.

If on the opposite side, the flywheel and clutch may be more suspect. Normally when the pedal is out (out of gear) and the car is idling you can hear it more than when the pedal is depressed (in gear).

Given the rash of belts/tensioners puking recently my $$$ would be on that as the culprit.

My .02 cents, mileage may vary...

 

Clicking and rattles from the rear of the super charger along with overheating is a classic sign of the rear gears of the SC being chewed up. They drive the water pump. The noise is from the gears, the overheating is from the water pump not being turned enough. I also hope this is not it for your sake.

YD

 

there are two sc's for sale in the market place from a reputeable sorce .

 

Hmm... I'm thinking O2 sensor at this point. (Hoping maybe) It also idles really rough and will almost die at a stop light with the a/c on.

The sound is coming from the middle of the engine, not from a manifold or from a belt. I hope that doesn't meant valve problems but I've been told that's unlikely with hydrolic valves.

Oh one more thing. When the noise stops, it stops abruptly. It's just there and then it suddenly stops once the car wams up.

Hope this will help you guys in your diagnosis.

 

Hardly an o2 sensor. If you overheated, I think you have a serious problem. Head or slapping pistons. Mini has been good to some people that have an issue shortly out of warranty. Friend of mine got Mini to do a major repair 1k miles out of warranty so don't discount them yet.

Get the car looked at ASAP b/c I think you have an expensive problem on your hands.

Check your oil also.

 

Yeah maybe I'll try the other Mini dealer in Dallas. I tried to get Mini of Dallas to look at my car under warranty when it overheated the first time but they said Mini was cracking down on pushing the warranty an extra few months.

Do you really think that overheating for just a few seconds damaged the internals? I've heard of other people having overheating problems that were much more severe without it killing their pistons.

Also, oil level was fine and the oil looked good.

 

could be an exhaust valve . they're known to have burned on a few minis . exhaust valves areknown to tighten once warm . a rod would get worse . an exhaust issue would be a candidate; once the system warms it stretches and tightens . you may want to see if it falls in step with engine speed . count it off and try to get a count per every 10 sec. then multiply by 6 this'll roughly give rpms . usually equal to tach will mean bottom end. half would be top ;valve, ETC. but if it's a rod that's not so bad ,it'll only rap on compression stroke . you can try pulling plug wires and then starting it . do one at a time . if the noise goes away or changes significantly then you've found the cylinder at least .

 

Hydraulic valves can go bad, and do as they get older. How many years and miles on the engine?

 

It's an 03 with 46,000 miles on it.

 

I wouldn't think that a valve would go bad within 46,000 miles, but evrything you describe certainly points in that direction.

 

Yes. Our mini van has a missing bolt on the exhaust manifold and makes a tapping noise until the metals expand and seal the leak.

I really need to get that fixed.

 

same with my old f 150 exhaust sounds like it's gonna grenade till it warms .

 

Chonky,

Let us know what you eventually find out.

 

My money is still on the SC gears.

YD

 

the supercharger would make a really loud rattle/clankin' noise if the rear drive gears were chewed up due to a lack of gear oil. that would damage the teeth on the gears and not turn the water pump caussing the overheating situation. i had a car with this same problem but by the time it got to me the noise was gone since the teeth on the gears were all missing.

but the fact that the car only overheated once even though the noise is always there makes it a bit confusing... you said that the car overheated while at idle right? then in that case it could be your cooling fans' 1st stage not working, this fans have 2 different speeds and 99% of the time when the car overheats while idling is because of the 1st stage not working.

now the noise, hummmm. it could be a valvetrain noise because the lifters are hydraulic so it could be that. it could also be a valve since your are having really bad idling problems, but is really hard to diagnose over the web.

good luck!