I'm not picking on anyone. Just giving the facts....

I do have a replacement vehicle now. First time it has a major failure I'll do just that... gone in a heartbeat, of course after it's repaired.

 

So finally I have a bit of detail from the dealership. Turns out that the crankshaft and tommy chain broke. Has anyone heard of these breaking? My understanding is that it is very very rare.

I spoke with some car experts and everyone has said that replacing the engine lowers re-sale value and there is a possibility that it might not "sit" as well as it would if it was done in the factory, so obviously I'm concerned.

I spoke with Mini about getting a new car and they are looking into it. I'm optimistic.

We were going to order a clubman this month actually so now I'm not sure if I want to do that.

 

On the R56 MINIs the Crank bolt basically keeps the timing chain timed. Once the bolt comes loose, the timing is off and this causes the valves to hit the tops of the pistons heads. Sounds like that happened. We had one on an Automatic MINI, the other 2 were manual Trans and were obvious over rev. from the owner. One went up to 89000rpms and the other hit 9400rpms.
These engines aren't to freingdly to those who over rev, please try to keep it below the red line.

Hope all goes well. Enjoy your MINI either way.

 

Which is why we call it a "money shift" when you downshift to an over-rev like that.

 

Djam, your posts make me thirsty! Only a trip to St. James's Gate will help!

 

I never over reved. So, what could have caused the crankshaft to break? The dealership isn't giving me more info and it took them 4 days to complete the diagnosis. I have a feeling they might be holding back some info.

 

I think they are being straight with you. It takes a while when there are multiple pieces that are broken to figure out what broke first. Its called root cause analysis. What you are looking for is WHY it broke. That can only be done with metalurgical analysis. There may have been a flaw in one of the parts that eventually gave way. Its a one in a million, but it happens.

Look at the DC10 that lost its engine about 20 years ago and they made a crash landing in Sioux City, IA. After a year or so of analysis it was determined that a flaw in one of the turbine blades forced it to let go, taking out the engine. This in turn took out the primary and backup hydraulic systems, which was one of those "would never happen" events but did happen. This in turn forced them to re-design the hydraulic systems.

I totally commiserate with you on having to get a new motor. Its a rare event and when it happens to you it sucks, but these are mechanical beasts put together and designed by human beings. We all have flaws and we all make mistakes.

 

I demand a new car or sell the minute it is fixed, Its too bad the MINI buying rush is over, as the dealers have many now in stock, it will not hit Carfax for up till 6 months, so sell it quick

 

Yes indeed, I worked as an apprentice electrician in Guinness Brewery in Dublin in the 60s. Great stuff.--- BTY, I owned the original '64 Austin Mini 850cc w 3 speed gearbox back then.(like driving a rollerskate)

 

Cybergypsy, I shouldn't have to jump through such hoops since this is mini's responsibility. I'm optimistic about getting a new car.

 

I thought the R56 has a rev limiter which keeps you from going past redline.

 

You can still money shift - e.g. shifting down from 5th to 2nd instead of 4th, accidentally, at highway speeds. In this case, you mechanically over-rev the engine before the ECU can step in... When this happens, bad stuff occurs.

 

but only an idiot would do that unless they were first learning stick or something but even that is rare as there's a lot of resistance in the shifter downshifting to low gears when going that fast.

 

You don't have to be an idiot to miss a shift and it only takes one mistake.

 

+1
I've known experienced people who did a money shift. One is a DE instructor and a club racer. He's not an idiot by any criteria I use to measure. No one wants to money shift, but it happens.

That's what I liked about the SMG II on my M3 (or SMG III on the M5/M6). Impossible to money shift. Ditto for the DCT on the new M3.

 

I hope itall works out for you just giving you a heads up, if they say it was abused, they might not go for it I have seen this happen:(

 

Also consider that the syncromesh will have to speed the clutch plate up to the XX,XXX RPM for that gear before you let the clutch out.

This can often just explode the clutch plate and save the engine crankshaft from the overspeed damage,
however this would still be a dangerous and expensive last shift.

 

Quick question- how bad of a money shift does it have to be for the vehicle to sustain damage? Are we talking about 4th to 2nd? I did this before while accelerating. Was going from 3rd to 4th but slipped it into 2nd instead. I saw the tacho jump but not beyond 6k rpms- I don't keep high rpms(usually shifting when it hits just before 3k rpms.

 

We're talking about shifts that take it way beyond redline.

3rd to 2nd and staying within normal range is fine.

 

Just heard back from Mini. They are unwilling do anything about the fact that I might lose value on my car due to the engine replacement. They made it sound like they were doing me a favor by replacing the engine. They wouldn't even agree to giving me extended warranty. Frankly, I'm surprised and of course highly disappointed. I guess we won't be buying the clubman after all given this bad experience.

 

Bummer about the engine, but it is nice to get another engine with no miles on it. Good thing it happened at 35k miles.

 

Guess people don't understand until this happens to them... it's not nice to get a new engine. It's GREAT that the broken one is removed and replaced. I would not even consider a vehicle that has a non-factory engine.

Does anyone have statistics that show failure trends after engine replacement on street vehicles?

I'll guess there higher risk for multiple failures as a direct result of the field replacement. Mine was never the same again.

It came back having a higher level of ambient noise, steering wheel out of center, hood sticking on headlamp, smelled like buring oil for weeks... Transmission failed... in shop for two weeks.. second day after the first transmission.... three weeks in the shop on to transmission #2 ...should I go on? Now during the time a spent at the repair shop I had to wonder why there were SOOO many other MINI's lined up for repair.

 

SeJayAre, it sounds like the dealership that worked on your car didn't do a very good job. It is possible to replace an engine and have everything be good, but as with most things...it's only as good as the folks that worked on it.