Hey Everyone..

Does anyone know where i can find a new or used Mini R56 Turbo cylinder head? My engine was over revved and my dealer wont cover... I am fixing the problem myself, but am having trouble finding a cylinder head, If anyone knows of anybody who is selling one by any chance or knows where to buy one I would GREATLY appreciate it.

 

id start with local junkyards

 

If I were you I'd be fighting the dealer to cover it. They will likely cave in if you press the issue. Go over their head if need be.

 

If the engine was overreved, I think that qualifies as abuse and can void the powertrain warranty.

I think these new ECUs can record this kind of data...

 

I tried to fight it. My friend is a financial adviser at the MINI dealer, he tried his best to put the car under warranty. The car was looked at by specialists from MINI that came from MINI headquarters and was deemed abused.
My warranty is still intact, they said they would fix it but were charging from $8000 to $10000. So my father and I are fixing the car ourselves. But nothing is going to happen to the warranty, plus the car is just a lease.

 

Holy crap, i'll do it for $5,000.

 

$8-10k, they must be quoting you for a new engine. If its only the head/valves . I would be looking at $1-2K at the most.

 

I've only had mine for a week now and not up on all the specifics. Doesnt the Mini have a rev limiter to prevent valvetrain damage? And if it does it should be covered.

 

How do you over-rev the engine? Doesn't the ECU have an interlock or something to keep this from happening?? Seems like it should. Just curious. Good luck on finding a used head, but there should be a lot of flood cars (since there's been a lot of floods) so maybe you can get one of those, and get rich selling all the left over parts. Good luck!

 

I've got a '07 MCS motor with 4k on it I bought on Ebay so check there and do a Google search for salvage MINI's.Good luck!

 

was it from the "money"shift? what caused the damage?

 

I agree. My 05 GTO has a rev limiter. Once I hit the red line the engine shuts down, not literlly, it just won't go anymore unitl the revs get below the red line. I would think that if this car as a semi decent ECM that the engine would be protected from over revving. It's almost like a stock thing on any high performance car. Apparently the MINI is not considered to have a high performance engine. (And in all reality it probably is not a Hi Performance engine just has high performace handling car. There is a huge difference. )

Even though it seems strange to me that it would not have a rev limiter.

Regards,

Pat

 

The MINI Engine does have a Rev-Limiter.

The "Money" shift mentioned above, will go way beyond the Rev-Limit.

This is an accidental downshift of a manual transmission into a way lower gear for the speed of the car.

Would have thought that a valve job and possibly piston replacement might fix things.

 

Yes, I understand now. I have done the same thing in my goat. Missed the shift. However you can hear the over-rev and it typically takes just an instant to push the clutch in to relieve engine rpm. But I suppose in the heat of battle that it could do damage to the top end of the engine. My GTO does not have the "Money" shift protection either as you described. I had never heard it called that before. When I do it it's typically going into 2nd gear when meaning to go into 4th. I hate it when that happens but I have always been able to avoid damage. My car is getting elderly now, it has 76K on it.

I would agree that it should be considered abuse if the "money" shift was the cause for the failure.

Regards,

Pat

 

It would be nice if you told us of your driving history,addons, habits,etc,etc. The ECU should have prevented that "overreving".

 

Another likely catastrophic result of that "money shift" would be an explosion of the clutch plate
and that would have saved the engine from an over-rev.

(Hopefully the Bell Housing would contain the shrapnel.)

 

The car was miss-shifted from second back into first gear. I took apart the engine and the only thing that needs to be replaced are the valves and the head, there is no damage to the pistons or anything else. Just trying to avoid buying a head from the dealer, they are charging $1700 for a complete head cams and all. Just wanted to see if i could get a used one for cheaper. Checked Ebay and no luck, they're only selling complete engines starting a $3000.

 

I can do it myself for cheaper!

 

Just get the head from the dealer.

You are guaranteed it will work the first time. If your looking for a rebuilt head, first of all, good luck. Second of all, is it worth the effort if some hack engine builder on ebay messed up and all the valve leak?

Take your old head to a reputable engine builder and see what it would cost to have the valves replaced.

 

If he does the work himself will that void his warranty? What will the dealer do if he turns the car in at the end of the lease? I could see them trying to hit him up for "repairs".

 

OK, now I understand the situation. You might look at the MINI12 site in the UK to see if anyone is selling a head. Just a guess, but the shipping might floor you.