My MINI is being scheduled for the Version 3 fix. I have been told that the dealer can not authorize the repairs until one of their technicians has verified that your MINI has the Cold Start Chatter issue.

My hope is that this thread will collect ways owners have found to duplicate conditions that give them the best chance of demonstrating the condition to their dealers. Anything we come up with should be done in moderation and with caution so as to not damage your car. Attempt these procedures at your own risk...

Here are the ones I have heard about.

* Cold outside temperature
* Parking nose down on a slope
* Cold start and shutdown before warm-up a couple of times, sitting overnight (the one that works for me)

I am hoping the version 3 fix works. If it does then owners have to demonstrate the need for the fix. Please add your thoughts!

 

I had the 'chatter' pretty bad. Took it into the Mini dealer and they did the voodoo they did and it pretty much disappeared.

Service Mgr explained there was some issue with some exhaust flange doohickey (there I go showing off my technical expertise again...). Mini was 'workin' on it'

I still get it from time to time for a very short period of time.

One other possible cause is the convenience access. I use it because well it's convenient. Service Mgr told me that the OBC reboots everytime you use the key fob to start car. I make a point of doing that more often and it seems to help.

Probably biggest cause is running the car for a couple minutes and shutting off (pulling out to wash and putting back in garage)

 

I recently had mine fixed. I ended up researching and printing out every tech document I could find about the problem them I also video taped the car making sure I recorded nonstop showing myself, the car, and the VIN.
There wasnt any issues.

 

What actually is "the fix"?

What do they actually wind up doing to it?

 

For discussion of what the problem is and what MINI is doing to fix it, go to this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-chatter.html From what I am reading, there is hope.

For this thread, let's try to help those people who are having difficulty getting the noise to happen in front of the dealer. How can owners give themselves the best chance of their car making the noise when the dealer technician is there?

 

Agree! Please keep this thread on topic. Unless people are able to re-create the rattle for their SA, it's highly unlikely that they will be convinced enough to embark on the necessary fix.

Take the general discussion of the rattle over to the referenced thread.

Now, my understanding is that the pre-shutdown rev to 3K rpms (i.e., the now renowned Sequence Shutdown Technique) actually helps mitigate occurrence of the rattle, rather than causing it.

Here's a point of reference from taskmaxter from another thread:

"I've been able to reproduce this problem on my 2008 Clubman now three times. All three instances of this issue happened when I washed my car (but not due to washing it itself). Here is the sequence that causes it for my Clubman.

1) Started car first thing in morning and backed it out of garage to driveway. Did not give it much of a chance to warm up. No engine clatter at this time.
2) After washing car, started car and pulled into garage to do detail work. Again, did not get much of a chance to warm up and there was no engine clatter.
3) After detailing the car and it has been sitting in the garage for a couple of hours I go to start the car to take it on a drive and this is where the engine clatter will start. The clatter lasts for a couple of miles.

I will have to try this again on another day, but I know for a fact that two of the three times the engine clatter started was following the above sequence and all three times the issue happened when the car was driven less then a mile.

What does this all mean? The only observation I can make (with my car) is that this issue seems to happen when the car is not sufficiently warmed up and it is driven less then a mile (again, for my car)."

 

Nice attitude...........

I ask a specific question that might involve all of twenty words to answer and you accuse me of going off topic and send me off to the library.............

No thanks, and good luck with your quest.............

 

OK MD Gil had good intentions, no need to get yr. bonnet in yr. boot here...

To answer yr. questions, well, follow Mini2na's link...

 

Did Rasmussen MINI fix yrs?

 

since I have an angled drive, Im gonna try this one out, altho Ive not had the rattle for over 1,000 miles. As I recall this was one of the first operator behavioural patterns associated with the rattle: insufficient warm up time between start-stop cycles, thus somehow fooling the oil on demand system.

 

Let us know if it works for you. It does for me.

Sequence, I love your listed Location!

 

This is courtesy of Rixter in the CS Database thread:

"Ok, so I did a test:

• Started the car and moved it 10 feet (from garage to driveway)
• Left car in driveway for 45 minutes (simulating length of time to wash Spike). No wash actually occured and Spike was not injured during the exercise
• Started up the car and drove it 10 feet (back into garage)
• Started Spike the next day and he was rattling for the first mile from my place"

 

Yep, those are the same steps that will make mine do the death rattle as well. The exception - I don't have to wait until morning. I have been able to recreate the death rattle by letting the car sit in the garage for a few hours (after I have moved it back there from washing) and then start it up later in the day and the rattle begins.

 

Yes- this is the way my 09 JCW made the rattle. If i let car warm up first start, it has not made any rattle.
It did two times in 10000 miles, both the same, at about 5000 miles.

 

Yep, exactly how mine does it too...

 

No, I am currently overseas for a military assingment, I had a BMW shop here fix it. They replaced the tensioners and has been fine for about 1000miles now.

 

Hmmm.... sounds like we might be on to something here

 

Deleted - duplicate post

 

If I park my '07 MCS in a significant nose-down attitude for 5+ hours, it will display the start-up "death rattle" every time.

 

I'm guessing there is no way to make the chatter happen on a not-cold engine. Which is too bad as I am 200 miles away from the closest dealer. So getting my car to a dealer and then having the engine be cold is not simple.

 

Film the event with a good digicam or similar unit as suggested earlier. Get a minute's worth of noise, maybe with the hood up for emphasis and then get a shot of something to insure that it's definitely your car doing it. You can burn that to disc so the dealer can see/hear it on a pc, not just on the little digicam screen.

 

So i took this noise with my cellphone camera took the car in for the serivce. I was dennied service casue "the noise is normal" I even requested they pull the puma by the given number. They would only type in my vin and said we do not see a TSB for this. I was like are you kidding me fine give me back my car ughhhhhhhhhhhh
sorry for the vent
I fear even if i can make it make the noise in his face he will claim it is normal. Typical mini stiff upper lip ugh
Worst Service in the History of cars costing 30k plus

 

Snid - are you experiencing this on the N12 non-turbo engine?

 

Nope. It's on a 2007 R56 MCS, not the car in my signature or that I talk about in most of my posts. I own both.

 

Thanks - I can happily go back to lurking.