I could use some help here. My 2006 MCS has just under 36K miles and some minor engine mods (15% pulley, Dinan CAI, M7 OCC). I've never had any issues with it..no over heating, oil issues, etc. I just had it's Inspection 1 service back in November (about 2K miles ago) and a clean bill of health. On Saturday morning I started the car up and it started running rough (misfiring) and lots of water vapor out of the exhaust. Service Engine Soon light came on. I shut it down and popped the bonnet. Spark plug wires all connected. Oil, coolant levels normal, etc. Opened the oil filler cap and had some goop on it (yellowish) I haven't seen before. Also pulled the #1 spark plug connector and it was wet on the bottom end. Talked to my buddy and we were thinking bad news...could it be head gasket? Well later on I started it up again and it ran fine..just like normal. Did it again..all fine. Drove it around the block perfect..normal power etc. Service Engine light still on. Next day started it up...running fine. After a couple more startups the Service Engine Light went out. Still running fine. I called MINI roadside assistance for pickup..didn't want to risk doing any damage driving the 70miles to the dealer. They call me yesterday and say that it thru some codes and they want to pull the head and do more diagnosis to the tune of 8hrs/$880 dollars! This seems like overkill to me. Can't they do some more basic analysis to at least eliminate some possibilities before pulling the head? Could use some advice here? Thanks!

 

Your head gasket cannot magically repair itself, so if it were that, it would still be running bad or not at all.

 

Well that would be good news to me if it's the case because they said they won't cover that under warranty since I have a pulley. Go figure (yes I know that's BS).

 

Go to a trusted shop and have them do a leak down test that will pin point a bad head gasket. You also can buy test strips to see if compression is getting into the water. From what you state sounds like the plug wires were wet rain, condensate, Heck could be water in the gas tank. Does not sound like a head gasket. Do not bring it back to your Mini shop till another shop looks at it. Find out what codes it had and report back

 

+1 on the compression/leakdown test. And as for the warranty coverage, I think denying warranty coverage on a blown head gasket after you've installed a mod specifically designed to increase the dynamic cylinder pressure is about as far from BS as you can get. Sure, there are a lot of cars running around with 15% pulleys and no problems, but it still raises the cylinder pressure well above that of any stock configuration, so MINI shouldn't be held responsible for fixing it under warranty.

 

While adding a 15% pulley does raise cylinder head pressure it raises it within factory tolerances. Look at the JCW..it has a 14.8% pulley and they use the same head and same headgasket. I'm not saying they don't have a right to nix the warranty, I'm just saying that it shouldn't be a foregone conclusion that the pulley is the culprit...that would be the least likely culprit in my opinion.

 

The JCW pulley is closer to 11-11.5%, so even a 15% pulley is beyond any configuration that MINI's offered.

 

The leak-down test is the best, least expensive and non-intrusive way to determine if the head gasket has been compromised!

If there is anti-freeze in the oil (based on the two observations reported) milky like substance on the filler cap or excessive water vapor out the tail pipe keep in mind that there has also been failures in the oil cooler allowing the coolant and oil to mix!

If this turns out to be the case, consider replacing the front o2 sensor if it was exposed to oil contaminated with anti-freeze

 

I believe it is more like 14.7% or so.

 

I should note that I talked with the dealer before they proceeded further and they did clarify they are not going to pull the head unless they have to for further diagnosis. They are starting with the basics..compression, cooling system pressure test, leakdown test, and progressing. They just wanted me to know they may have to pull the head if they need to go deeper to find the problem. Nothing like waiting for bad news.

 

If that were the case, then no one would ever switch from the JCW pulley to a 15% pulley and see improvements, as several people on the forum have.

Check out the other threads on the topic, especially the more-recent ones. There was some initial confusion way back when the JCW kit first came out, but it's been pretty well established that the JCW pulley is in the 11.X% range.

 

how many miles do you drive daily in the mini ? if you drive short trips then the block wont come up to temps capable of cooking off the condensation from night before. this will add to the previous nights' moisture and so on . this will give you a nasty looking dip stick and or oil cover . if your coolant and oil levels have not changed and the car now runs fine , i'd look into more miles now and then . allow block to cool and pull plugs, then do compression test after pulling main relay for ignition/fuel . if all within say 10 lbs. of each other you should be fine .

 

yes i didnt read above posts ; sorry .; the heat exchanger /oil cooler is prone to inner failure and will allow mixing of coolant and oil .

 

latest update. I called and spoke to them again and they assured me they will be proceeding with various testing (compression ,leak down, cooling system pressure,etc) before pulling the head and such. The code was definitely a misfire in cylinder 1 and they did find H20 when they pulled the #1 sparkplug. Compression on Cylinder #1 was 145, #2 155, #3 & #4 160 (apparently should be up around 170-200 they say). Leakdown test showed 50% leakage in cylinder #1. Still don't know what is causing it so they need to proceed further to diagnose.

They said it could well be covered under warranty but wanted to let me know that it may not if the mods caused the issue and they wanted to be up front about that. I asked specifically what would void my warranty vs them covering it. They said that if the head or block were warped or they found metal in the engine, etc they would cover it but if it was a head gasket they wouldn't. Apparently won't cover the gasket because that would be do to too much boost in the engine (aka pulley).

 

sucks; you're at their mercy .did they mention wet test ? to check whether rings or valves? if water in cyl. well gasket should be suspect but they could run it under pressure or just do a pressure test of coolant system . they mention pressure test? of coolant system?

 

Believe what you want, K-huevo on these boards measured it out. ~11% reduction.

The JCW package uses a different head.

- Matt

 

Good news. After further diagnosis they found that the head wasn't cracked but that the valve seals were leaking and the #1 cylinder intake valve was bad. They are ordering the parts, including a new head and will be installing that shortly. All to be covered under warranty. Symptoms sure didn't point to the faults that were found, but in the end all turned out well and NW MINI took care of me and treated me fairly. Props to NW MINI!

 

Great news!

 

tell um you'll go halves on an rmw or thumper head
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