My R56 threw the CEL code 'P0012' on Friday, 100 miles from home.

Borrowed a code reader from my boss today and it turns out it's the 'Camshaft Position Actuator A - Bank 1 Timing Over-Retard'

From what I can find online, this may be a serious concern. It may have something to do with the rough cold idle (that's a guess). Now, it's been pretty cold around NJ and I've been told the R56 auto adjust the timing to compensate for fuel octane. Would it be at all beneficial to try to lower the octane of the fuel in the tank? (by mixing 87 with the 93 in there)

The car has 10K more miles under warranty, but getting to the nearest dealer is a minimum of 30 more miles.

Oh yeah... Mini of Main Line couldn't schedule me for anything closer then 3 weeks from now. I like their serve dept., but I probably cant wait.

Anyone been through this already? Any advice?

 

What warning icon did it give? Was it a red engine symbol, or yellow? If it was a red engine, stop the car and have MINI Roadside Assistance haul it to the dealer.

If the cam is retarded too much, a valve can hit a piston and destroy the engine.

Since it is a warranty repair, they should give you a loaner until they can fix it.

 

The main warning light came on for a second then it just illuminated the speedo CEL.

The manual said just take it easy and get it in for service. But, with a long commute (200 miles round trip), I have parked it for the time being and I'm driving my 13mpg 1986 F150.

Is it possible that the motor can't compensate for the 93 octane mixed with the cold weather? When I went to test drive a 07 JCW once, that car wouldn't stay running and the tech blamed the gas. He said that they always run 89 octane in the winter.

I guess it's all speculation until I get it into the shop.

 

No idea. I'm in California near the coast.

1. We don't got no 93 octane here.
2. It doesn't get cold enough to know whether octane would be an issue.
3. MINI dealer seem to like to blame the gas for everything.

 

I have an 09 MCS and also live in Northern NJ. I have been up to VT twice this winter w/ 91+ octane gas without issues.

 

It will not be a octane issue. There is another problem with the car. Temp and the difference between 89 and 93 are not going to cause that cel under normal circumstances.

 

Check the oil level. Cam timing is controled by oil pressure.

 

+1 on that.

 

I am having the same issue on my 07 R56S. Checked oil, and the level is fine.

have you had any cold start rattling? if so, your timing chain might've jumped a bit, which causing the fault.

 

If your car is a non turbo N12 engine, that could be indication of a bad valvetronic motor. The N12 uses a large actuator or motor to adjust valve lift/duration similar to some of the big brother BMW's. They fail from time to time and some cause no start conditions.

If it a N14 turbo motor the vanos soleniod valve may have failed or become clogged with debris. If I remember correctly the vanos uses oil pressure to advance the gear position. If the solenoid prevents oil from reaching gear it will not advance or be retarded.

 

My car was starting to throw a check engine light code P0012 – intake camshaft retard error. I did a bunch of forum searches and decided to pay the dealer to diagnose the root cause. Here's what we found. The Timing Chain Tensioner was faulty and needed replacing.


The symptoms were that the error code first appeared about a year ago when I was taking off from a light and almost stalled the car (it's a stick). I cleared the code thinking it was driver error. The code popped up a couple of more times over the year with somewhat increasing frequency. Finally when Justa threw the code on a fairly tame launch, we took it in.


It's only been a few days since the repair, but I'm pretty sure it was the tensioner bolt – and OMG does the car drive a lot better. All of the lurching is gone in 1st gear and I no-longer need sport mode to enjoy driving the car.


I've learned a few things that may benefit others. My '07 March-build stick with 80k gentle miles had a tensioner with a plunger spring that weakened gradually over time. As a result, the timing chain was loose and allowed some backlash, especially noticeable in 1st gear. It is a bit like a loose chain on an old-style one-speed bicycle – push the pedal back and forth and you feel that clunk clunk.


The dealer repair cost $500 and I guess technically, BMW should have designed the timing chain tensioner right from the get-go. I think they are on rev 4 or 5 of the design. I've read lots of posts where the tensioner was a problem on S cars but not many where it “failed” on a JustA. Maybe this is because the majority of JustAs are automatics and drivers don't notice the backlash.


I thought about doing the work myself but was pressed for time by an upcoming trip (I'm typing this on a x-country flight). If you do decide to replace the tensioner bolt yourself, it can be a simple procedure. First remove the air filter housing. There is one bolt securing the filter housing to the valve cover and another bolt securing the intake hose on the drivers side. Then loosen the hose clamp on the passenger's side and the whole filter housing should pull right off the rubber snubbers, thus clearing access to the backside (intake side) of the engine. Remove the other hose clamp securing the intake stub hose on the passengers side and you have free and clear access to the timing chain tensioner bolt and the solenoid valve. (As long as you are in there, you should check both.) The solenoid valve has one 10 mm bolt (I think that's the size, I'm on a airplane), then it just pulls out like a fuel injector. Check the screen for debris. Work the piston back forth with a small screwdriver – mine was clean and slid smoothly. Then lube the O-ring and reinstall.


Warning - here's the tricky part. Don't remove the tensioner bolt without reading up on the procedure. The shop manual says to lock both camshafts so there is no relative movement when the tensioner bolt & plunger assembly are removed. I understand there is a trick that you can use to rotate the engine through a compression stroke, then when you reach a dead spot, back it off just a smidgen so the chain is slack. It is best to have the intake manifold off so you can see that the the cams are not loaded. I didn't do this procedure, I can only tell you what I heard. At this point if you choose to remove the tensioner bolt, you'll know you are good if there is no clunk sound in the valvetrain as the bolt comes out. If there is a clunk sound, the cam moved and you need to re-time the cams. Also you might be able to buy, rent, or craft a cam locking device.


Forum Comment: the Mini repair tech, Pat, that worked on my car was amazing plus he is a NAM member. I've spoken with him several times over the years and Pat is “one in a million” in terms of mechanical skill and willingness to engage in a technical discussion with customers. He has been working on Minis all day, every day since the early days of Mini2 and he builds and races. I feel qualified to endorse him because I've rebuilt lots of engines over the years and have an engineering diploma in a drawer somewhere. That said, I haven't rebuilt many engines in the last dozen years and the Prince has some new-fangled wares (hard & soft).


Here's the point. I wish we forum contributors and moderators could just put egos aside sometimes. I've seen many threads in various forums (NAM and non-NAM) where some egghead thinks he/she is omniscient and things get personal. Flaming is easy to do in non-eyeball-to-eyeball communications. Unfortunately this happened to Pat, and even though he re-registered under another handle, he was turned-off by the experience and doesn't contribute much any more. As a guy that knows Pat only through a few discussions at the dealership, I'm saying we need more Pats. Maybe he is the one that instigated the flare-up, I don't know. What I do know is that it takes two to tango and I'll try harder to avoid the dance.


To other service techs that take the time to help out noobs like me in NAM, a sincere Thank You.


Dave

 

Thanks for the info. This is very valuable information.

 

having the same issue. I get a quick lurch/jerk and the light goes on. What is the part number?

 

Hi, I just read your post and you described my problem. What was the end repair? I have already changed my timing chain tensioner and my VANOS solenoid. I live 200 km from a mini dealer so I would love to save a trip.
Thanks,
Dave

 

I got the non return check valve,and my engine is 100% better now. What is your email,I'll send you a video of where it is. Too big to attach.

 

It was my non return check valve on the back of the cylinder head beside the vanos solenoid.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...367537692~oem/

 

This is what you need.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...367537692~oem/

 

Can you send me that vid of the location? Are there 2? I see one on the exhaust side but I'm not seeing anything on the intake side.

Steve
2010 Clubman non-S
Sgfierros@gmail.com

 

Do you guys have any other suggestions? I have a 2010 Clubman throwing a p0012. So far: between the dealer and myself we've replaced a vanos solenoid, swapped intake to exhaust to verify, swapped the actual vanos motor, swapped cam position sensors, replaced the tensioner to the new version, changed the oil and filter and I replaced the above mentioned non-return valve. Still throwing the code �� Is there anything else I can do other than changing the timing chain? Is there only the non return valve on the exhaust side? I tried finding one on the intake side but no luck. Again, this is a non S.

 

Make sure to leave the positive and negative terminals off the battery for a couple hours. Mine spit the code after the return valve replacement until i did this.hope this helps.

 

Needed to add this.p0012 is an intake code,swap the intake non return check valve as well.

 

The one that's on the intake side is about an inch deep it the cylinder head beside the vanos solenoid.



This is with it removed.



It had plastic all in the non return check valve from a failed tensioner.

 

Thanks for posting those pics and the bit about the battery. I'll get out there and check it out!

 

I just had P0012 come up. Along with P300, P301, P302, P303 and P304. Idled rough but seemed to run fine at-speed.

Pulled the VANOS actuator and there was a tiny piece of plastic that was jammed in the VANOS piston, limiting its movement. I removed it and all is good now. The plastic looked to be from the timing chain guide rail. I recently replaced the timing chain set and headgasket. Little bits will inevitably get themselves where they shouldn't be.

 

Did you disassemble the solenoid? I've cleaned mine with carb cleaner and didn't notice any bits in the screen area but I didn't try and take it apart or anything either.