2005 MCS
61,000 MILES
6 SPEED MANUAL
Purchased Vehicle 3,000 miles ago.

1. Was getting SES engine light w/ #4 clyinder misfire codes. (sound familiar?) Vehicle was running fine without any obvious issues other than fault codes. Mostly city driving...but drive aggressively.

2. Performed Seafoam cleaning into PCV.

3. Surprisingly, not much smoke after Seafoam. However, the #4 cylinder issue disappeared. I assumed previous owner did seafoam process since not much smoke burned out.

4. After the Seafoam process, I was pushing the RPMs up into 4, 5, 6 (up to red) to burn off the effects of my regular stop-go city driving. While in full stride 2nd gear....suddenly POP, then the engine cut out into limp mode. Sputtered to the side curb - shut it down - restarted. Like nothing happened.

PROBLEM IS........ Now, every time I wanna go fast, the same thing happens and it "POPS" and sputters until I restart. After researching, I assume this is the Supercharger Bypass Valve (BPV).

QUESTION IS...... Is it possible that the Seafoam procedure caused this issue that was not there prior? Is the BPV a recall item? It seems dangerous and should be a recall issue if others have the problem.

Last question: What should I do? Best cause of action. I know BPV is an old topic, but I hope someone can give me the latest.

 

I have done the seafoam treatment a few times and havent had a lick of trouble. If it is your BPV then I suggest upgrading to the Detroit Tuned BPV. I really don't think the seafoam treatment has anything to do with your problems.

 

Sorry to say...parts do fail, and they tend to fail when run hard. I seriously doubt that the sea-foam had anything to do with a BPV failure if that is indeed what has failed.
The BPV is a mechanical part, actuated by a spring and vacuum...unless there is a chunk of carbon or somthing preventing the BPV from operating normally, or the vacuum line going to it has failed...
Normal failure modes seems to be either spring breakage, or it getting stuck partially open/closed due to wear.

Why is it whenever there is a broken part, even on a 5-10 year old car....one of the first statements is.." Is it a recall item" or "it should be a recall item" or "we need to start a class action lawsuit". Car ownership can get expensive at times....and high performance European cars, very much so....but sometimes crap happens, things break, wear, and fail.

Just so everybody knows....as long as the MINI dealer/MINI USA knows you are the registered owner, you will receive a letter in the mail anytime the car you own is affected by a recall.

 

I'll tell you why......

I juz got the car - I wouldn't get any recall notices.

I pulled out in a "notoriously tricky" intersection and MID-STRIDE the car died out -NO POWER- and my supermodel wife and 3yr old child nearly got creamed. I read hundreds of complaints like this from 2005 - some with hardly no miles on the car.

When's the last time the dealer told ya.... Oh, you should replace yur BPV because they are a (normal wear) mechanical part. Puhleeeez!

If your steering wheel bearing fails on your 5 year old car and yur kid gets injured - you still wanna stick by your gunz? Thanks for your help.

 

Lesson #1: Don't put random cr@p into your engine. Gasoline and oil only.

 

I'm not trying to get you mad....just trying to get you to understand....it is a 5 year old car!! It is not new.......things do break.....usually by the time a car gets to 5 years old....very few people are going to the dealer to get their cars fixed....specialty shops than are MINI centric tend to do a better job, cheaper, and are much easier to schedule an appointment!! Dealers schedule 1 week or more in advance...that is great if my car tells me 1 week in advance it will be braking down....so I go to a MINI guy, further away than the dealer....and he can usually see and my MINI buds the same day, or the next!!
So...let me get this right....you put you wife and kids in a car with a known reliability issue...and then ***** that it almost got you all killed!? It should be in the shop.
Most of the people here want to help you...but I would like to remind you to act responsible, and not to put other individuals at risk by driving a car that has a known problem.

 

As of late, I am riding the fence on this seafoam stuff as part of any regular MINI maintenance......

I have read the reported "no issues" using this stuff, but now also concerned as to what damage it may cause due to long term usage as purpported by some users here. Specifically to parts in the exhaust system, like the O2 sensors and the catalytic converter....

If premium fuels are used, and oil is properly changed every 5K miles....I now question the need for it as part of regular maintenance.

Lets face it, some engines do burn pretty dirty no matter what is done during ownership, and this Seafoam stuff may be great for them. But, I am not so sure our MINI's fall into that catagory.....

 

Given what was stated here. My first reaction would not have been to dump a can of anything into my upper cylinder head.....

Being a new owner I would have:

1) Made a check of NAM doing a search for info on misifires then made my own post concerning that matter to get some feedback. Then in the meantime I would have:
2) checked the spark plugs, pull and check for damage or wear
3) Checked the plug wires for cracks
4) check the coil pack

Then put some Lucas gas treatment into the gas tank........it is Sloooow goodness for your engine.

 

Forget the gas treatment. Plenty of "goodness" in modern fuels. Just change your oil every 5k, plugs every 50k and O2 sensors every 100k. Don't - I repeat - don't put random automotive snake oil into your engine.

 

It's called "Snake Foam"

 

Plugs every 50K miles ???????????????????//

If you have a modded MCS, I would never suggest going 50K miles before changing your plugs.....

First of all, some have a tendency to back out and should be checked at least evey oil change. Secondly, if you leave plugs in ANY car for that long w/o at least CHECKING them, they may just end up seizing up in there.....

And btw. Lucas isnt snake oil, no worries there.

 

but have you ever pulled your head off to see what's built up on the piston tops and the combustion chamber? If you had, you'd know that there is value in doing some preventive maintenance in this area. There are lots of techniques that can be used to clean carbon off of the combustion chamber/piston tops. Just cause you don't understand how they work or what the composition is made for does not make them all "random automotive snake oil".

FWIW, you can clean carbon with water. The distillates do a better job of breaking up some of the gunk that collects on the back of the intake valve. Also when added to the gas tank they do a better job of dissolving some of the stuff that degrades injector performance and the like.

The direct injection engines can really, really benefit from these treatments, as many manufacturers have found that they are getting faster build up from the PCV system as there is no raw fuel to help clean the intake runner or vavle back. For the non-DI engine, there are some warning signs that indicate that you can get benefit from treatments like these. Most notably is a slight knock or ping at throttle tip in that isn't cured by a change of spark plugs. What's happening is there's a hot spot on the carbon that is ignighting the mixture prematurely, and timing pull (the normal way the engine controls knock) won't do anything about it because it's not caused by the normal ignition system. Misfire codes can come from the same root cause, but there can be many other causes as well.

These types of "top end" treatments go by many names and are available at many price points. There is one that is often sold by shops (including MINI) where a mixture of the "random automotive snake oil" is mixed with gas, pressurized, and run through the injectors via the fuel rail as a way to clean the injectors as well as the combustion chamber/piston top. Same stuff, just more expenisve. The dump the stuff in the tank and suck it into the intake method is just the DIY equivalent, it's cheaper, doesn't require special tools to do, just doesn't do as good a job on the injectors as the high concentration/pressurized method does.

In the case of the OP, the loud POP is telling. That seems to be loss of compression that puts the car into limp mode. Maybe it's a loss of boost, hard to tell without diagnostics. It's the limp mode that is the loss of power that can leave on in unsafe situations. As far as hunting it down, easier said than done as it seems to happen only at full load.

I wouldn't guess the BPV as the source. But there is a way to know for sure. Wire tie the sucker closed and see if the same event can still be triggered. If it can, it's not the BPV operation.

To the OP, Good luck on hunting this one down.

Matt

 

Thanks DOC!

I'm gonna try to rig the BPV and do some tests.

 

All I can say is I will keep using seafoam in my car...

 

Nice.......

 

Oh, and I forgot... rebuilt big-valve head every 150k. That should take car of the carbon deposits...

As for plugs, my NGKs looked perfectly toasted almond brown at 50k and then 100k and came out of the head like butter. This is on a tuned JCW at 195whp, so I guess not technically "modded".

 

Ditto.



Jim

 

1. Was getting SES engine light w/ #4 clyinder misfire codes. (sound familiar?) Vehicle was running fine without any obvious issues other than fault codes. Mostly city driving...but drive aggressively.

When trouble shooting this.....and the loss of compression....be sure to point this out to the tech.....you MIGHT have a mechanical issue such as a broken piston ring, etc....and perhaps the Sea-foam just changed the failure mode a bit...from a misfire (due to carbon build-up, from incomplete fuel burn due to low compression) to loss of compression. The sea-foam would not make this worse per say, but could have removed the carbon that was helping you maintain SOME compression, just a guess, but if the simple stuff doesn't work, and you have to dig deeper...a possibility, especially if lower octane fuel (less than the required premium) has been used.
Good Luck......

 

While you have the BV off, clean the throttle body too. Check the plugs, wires, and coil pack. Clean the air filter or replace it. Take to O2 sensors off and wipe the tip. Don't use any cleaners, just carefully wipe it with a soft cloth. Check all your vaccum lines and intercooler boots for leaks. Resetting the computer might be helpful as well. And if you pull into a gas station and you see a sign that says "at least 10% ethanol used", LEAVE!!!!! Trust me, I was in the same boat as you.

 

Fatherdeath has some good advise....all good DIY stuff before you spend $$ to escalate this to a pro....
In my case.....93 octane with 10% ethanol caused me to have hesitation with some brands.....went away when I switched to JCW 380' injectors...not totally relevant, but something for future reference.

 

Same here.

Now just waiting for the onslaught of naysayers regarding 380's and stock ECU....

 

i'd rather not chastise someone on what THEY DO . not really any of my business . it does not take a village .

 

I guess the Pilot in me is just always thinking of safety....

 

 

nice, a mod getting a thread off topic........