Catastrophic Engine Failure at 72,000 miles
 

Ok guys, this will probably be my last thread on NAM, but I'm wondering if anybody can begin to explain this to me. Last week my car went in the shop after the belt snapped. The belt was replaced along with the dampener. I picked it up Thursday night and drove about 40 miles. I then drove maybe 5 Friday. On saturday, after about another 10 miles the whole thing went south. According to the dealership, this happened...

A Piston head exploded and blew a hole through the side of the block.

I'm now looking at a minimum of $9000 to fix. The car is an '04 R53 with 72xxx miles. Its been well maintained, but nonetheless I haven't heard of this happening before. Especially given the physical integrity of our blocks. Anyone have any thoughts? I'm baffled. Nothing is gonna fix this problem, but I wanna know how its possible.

I suspect you can find a used motor for much less than that. You will probably have to deal with someone other than a dealer, but I suspect you can cut their cost estimate significantly. I can't tell from the photos in your signature, is it an "S" model?

Yeah it is. Here's the other thing. In the time I've owned the car I've replaced the clutch, power steering SYSTEM (which the dealership covered), complete cylinder head, both window motors, damper, and belt... I could replace the engine, but then what fails next? I don't think its worth spending another penny on. But now, I'm just pooch-screwed out of the $15,000 the car would otherwise still be worth.

More information would help. Why was the head replaced? Exploding piston means running lean, carbon deposits, too much boost, foreign object - could be lots of things. Did the car throw any codes? A decent mechanic should be able to examine the piston and give you COD. OBDII should provide some info as well.
If you're out of warranty, NEVER take it to the dealer. Find an independent mechanic who works on MINI/BMW. Your wallet will thank you.

WHAT!?!?!:eek2:

I have never read or seen a piston 'explode'.:sly:
Sounds like something from a bovine's butt.
Sounds even more questionable if the car was just at the dealer.
You need to find out more what happened.

I think something must have been lost in translation between the dealer & you. I can buy a con rod coming through the side of the block, but an aluminum piston doing it is a little hard to fathom.

I'd look for a used engine. They are out there. Your car is worth almost zero as it is. With a used engine you can sell & not be as deep in the hole.

Good luck...

Is an R53 block aluminum? I thought it has an alloy head and iron block.

I think with 70K+ miles a broken belt is not unexpected

depending on how the car was driven and maintained these are also things that can happen. regardless it is hard for me to accept that even a brand new engine would be 9000 dollars get a used one and drive happy.

Correct, an aluminum head & an iron block on R53 MINIs.

All that was going through my mind is that it must have been one heckuva catastrophe for an aluminum piston to have penetrated an iron block. I'm glad I wasn't there.

This thing just doesn't smell right, does it?

+1

I'd love to take a look at that engine. I'm sure it has an interesting tale to tell.

I bet you can find an engine from a totaled car, drop it in, and sell it!!
I second the wanting to see the motor....sounds like it was an interesting event!!

How much do you want for it??

I hear you can sell kidneys for quite a bit of money. I'd do it for my MINI.

:sly:

The engine block has about a 4 sq inch hole right behind the alternator. The chunk it knocked out was found too in one solid piece. I have some more details to post. I'll be home in 15 min. Meanwhile, I dunno what I'm gonna do, but make me an offer and I'll at least consider it.

Update and Theories
 

Okay, so here's the working theory...
St. Louis was pummeled by torrential rain and severe storms daily for nearly two weeks leading up to this event. As such the roads had standing water almost anywhere you were headed. What appears to have happened is that the conditions conspired to cause hydro-lock in my engine. This is certainly unfortunate, but not overwhelmingly rare. However, what appears to have happened from there is a bit less commonplace. The piston head fused in place, and the connecting rod was torqued apart from it. It bounced around as the crankshaft rotated for a while until either the repeated impact against the block caused its integrity to fail, or it just managed to catch at the proper angle and with enough force to punch through. As I said, it punched out a 2" x 2" square of the block which was found by the mechanics during their investigation.
Luckily, this is not considered a standard mechanical issue. As such, it may be covered by comprehensive insurers at the discretion of the claims adjuster. So, now I wait to hear from Progressive before anything can move forward. My car is one of five at MINI of St. Louis having this issue addressed - One of the others had less than 500 miles on it. Insurance (including a Progressive claim) has opted to cover all of these cases.
I am hopeful this will pan out. If it doesn't, I really don't know what I will do. On the flip side, I'm not certain I'll keep the car if it is fixed, but at least I have a monetary bargaining chip to play in the search for a new car.

Your's is 1 of 5 in the St Louis area that have had a con rod come out of the block??? WTF!!! :eek2:

Hydrolock makes sense. There have been a few of those here over the years. The air intake behind the grill seems to be the reason. Good luck with your insurance company.

Let us know how it goes...

I would like to know what your insurance says about this. Also, I am very sorry to hear of your MINI's demise! :(

Hydrolock makes perfect sense!!! YES I have heard this happen before to cars which put low intake snorkles to pick up the colder air lower to the ground usually at the front of the air dams.

NEVER drive a MINI through standing water!!

If Insurance covers this .... count yourself very lucky.:thumbsup:

Bob

I'm not an insurance adjuster & don't play one on the inter-webs, but I would think they'd cover this. At least I'd hope to heck they would. It is kind of an act of god kind of incident that should be covered under comprehensive.

You can drive through some pretty deep water with a MINI. I had to drive through about 2 feet or so at a stream crossing. I knew it was there & went very slowly so I would not kick it up into the intake.

Trouble is in a heavy rain a deep place can catch you out even before you even realize what is happening.

I'm feeling lucky now... We have had torrential downpours here for weeks... Last weekend I had to traverse several areas where the water was up to the door sills...

You're right, deep water can sneak up on you with zero notice... First instinct is to keep going, until it's too late...

Good luck with the insurance claim...

First to answer the inquiry, MINI here said 5 cars had come through in need of new engines do to hydrolock.

Second, I never had issues with this on my Hondas where the intake actually was routed down behind the front bumper, but the water situation here was obscene. We had interstates shut down in various places do to standing water and multiple instances of incredible rain fall - once as much as 3" in an hour just north of my location.

I filed my claim and my agent wasn't baffled by my explanation... She'll be there Monday to decide one way or another. So until then I can't be certain, but as I said, the dealership said the other instances of this type had been covered by respective insurance companies. My agent did point out that if it were covered it would be classified an "At-fault incident." So that means a deductible and possible rate hike, but the job with a manufactured engine is still about $7800, so by comparison I'm okay with it.