Well after reading so many praises for the seafoam product I decided to give it a try. Slowly let the engine suck a can in thru a vac line and then when it was done I went to connect the line back and the engine stalled suddenly. My guess was that it hydrolocked so I pulled the plugs and cranked it a few times (no noises). Then reinstalled the plugs and I have a very fast loud tapping. So how big of a mess is this going to be to fix? Guessing a bent valve.


FML

 

u put the whole can in :( should have only done a third of a can. no idea on what that screws up. did mine today it rebrings the life outta ur mini

 

You cannot hydrolock a motor with a running engine+and sea-foam (never say never, but it would be hard)...it is a hydrocarbon....oil and achoal mix..it evaporates (you can flood it, but how fast did you let it get sucked in, the can says it MUST BE ATOMIZED)....Still never use more than 1/2 can...
It may stall when applying. mine did ..made it easier, since I did not have to shut it off and let it sit!
Did get a misfire code from this, but ran great after!!!

Has the motor run till the smoke is gone? If it still has a knock, you might have fowled a plug, and have a misfire......

 

I just ran it for a bit until the smoke stopped. Its still tapping but other than that seems to run fine (no misfires I can detect). I unplugged each spark plug one at a time and started the car, in other words ran the engine on 3 cylinders: 1 2 3, then 1 2 4, then 1 3 4, and finally 2 3 4. The tapping noise was present each time. The strange thing to me is that it does not tap when all spark plugs are disconnected (cranking over but no combustion). If it was a bent valve I would expect to hear it tap no matter what, if it was a carbon deposit dislodged I would expect it to tap no matter what. So basically it cant be a fouled plug because at some point while the engine running each plug was disabled but the noise never went away. I have a feeling that if the starter rotated the engine faster I'd hear the noise with all plugs disconnected.

 

Compression test results:

Cylinder.......psi
1...............150
2...............180
3...............180
4...............180

 

Look at your belt tensioner with the engine running, is jumping up and down ?

Sometimes the belt can cause a loud tapping when it is beginning to self destruct.

 

I have been reading many threads regarding the benifits of using seafoam and I plan on using it in my 2005 R50. I have 136k miles on my MC, does anyone see any issues with using seafoam with high mileage mini's?
After viewing the numerous videos on the web of mini owners, as well as other car manufacturers, using seafoam and the amount of smoke that is generated is, well....hilarious.
I'm interested to see the amount of smoke generated when I do my buggy!
Thanks,
Mark

 

Was that wet or dry? The next thing to do is repeat the test but squirt some oil into each cylinder. If it is a bent valve then #1 should still read low. If #1 goes up like the other then you may have a damaged cylinder wall, though I doubt seafoam would do that. Either way #1 is low.

 

Your compression in #1 is much greater than the 10% variation that is generally accepted. See http://www.aa1car.com/library/compression.htm.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge can quote figures for the Mini? Could this variance be acceptable?

It would be interesting to see if a shot of 30 weight would bring up the reading for that cylinder. If not, I would suspect a bent valve as you mentioned in your first post.

If 1/3 can of Seafoam cleans the carbon as claimed, I can't see the problem with your having run the whole can through. Providing of course, that you fed it in slowly. Does anyone know if a whole can would clean too much carbon??

 

What would it mean to clean "too much carbon"? I think somebody quoted the bentley manual as saying they should be within 7psi of each other. Certainly under 10% whatever the figure is.

If it really did hydrolock you probably have a bent rod, at least that is the only only thing likely to happen if it doesnt go through a hole in the side of the block!

 

ive already got it torn apart most of the way. I dont think its a valve at this point... I pulled the rockers off and pressurized each cylinder. None of them had much of any air exiting the head on the intake or exhaust side. I have a real hard time believing its just a piece of carbon that became dislodged 1. Because my luck doesn't work that way, 2. it definitely sounds metallic, and C. if it was I would hear it when cranking. Its actually kinda nice to tear into the car this far so I can learn the engine better and not be in the dark every time it does something funky. It also had a coolant leak that I was having trouble tracking down and has always stumbled almost to stall just about every time it get started.


I guess the next thing I am going to do is pull the head off...


In the pic below you see the passenger side engine mount... is it supposed to be 2 pieces like that???

Are there any sensors or other things I should replace while I have it this far apart. Nothing seems bad but it does have 95k miles on it so I'd rather do those preventative maintenance things now while its easy.

 

That mount is toast.....pretty sure....I'd fix it....and see if the tap goes away before you dig deeper!! You might have been hearing the motor rocking, and bumping something....

 

okay I think I found something wrong... pistons 2,3,4 all site maybe .050 below the deck at TDC but 1 sits about .250 below the deck!! I cant imagine what the rod would have to look like to cause that. Its not wobbly or anything but definitely not right. This would explain the 30psi drop in compression.

Also noticed a LOT of carbon build-up compared to what I am used to seeing. This is probably the reason seafoam usually does wonders for the mini.

first pic is piston 1 at tdc, second pic is #4 at tdc. I am noticing the carbon buildup in cylinder 1 (on the cylinder wall) and its way worse than the other cylinders... makes me think that maybe this rod has been bent for a while and I just made it worse.


Now where to buy a connecting rod????

 

WayMotorWorks parts out wrecks....he might have some engine parts if you want a used one, call him!!
If you want new, then you could order it...Penskee parts is pretty good...great diagrams, pricing is pretty much the same as dealer....
http://www.penskeparts.com/index.aspx

 

I agree, neither you nor seafoam did this today.

That has been like that for a while.

 

I did the math and for the piston to site .2" lower, the rod would have the be bowed .6" at its peak so instead of the centerline of the rod looking like | it would look like ) with the max deflection being .6". This should look pretty cool, I'll pull the rod out tonight after work and post a pic...

 

If the piston is coming up .250 short, it sounds like you have a spun bearing in the connecting rod journal at the crank. You might be able to spot this by pulling off the oil pan without pulling out the engine. A friend of mine replaced the oil pan gasket on my old '02 MCS without pulling the engine out, so it is possible.

 

if thats the case it would come as a pleasant surprise because so far I am coming up with no luck on replacing a single rod.

 

Actually, it's not that bad in price. I found this link to MINI Mania. Set of them is ~$445. Don't forget bearings are extra.

http://new.minimania.com/InvDetail.c...091&googlebase

This link cuts it down to ~$382. The link states convertible, but that does not matter. However, I would contact them and verify it's a forged set.

http://www.allminiparts.com/products...247520130.html

A single connecting rod is ~$192. But I would rather get a full set (keep the other three as spares at that point).

http://www.allminiparts.com/products...257577070.html

...

If you need further hits, just enter "connecting rod 'mini cooper s'" into Google (replace the single quotes with double quotes to make a complete phrase).

 

I appreciate your help JumpinJackFlash but if you scroll down on those pages they are for the S and Works Mini, not for the std (R50). I've been looking all over and so far no luck really. The dealer said I have to buy a complete set with pistons and all for $1200 and I have found aftermarket for $800 but both seem a bit overkill for what I need. At this point I'm pinging salvage yards with no luck at all, and even considering designing my own and having it made because I'm sure I can do that cheaper than $800. If anyone has any ideas for where I can find one please lmk it would be much appreciated!

The good news is there is no damage to anything else really... The piston has some material removed but it doesn't look like too much to warrant replacing it. I'll measure it out to be sure but I think its fine. The crank I can't see any damage at all, cylinder wall is the same story. There was metal flake in the oil pan but none anywhere else.

Just sitting here thinking about it I am almost wondering if that cylinder wasn't dead or weak, thus allowing the seafoam to pool up until it hydrolocked it.


EDIT, just called MINI World in CA: 8729 Bradley Ave. Sun Valley, CA 91352 (818) 768-4800. He said they have the connecting rods with piston attached (since its a pressed pin) for $60!!! That sounds like a winner to me! Have to wait to order it until tomorrow.

 

So was the tapping the sound of the piston skirt hitting one of the crankshaft counterweights? (I'm assuming that's what wore away the bottom of the skirt?) Considering the amount of material removed, I'm surprised the noise wasn't louder.

Glad to hear you found an inexpensive replacement that also saves you the decision of whether or not to re-use the stock piston!

 

Yes, the crank was contacting the bottom of the piston causing the tapping sound.

Oh and for the record, I ran a whole can of SeaFoam thru this engine and look at the pics, its still caked with carbon. SeaFail lol.

 

Haha I lol'd pretty hard at SeaFail.

 

Now you know why I never let that stuff touch my engines. Italian tune up all the way.

Those pictures are pretty crazy. Makes my head hurt imagining all the weird forces going ton when that thing actually was moving.

 

Did you take a photo of the intakes and valves on the head? That is where the Seafoam is supposed to do most of it's work.

Dave