My '03 MCS (59k miles) started making noise. It comes and goes, in volume and frequency, at varying RPMs. It's more of a "tat.tat.tat.tat.tat.tat.tat.tat.tat" than a "KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK". I've had a motor (Honda D-series) with rod knock, and MINI's noise isn't the same. I've also heard old, tired Detroit motors with valvetrain noise. MINI's noise is similar, but not as constant.

What does the serpentine belt tensioner pulley sound like when it's going? I've read, here, that replacing the tensioner ***'y should be done with the belt.

Thanks for any and all help.

Paul

 

What side of the engine bay is the sound coming from? When I first started hearing the chatter on mine, I thought I was a faulty lifter or valve. Come to find out, it was a faulty flywheel. Listen to see if it is coming from the driver's side. Next, depress the clutch pedal and hold it. If the ticking goes away, it's a faulty flywheel.

 

It seems to be more on the passenger side and randomly does it at idle, under load, coasting, clutch in or out and at any RPM. It's so inconsistent, I'm having a hard time pinning down what it might be.

My clutch does have the Chewbacca groan, though.

 

You may have some broken lash caps on the rocker arms? They have been known to crack, even though you don't have many miles, it's still 8 years old almost.

 

IF you look at the tensioner with the car running, you might be able to see it move or vibrate....with it off, you can look at the gas strut portion of it and see if it appears to be functioning correctly...
You can try to narrow down where the sound is coming from by having someone rev the motor a bit, and using a mechanic stethoscope (or a partial broomstick) and touch non-moving parts..and put one end to your ear...and see if you can narrow down where the sound is coming from...
Use caution, and be careful...but this trick/technique might help you narrow down the area.....

 

Took it in to the dealer. Diagnosis is bottom end. 3 mile trips count as harsh driving conditions, and the factory recommended oil change interval of 15k is too long to go without fresh oil.

 

This is what they told you!!? While I agree that 3 mile trips might be considered harsh conditions, it wouldn't cause damage to the bottom end, unless you let it get significantly low or run out totally. How much are they charging you and did you follow the recommended oil change interval?

 

That's a bummer, If you need a motor let me know. We can build one, or get a new one and I have a good used one here as an option as well.

 

I'm a bit confused about the 3 mile trips thing. Do you have really short commute to work or something where you only put on 3 miles most days? I presume never allowing the engine/oil to get up to temp (from the short 1.5 miles each way) combined with the long intervals would cause harm, no?

 

Yes, the recommended O/C interval was followed, to an extent. Keep in mind, this was previously Mom's car, and she had the oil changed every 12 or 15k (whenever the service light came on). However, her commute to work is only 3 miles, and little other driving. It's been 11k miles since it's last O/C, but that was about two years ago. Oil, even synthetic, deteriorates over time.

 

The recommended oil change is 15K or 2 years, whichever is first. There is no reason that the oil should be bad just because you travel 3 miles to and from work. Has the oil level been properly maintained? Have you had the oil tested and know this for fact or are you just repeating what a tech told you?

 

That sucks. I would change my oil every 6 months, at the very least, regardless of how many miles I've gone. But, I'm OCD. I rarely get to the recommended mileage on my bikes before I change the oil and they take synthetic.

Out of curiosity, did they give you a quote on repairs and/or what needs to be done?

 

I think this has more to do with the 3 mile commute than the oil change intervals. It takes an average of 8 miles for a typical engine to reach operating temperature. Basically this car NEVER reaches temp. The engine oil needs to reach its maximum viscosity to properly lubricate the main moving components in the engine, therefore your engine is most at risk to damage when cold. Not to mention, the combustion process does not become efficient until the engine reaches its operating temperature and inefficient burn leaves toxins, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but this is what I was always led to believe.

 

Bottom end? What the heck does that mean? That's crazy. They need to tell you what is actually wrong with it. These 6 speed tranny's are virtually bullet proof. We have seen only 1 bad bottom end come thru the shop, and it was raced HARD! And about the oil........15k miles is ridiculous. You do realize BMW wants to sell new cars and parts? I go no more
than 5k miles on a oil change, cheap compared to a "bottom end". If I were you I would want a much better explaination on what's wrong.

 

Yes, but to blame the oil makes no sense... If I have short commutes, I take the car on longer drives, we do this with both our cars.

If the oil has not been tested, you can't put the blame on it, it is only a guess.

By going with what you just said, the blame falls on the owners of not running the car to temp.

 

Yes
No.

 

Ugh... This is a standard American comment. If you lived overseas you wouldn't be singing this tune. An oil change in Germany cost me 210 Euro... Care to pay that every 5K miles?

Believe it or not we are not the driving force behind long oil change intervals and Germans drive their cars much harder than we do. Most of the Germans that I am friends with follow the intervals with no problems.

 

Pretty much what I've been believing, too.

 

I'm not a mechanic by any means. Take my word with a grain of salt.

 

I thought bottom end was everything below the cylinder head -- pistons, rods, crank, crank case, etc.

Not the tranny. Well, I guess technically it is.

 

Hard driving isn't what killed it. Light driving did it.

 

That's what I've always heard it referring to.

 

Sorry to hear your bad luck, but most folks know that if a car is operated in a very atypical fashion..very low miles, short trips, then it must be matained differently. The dash oil change monitor is just a convience item, it does not let the driver/owner not use some basic concepts to decide to change it more often.
Remember, on a r53 the oil change countdown is based on fuel comsumtion (documented numerous times) so it indirectly tells folks that drive hard to change their oil more often. In this case, short trips that never let the motor heat up, by definition, this is called severe duty by most every manfacture, and oil changes should be done far more frequently, just like if you tow or race.
Other than saying lesson learned, and now you know why you never buy the little old lady's classic car...they may cosmetically look great, the motors usually blow up in a few miles...they have the same issues you have...so they are great to drop a custom motor in, but you must figure this into the price!!

 

The first thing I would do is get a second opinion.
I have seen other car makes that would develop a thick layer of carbon
deposits ontop of the pistons that would slightly hit the valves & make a noise that is what you described. This happens with vehicles that see alot of
short trips & are never driven hard.

But that is just one possablity.

Short trips are hard on the oil, it needs to come fully up to temp to burn out the bad stuff that gets in the oil. This is why I do not argee with the car makers extending the oil changes. I have seen oil with 12k miles on it, I does not look good.

But like I said get a second opinion first.

 

One tip...dealers tend to reccomend replacement when many independant shops would do a "major" repair...in this case a different motor may be warranted due to the background, but there are lots of good used motors around for a fraction of the cost of a dealer motor.....folks like WMW are great to deal with (you are never really sure what you will get from a junkyard/recycler/Internet seller) after pricing the cost of parts at mini...he is a mini trained tech and IMO will give you good advise. While used parts are always a bit of a gamble, keep in mind, you car does/did have lots of miles on it, so replacing one used part with another tha likely has 70% of it's usable life left will likly get you most of the miles left on your other compotents.