Ahhhh.... thank you! Will keep my fingers crossed that my Valve's didn't kiss pistons.

 

Just wanted to let you know these are back in stock.

 

Repeating a previous question here: What is the cost/benefit of just replacing the vacuum pump as a preemptive move for longevity? My N12 engine is at 112000 miles and wants to hit 200,000 someday. Oil is always clean and full.

Anyone want to weigh in on this?

 

Well it's gonna leak soon at the mileage you have. Age too. They all do. The o ring in mine was rock hard at 130k-140k miles...

If you've seen my pics you'll have noticed that the pump has no bearings so there isn't much to wear out, as long as you have good oil flow into the unit. So in theory they should last a long time. However The oil port into the vacuum pump is tiny and could easily clog if your oil isn't changed regularly. That and chronic low oil levels likely cause most failures.

If you're low on cash you could remove it, inspect it for wear, clean out the oil port and change both gaskets. One o-ring is easy to find the other isn't. As long as you're oil is clean and topped off, the pump shouldn't fail. It's a simple design... But with no failsafe. So if it does seize, it destroys the entire head. Even a new one could fail almost immediately if the oil pressure dropped for long long enough and the new pump went unlubricated.

It's easy to get on and off.

 

Lex2008,
Thanks for that summary. I found vacuum pumps for $130 at Waymotorworks and went ahead and ordered one. If installation is not too complex my indy garage can do it for a similar amount. I feel better now about this potential weak link.

 

Yes it's preventative. Also if you have an oil leak right under it, it needs inspecting asap so it will not seize.

The N12 version is part # 11667570813 , just make sure you get the right one for the N12 engine, if you did you are good, the N14 one is linked above a couple posts.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...2009-mini.html

 

Welcome.

 

Guess Ill bring this thread back. I have a 2007 R56 N/A and the vacuum pump has a small leak from the bottom. I took the vac. line off and didn't notice any oil in the line. I'm wondering if a bad/failing vacuum pump can cause the car to hesitate at lower RPM. Seems to only happen after the car is at operating temps between idle and 2500RPM. Oil stays topped off, no CEL, OEM engine filter etc. Thanks!

 

Well, first thing you should do is change the o-ring. Its super easy. Personally Id change the entire pump, if you have high miles. But the ring itself if a very simple job. IF you change it and its still hesitating, then you know its not the vacuum pump seal.

Lots of things can cause a hesitation. Not sure if this is your culprit.

 

It has 138,xxx. Im planning on changing the whole pump and seals. I guess Im just trying to figure out if it's a symptom or two separate issues. Guess Ill find out after I change it.

 

Ya man, change that thing ASAP. It should come with a new o-ring. It must be leaking like mad by now. If that pump were to seize the valve train would be destroyed. Its a tiny little hole where oil gets into lubricate the pump internals.

A vacuum leak or lack of vacuum will cause all sorts of issues, including bad idle, stalling.

 

Thanks man. I'm ordering the new one as we speak. Its my wifes car and I dont drive it a lot so when I got in and noticed the hesitation and constantly topping the oil off I knew something was going on. This is a very informative post. I was suspicious about the VANOS solenoid but there arent codes and I dont wanna shotgun parts at the car. Haha

 

I went through the same thing with a 2008 Cooper, then the engine blew at 145k miles. Have you changed the valve cover? That will leak but the EGR valve will fail eventually and cause oil consumption.

 

I've just done preventive mx up to now. When I did the spark plugs 6k ago there seemed to be some very minor leakage at the front and in the middle of the valve cover but nothing excessive. I'm more worried about the vac. Pump and hesitation at the moment.

 

2010 MCS Motor went at 53K, Vac seized, you know the rest! Oil changes ever 5K, always kept at top mark on dip stick. Pulled valve cover to see damage, what was evident was the amount of heat that end of the valve train is exposed to. This is a serious design flaw that could have been changed with a simple 12 volt vacuum pump. Putting the aluminum vacuum pump next to the Turbo is really not the smartest place in the engine bay. Rebuilt motor from Mini came over filled with oil. I have continued with all oil changes, Filter and 5 quarts. Under fill will kill any motor, extra 1/2 quart is insurance. Now I'm dealing with a $20. Relay for the lpfp requiring the Interior Fuse Panel be replaced, a $400. part, Plus Labor and Programing, WHY !!! Do they have no shame, please give me a reason why a fuel pump relay has to be hard wired to a circuit board in such a hard to reach locaion.

 

Dude i feel your pain. My motor died last year. Three valves burned. These French motors are half baked. A Japanese engineer would laugh at all the stupidity.

Wait till you need to change the pcv....$300. it's $25 on any other car.

 

Been there, done that, thermostat housing is worse. Wife hit a pot hole and mushroomed front strut mounts, stock has about an 1/8 inch adjustment for camber and caster. Had to get aftermarket fully adjustable camber plates to get front end back to spec. While I was under there I put fully adjustable trailing and control arms on the back, ( stage 6 struts at all four corners.) I only have the HPFP left to go!.......

 

Well I didnt say it was hard, Im saying its a bloody waste of money!

You had a leaking thermostat housing before 53k miles?????

I broke a new lower ball joint on a pothole once. Was not easy to diagnose.

My HPFP dies suddenly at 100k miles more or less.

 

Got my new vacuum pump from ECS (good price, quick ship, OEM Piersberg, thanks Mike) as a preventative measure. Installation was super easy. However, for curiosity's sake I took the old one apart. It looked to have quite a bit of oil inside and only a little wear. I figured a little would be there but it was about half a cup (estimating since it went everywhere) and seemed excessive. Is that normal?

 

Mine had nothing but a sheen of oil when i took it apart. Had you just been driving the car when you took the pump off? I assume not as the motor would have been very hot, too hot to work on comfortably.

 

It was overnight cold soaked (for Texas) so it wasn't that. I saw a picture earlier in this thread that showed quite a lot of oil in the one they disassembled so maybe it isn't all that excessive although yours only having a sheen says something else. Anyone else with experience disassembling one that had not failed yet?

 

Hey all, those of you with vacuum pump siezing, are you running OEM oil filters or parts store cheapies. The non OEM filters have a tendency to come apart and clog up lots of oil passages in the engine, some of which are feeding your vacuum pump. I would like to see the data from some of you that have had failures, on when your last service was, what your oil filter looked like at time of failure (guessing it was crushed) and the brand. Some food for thought...

 

there was an issue with the original filters when it was coming apart. I am using wix filters and can’t complain. I had 3 cars with seized pumps so far. Can’t determine why its failing, but can tell for sure that it’s noticeable when it will fail. Brakes pedal feels jerky a day before the pump will fail - if you lucky you will catch it.

 

You've had THREE engines blow? No way. How many miles on those motors?

My engine lost compression on 3 cylinders from burned valves at 153k but had its original pump throughout. It always had OEM filters and oil.

 

My 2010 S went with no indication at all, no rattle, no bang it just shut off and yellow check engine light came on. (after it died) Checked on board computer, came back CHECK OK. Ran code reader and got 3 or 4 temporary codes, relating to cam position and valve timing. Temporary, meaning these codes had not set as permanent`, they were pending, meaning they occurred when the timing chain sprocket separated from the cam. Simple terms , there were no prior codes before failure. How much trust do put in an on board computer that tells you your engine is OK when your looking at the timing chain and cam sprocket at the bottom of the timing cover! I can see your point about a bad oil filter or botched install being the instigator of so many VC failures. Mine was oem filter, with oil at top of stick. Mini had car for 5 days when we went back to dealer to get Answers. Warranty was 6K miles over, but 2 months under on duration. Service advisor and Lead shop tech took us out to car to tell us the bad news. They said they couldn't help us on a new motor due to low oil and lack of maintenance. I asked the shop tech. to pull the dip stick and show me where it was low. He looked at the service advisor and choked, he said oil level was good and appeared to have been changed recently. ( 2 weeks prior to failure). He also mentioned how clean the engine bay was. I showed them the maintenance schedule I used for the car. 5K miles or less on oil changes with Mini filters. Not their condition based changes at 15 to 18,000 miles. Long story but ended with mini putting in a factory rebuilt and I still payed $350.00 for their bad engineering. And no, they wouldn't replace the computer that couldn't self diagnose a dead car.