Just took my 2010 Cooper S Hardtop in for the water pump recall today, and they said it had two recalls and would be replacing the timing chain tensioner as well.

That was fortutitous to knock both recalls out at the same time. My dealer always gives me a loaner though, so really not that inconvenient to have the work done.

TREX

 

The SA might say recall - but your receipt will show "SERVCE ACTION".... mine did anyway.

aka warranty work.

 

This sounds more like the series of cars that had the tensioner backing out on it's own, and they're replacing them to make sure they don't do it again?

 

The service ticket says

Sim 17 02 12 Recall for aux water pump replacement

and

Sim 11 02 12 campaign to replace chain tensioner

Recall vs Campaign?

I don't know, handed them my key this morning and without looking at the vehicle he said I was due for both... i didn't have any symptoms of anything that i new about or reported to them.

I guess I am happy they replaced it so hopefully avoids problems down the road.
TREX

 

That's all good. At least they are being proactive about the tensioner.

 

They are not being proactive. They are being reactive as that has been a problem for awhile. Someone of us could not get the dealership to change it under warranty and had to go out of pocket for this and I did mine at an independent shop because I refused to pay dealer rates.

 

I say proactive because this issue doesn't involve the 07's-10's issue but from what I'm hearing only a certain amount of cars from a specific time frame. So, when an owner brings one in for something else they identify it
and if it is one of the designated ones, (whatever that criteria is), they replace the part.
So, like you and I that paid to have ours fixed, we're just SOL.
Of course, I paid less then you did, $500 vs $900. There is still alot of
questions floating around concerning this newest campaign so I'll reserve
judgement for now.

 

Do you go to Schomp or Loveland? I'm in AK, but my MINI's still in CO waiting to make the trip up here...would be nice to knock it out before the long haul!

 

I take it to Schomp. Surprising their aren't more dealerships in a city the size of Denver. Good luck in AK. I bet spring and summers are goregous up there. Mini Motoring around Alaska sounds awesome.

TREX

 

I just filed my Timing Chain issue with https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ Incident Number is 10450757. I have had 2 timing chain issues on my Mini Cooper S (2009) in less than a year. This last one caused a multiple break which damaged the engine. Mini only covered 1/2 of the cost. It was very expensive.

 

I use Schomp as well! And Alaska is awesome, even now. And it's only gonna get better...Anchorage is supposed to get its first MINI dealership this summer! Thanks, Countryman market!

 

I was just in for the Water Pump Recall, the BMW of Scottsdale noted the rattle, then said ~$400 for the Tensioner, and $1700 if it needs the chain. I have complained about the noise, but the service people take no ownership of the defect.

I looked at all the threads, then ended up calling BMW of Atlanta, since so many part numbers were floating around in here, and they said the latest part number is 11314609483. This person on the phone said the 7551 was discontinued. The new one(9483) is similar length, but has more pressure than the 7551?

 

I have not seen a recall notice but have seen several posts on the NHTSA website. I would encourage you to post the issue there if your car has this issue.

 

Just got a call from my MINI dealer and took my car in the shop Monday morning because of a clutch issue, I suspected. The RPMs were running high and very foul burning smell at 5K RPMs. They agreed it was the clutch so that is getting replaced...luckily it is covered.

Second issue found was a timing chain issue. Seems like everyone is familiar with that! He said it would cost $3K before taxes to replace this. That is was stretched to 71 mm when average is 61mm. He also said that this is a typical maintenance for MINIs, usually around 60K miles, so I was "lucky" it went to 88K. I asked why this wasn't covered under maintenance if it was a "typical" issue and he gave me some BS excuse about oil changes. I'm taking it to a different place because this is ridiculous. There is definitely a loud clicking noise from the engine at all times - especially when idling. But $3K? Get out of town.

 

well that kinda defeats the purpose of having a timing chain to have to replace it every 60k . my local dealer said they would charge me 1600 to replace it but i only have 35k and are 1 month out of warranty

 

Some dealers don't hear anything while your car is under warranty and suddenly as soon as the warranty expires they diagnose all sorts of "known issues"...

 

Hi Y'all

I recently experienced the rattle from the engine when starting the car int he morning. I live in Socal so it never gets too cold so im guessing it has to do with the tensioner chain.

Anyways, I saw a PDF here that looked like a TSB but on this thread seems like its a coin flip whether the dealer will change this out without charging. So im out of the warranty period, Im wonder if any of you in SoCal have had any experiences with dealers that would change this out for free.


Thanks.

 

Hope this isnt a threadjack, but you guys are farther than anyone else vocal here. I lost compression on #1 so I'll be removing whole head (2007 N14, 90k, needs death rattle fix too) and if I'm lucky, I'll be breaking down the head and rebuilding it (unlucky, and it's rings or a piston failure - leakdown indicated an exhaust valve failure). I just finally ordered the cam locking kit, but I'm confused how it's helpfull to lock the cams when I'll likely need to remove them to carefully inspect and service all valves/seats. I seems like I may need to
1) lock crank
2) lock cams
3) remove at least one cam sprocket to get chain loose (exhaust looks easier) score relative position first
4) place sprocket back on immediately to preserve sprocket/cam position
5) remove head
6) pull cam locks and cams

Were the cam locks even needed, or is it the only way to ensure a good hold on cams while you try to reassemble chain? I know I this was a problem when I reshimmed my Triumph Daytona bike cams, as cams and their springs don't want to all play nice as you remount chain or in that case fit the cam cage down.

Manual is not too clear about how far to take front end apart before I remove turbo and exhaust manifold. Debating need to remove rad.

Intake manifold has so much crap connected to the underside of it, I stalled on the whole job months ago unable to remove it. I really hate modern cars ridiculous complexity. Electric cars can't come soon enough for me. When BMW made that ad with the NASA engineers being impressed with their 7 series advanced technology, BMW had jumped the shark.

 

The issue is def not small. Hopefully mini pics up the slack and takes care of there existing customers. Here is a link of effected people and some more discussions of it going on in the comments section.

www.minicooperspeed.com

 

Is this problem effecting the 2012 models or just previous years?

 

does it include 07 mini cooper base model as well?

 

My '08 R55 S had the timing chain and rails replaced under warranty at 29,839 miles.

 

I brought my baby for service due to an oil leak (which was probably going for a few days already). According to my SA and the invoice, "...OIL IS LEAKING FROM TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER".

My SA told me that they've seen quite a few of these and MINI issued a bulletin about this (too bad I didn't ask any further). He thinks that sometimes, instead of issuing a recall, MINI issues a bulletin (or maybe campaign) as recalls are more costly for them. But they do and will replace/service it (for free) if and when they diagnose that it is the problem.

Interestingly, in my invoice it says: "...TECH ORDERED UPDATED TENSIONER, INSTALLED TENSIONER...". I'm not sure what 'updated' means (i.e. if it is the newer version of the tensioner) but the part number below is also in my invoice (sans any mention of a recall or campaign number).

So...although the symptom is quite different for my MINI, the part involved is the same which makes my baby one of the first 2011s affected.

 

--

 

Just had the tensioner, chain and guide rails replaced on a 2007 S at 77,000 miles. All was covered by my extended warranty less deductible. I go to an independent certified MINI tech that quoted $1,266 for the work. There sure is a wide variety of replacement costs posted here, too bad that people are having to pay for something that appears to be a defect.