My wife drives an 09 MCSa with 33k on it. On Friday she had a cel for a misfire on number 4. It was a very light misfire and hardly noticeable. Still had the car parked over the weekend until I got it into the dealer today.

I figured it was something simple since we'd had the fuel system and top end decarb done back in March. However the service advisor tells me this evening that the engine was all coked up which is what is causing the misfire. The fix they are doing (under warranty) sounded as though they were pulling the head and doing a thorough clean on it and replacing the injectors. They were also going to reprogram the ecu.

The wife bought this car back in November of 2011 with about 25k on it give or take 1-2k. The only mods were done by the previous owner and consist of a cat back exhaust and strut tower defenders.

Warranty is up this coming March. There is the factory service plan but I don't know how long that will last and I doubt this would have been covered by it. Our concern is is this a sign of things to come, or should this be the end of the major carb issues with this car provided we continue to use good gas and do the basic decarb service with the dealer every 6-12 months?

We thought the po had taken decent care of the car since he seemed to care enough to do some mods and didn't cheap out on them, but maybe he spent all his money on them and didn't pay for the services needed that weren't covered by mini.

Or is this just an issue with this car and an issue with how its driven?

Basically want to know if this is typical, a sign of neglect, and whether there's a way to prevent it in the future or should she start looking towards trading it in when the warranty is up?

 

Is your wife "easy" on the car, and not wringing the vehicle up to higher RPMs?
Because carbon build-up is caused by the 'granny-driving' characteristic, when the engine just putts along without and high velocity or heat

In conjunction with the driving habit, you can install an Oil [Vapor] Catch Can, that removes the oil vapor that collects on the back of the intake valves.

You shouldn't be cleaning out the carbon build every 6-12 months via the walnut media blasting...

Don't be afraid to run the RPM's up to redline to get the engine up to running temp and burn off the collected gunk every so often.

- Erik

 

Thanks. Her commute is about 5 miles. She doesn't granny it, but she doesn't ever use it to its potential. I do when I get the chance, but I rarely drive it. It almost never gets highway time.

I was considering an oil catch can for it so this may be what it takes to get her to go for it. I was also thinking about having her do oil changes about every 6k instead of the 12k mini suggests.

Would a seafoam treatment In the intake every few months be enough to keep it from returning?

 

Her commute time is the number #1 problem; the engine never reaches proper running temperature and it doesn't allow for any burn off...
You can continue the commute, but you'll want to drive the vehicle for longer, and somewhat harder periods of time to clear out the gunk.
It's highly recommended that you change driving patterns before anything else.

YES! Grab a catch can, but more importantly, due lower the distance between oil changes.
By increasing the frequency of oil changes, you'll keep the engine from getting less deposits in the sump and in the PCV system.

It will help assist, but don't bank on the SeaFoam 100%; make sure to get the car out to 'stretch it's legs' and burn off water condensation and oil residue.

- Erik

 

Oh trust me... It'll get a nice long ride. I've been on her to do that for awhile now.

So when we get it back the plan will be to make sure she drives it a bit longer and harder (had that talk with her already this afternoon after the news from the dealer), get her to install a catch can, more frequent oil changes, and probably a seafoam treatment here and there.

She loves the car, but was concerned about something so extensive so soon. If she got rid of it in March or somewhere around there shed just get another one, this time new built to her wants.

 

Another thought I had was about the fuel economy. She's been getting 23-24mpg. Seemed kind of low to me. The r53 I had even modded out got 26-27 around town. I know they're different engines, but thought they should be similar.

 

If you're doing short trips, and the engine never reaches proper temp, the fuel economy won't be good.
Because the direct injection engine HAVE to run hot (220deg F) to make it efficient, you'll always see low fuel-econ when driving short distances.

- Erik

 

Well got the car back. Feels like a different car to me for the better.

The service adviser said that this will happen again and there really isn't anything out there to stop it. Just methods to slow it down. He said that the cost to clean it the way they had to would have been up around 2k if warranty hadn't covered it.

He also mentioned that the timing chain is close to the end of its spec, but wasn't close enough that Mini would allow them to change it under warranty.

He did mention that they haven't seen these issues with the new motors in the 2011's and 2012's as of yet.

So giving this information to the wife, she decided that she can "give in to road rage" and drive it the way its supposed to, but the up-coming costs and the end of the warranty in March are not acceptable to her.

Her thought now is to pick up a new MCS or possibly a new Cooper that she can spec the way she wants it and be covered under a warranty for years to come.

Since it seems it will cost her money either way and this car was purchased used I figure she might as well do what she wants. I'm just happy that she realized that being that the Mini is her dream car it doesn't make sense to buy anything else.