All,

My Service Engine Soon light went on this week, and I received the horrible news that my turbo seized! My Clubman S has 60000 miles and is out of warranty. The dealer wants $4000 to replace. Needless to say, I'm looking for options. Options:
- Find aftermarket turbo. But, who would install it?
- Used turbo?

Any other options?

After 3.5 years of trouble free driving, I've been hit with many engine issues, including the timing chain tensioner issue. Yesterday I loved the Mini, today I'm not so sure...

-Kevin

 

Gpop can rebuild it, and you can use it as an excuse to upgrade to K04 internals :p

 

After 3.5 years you should of changed the tensioner. Do not let the dealer fix it, you can probably do it. As for your turbo seizing it may not be fixable. Best thing to do is remove it and send it to Gpop and see if they can rebuild it. Also how did it seize in the first place? All it needs is oil. Are you sure its seized?

 

OP did you ever have the oil lines for the turbo changed or checked while in for any service?

 

Before you do anything, you have to figure out why the turbocharger seized. Did it ingest a foreign object? Was it starved of oil?

Simply swapping out the old turbo with a new without understanding the cause of failure is asking for trouble.

You say "seized" so I suspect oil starvation, did whoever inform you of the problem with the turbo explain why it failed? I see no reason why you can't replace with either a used or reconditioned unit for much less than $4000. If the dealer is charging you a fortune, find a decent independent to carry out the work.

I would avoid aftermarket and go with OEM as it's properly rated for the engine.

Both of your problems seem to be oil related. How often have you been changing the oil on that car?

 

All,

The dealership just said that one of the blades/fans was damaged. They didn't mention a root cause. I'll have to look at the service records to see if they did anything related to the turbo. I have had 3-4 check engine lights come on in the past 2 years. I know one was the belt tensioner, which they replaced, one was carbon buildup, one was a cooling fan.

-Kevin

 

3 or 4 CEl's, that must be nice. Damaged blade, sounds like something got sucked into the turbo. Do you know if it is on the exhaust side or the compressor side?

 

Looking through my service records, I found that they replaced the additional coolant pump for the turbo last March due to recall. I wonder if I can make the case that the recalled coolant pump contributed to the turbo failure?

 

Do you even know why's wrong with your turbo?

 

It' right on top of and in front of the engine. You could replace it yourself.

Dave

 

Only one of the blades was damaged?

The suggestion to replace yourself is also an option, however, you'd better clean out the charge air piping while you're at it to remove any debris.

 

I found an independent shop that would do the repair. I'm also going to see if the dealership can give me a good deal on a new car/trade-in. I don't to have lots of big car repairs surprising me.

 

Haha, basic car maintenance. You probably can't blame this on anyone but yourself. You should of checked your turbo about 10,000 miles ago.

 

Interesting comment, please enlighten me! How do I check the turbo and what am I checking it for?

Thanks

 

You take off the intake tube. Put your finger on the shaft an see if it wiggles. If it does it needs rebuilding. If not you are all good. You also visually inspect for blade damage. Any small amount might throw something off balance. Things can get sucked in trough loose hose clamps. You also didn't change your oil for 12k miles.

 

first of all, what was the oil change intervals? damaged blades would either mean something was injested or the CHRA bearing failed likely due to oil starvation/poor oil quality. It's safe to say in this instance that 5k mile oil changes would benefit turbo longevity. This is all being said assuming you never ran low on oil.... doing so is just asking for turbo trouble...

 

All,

I had found an independent mechanic to replace the turbo for $2600. However, I decided to trade it in on a Certified 2011 Countryman. Their Certified program warranties the car to 6 years/100k. So, I get a few years of free maintenance and plenty of time under warranty. Also, I switch to a manual tranny, looking forward to having a stick again! I didn't opt for the stick when I bought my Clubman S because my commute had heavy traffic.

Also, my 2 boys will love the back seat!

Must say, the Justa Countryman is pretty slow though. I will miss the acceleration of the Clubman S :(