it seems like the problem I'm having here.


turbo back-pressure test? cylinder leak test? now that's the problem. all they can do is plugging in computer to check engine error codes and if there are no codes, just guessing problems, they do not even listening to me. they do not even know this engine's basic problems like carbon buildup.


now that I'm out of money, I probably gonna have to sell this car. that's it. I mean what's gonna happen after I buy that pcv valve pipe and post cat o2 sensor, they gonna throw more problems (they already said something about manifold, that's their next guess), and they gonna ask more money.


I wish I had mechanics like you in here, I mean at this kinda money I probably could've bought whole engine. but here I am now, with 130bhp mcs on my hand, desperately wasting my money, hoping one day they can fix my car.


thanks though man, for free, your help was already greater than this idiots here I'm trying to deal with.

 

The problem i'm having with my OBC's average consumption also getting more and more obvious, first of all, i driven as slow as shopping cart and it says 5.7lt/100km (41mpg) over 550km (full to red). So it means 550km with ~45 liters of fuel, almost 8.2lt/100km (29mpg). I know i'm using quality grade gas, it can't be related with gas (i also tried different brands, can't try different octane though, 'coz all we have here is 95) so as you can see there is a huge error there.

It started underestimating like this (if i recall correctly) at the same time with these problems. It might be related with this i think?

 

It doesn’t sound like they really know that much about Mini Coopers, I don't know if I would take it there again.



Unfortunately there are no sensors to detect back pressure or high engine crank case pressure so the computer wont error with any codes, all you are left with is the symptoms of the issue. Yeah we get this a lot when talking to mechanics, not to many shops/mechanics (especially the dealer since they will be warranting/paying for the parts) have a complete understand (or believing us about it) of the this issue so they have a hard time diagnosing it. You almost have to take it to a shop and tell them what you want done without telling them why.



Also for the OBC issue, until you eliminate the other issue with the car you will get erroneous OBC data since it uses info from the ECU/engine to calculate economy.

 

I took her back to the service again, they're replacing pcv tube and post cat o2 sensor right now. If they find any issue about exhaust manifold (cat comes with it i think) they said they might consider goodwill.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

Carbon buildup.

Look up walnut blasting. This can easily be a case of neglected valves. it would explain the extreme loss of power, poor gas mileage and blowing un-burnt gas out of the exhaust...

I think you're in dire need of a walnut blasting. there are many threads on this.

 

Frankly I'm surprised that you didn't sell it sooner, most would have before now. If I had to go back to the dealer multiple times to fix the problem, that's time to let the car go instead of throwing money at a money pit!

 

i can't find anywhere to carbon clean, and that's not even that walnut blasting one, they can't even carbon clean with usual additives, with usual way. they said something about "different engine inlet slot (maybe)", i mean, we got cheap fiats and hyundais everywhere, but minis are not common cars in here. so nobody knows s*** about this engine.

well i'm not selling her, because she's my first car, i'm kinda in love with her :(

btw, she's is still same (after pcv tube and post cat lambda sensor), excess oil and fuel consumption, lack of performance. and they still cannot find what's wrong with her.

anyways, i'm thinking to de-cat her till make my ends meet. i know no one recommends that, but it should fix the problem right?

 

If nobody knows s*** about this engine, than what chance do you think you have of ever getting it fixed?

Dude you need to (get a camel) know when enough is enough, best advice ever, seller the pile of crap! You do not have competent mechanics in your country, I'm only telling you what everyone else is thinking. To come out and say, "de-cat her, but it should fix the problem right", NO!

Where is your reasoning, how much money are you going to throw at your MCS before you've had enough? No competent mechanics basically means you lose. You're doomed unless you can find a mechanic that really knows what their doing, in your part of the world I'm sure their in short supply.

It's hurts to see you blindly through your money away with no end in sight, let it go.

 

dunno man, i know you're right. but what can i say? it's going to be same with let's say bmw 320d, nothing is going to change.

so like you said, i can ride a camel, or can try to find myself a good mech, the plus side is, i'm getting more and more knowledgable about this car at this process

i'm going to sell it eventually, it's going to happen. i'm just trying to make a good mechanic friend at this process, don't think that i'm not searching one right now. he is going to be the one who's able to fix this.

anyways, thanks for answering. i feel like idiot now

 

I disagree with what other people have said and what you are purposing is a great troubleshooting technique. We use this technique all the time when a snap on exhaust pressure gauge is not available. If back pressure is the issue you will know it right away once the exhaust system blockage has been removed.

We do not recommend removing any catalytic converter and recommend that you follow all state, federal, and emissions standards of the country you live in. We only recommend abiding by all local laws regarding the emissions control systems.

We feel your pain on this issue and wish you the best, however we have seen blocked exhaust systems cause all kind of crazy issues (to many things to list) and damage to engines. Believe me when I say we get a call from a customer with the same issue you have on a daily bases, anyway good luck and we will be happy to help in any way we can.

On that note here are some rules to live by when you own a Mini cooper S 07 to 13. Never ever ever ever install a new catalytic converter on a car with an old or used turbocharger and never ever ever ever install an old or used catalytic converter on a car with a new turbocharger. ONLY and always change both the turbocharger and catalytic converter together. Also always allow some time for the exhaust to cool down before turning off your car.

 

So you're just throwing all your money at the mechanic to make a friend in the auto repair industry and at the same time you plan on selling it eventually anyway?

Good luck.

 

In my experience ( have had 3 cat failures on 3 V8 vehicles) most had a good amount of power loss and the exhaust note was muffled bad and they acted that way but did eventually throw a cat insuff code .

 

Yeah I don't disagree and have seen this also on normally aspirated vehicles. Although from our experience with turbocharged cars before the catalytic converter gets that blocked the pressure in the exhaust would push a large quantity of oil into the inter-cooler and the exhaust or the turbocharger will fail. With a normally aspirated vehicle there are no real noticeable symptoms of a blocked exhaust system until the exhaust flow is so low that it will cause power loss.


On a turbocharged vehicle even the slightest blockage in the exhaust can cause strange unexplainable symptoms. Sometimes you don't know about it until it get so bad that it damages the turbocharger or engine and it all happens before you get an efficiency code. Symptoms vary but most of the time the thrust bearing wears out and the turbocharger grenades when the compressor hits the compressor housing. Over the years of rebuilding, testing, creating, and selling turbos, I have seen some weird symptoms. For instance, all gaskets on the engine leak, the dipstick magically raises out of the sleeve, 4q of oil in the inter-cooler, exhaust manifold cracks, low power, valve oil coking, valves burning, early head gasket failure, and cracked pistons.


Over the years I found that as little as .5psi will cause excessive crank case blow by, adding to the oil vapor in the intake. This same pressure will push the oil foam in the oil drain-off cavity of the turbocharger into both the intake and exhaust. A lot of the time this oil can migrate into the combustion chamber in-riching the mixture with oil and dousing valves that we already know have oil coking issues with liquid oil. All of this can cause per-ignition due to oil lowering the octane, and change the air to fuel ratio in the combustion chamber.


We have even seen engine damage like head gasket fatigue due to pre-ignition, valves coke with oil in as little as 15k miles, and then the valves catch on fire due to all the extra un-burnt fuel in the exhaust. One of the worst issues we have seen is when liquid oil makes its way into the combustion chamber preventing the piston from reaching TDC which can cause piston failure. Leading to the myth that the N14 mini cooper has weaker pistons than most other turbocharged cars.


I am not saying this is the issue with this car, it is just a recommendation based on the most common problems that I've seen on these cars. There is a large list of issues that could cause power loss with turbocharged engines, but based on my experience this is one of the most common for the Mini Coopers.

 

Looks and sounds like a boost leak...make yourself a boost leak tester and pressurize the system with air and see if and where air is leaking out from. Typically if you have air escaping the system before it makes it to the engine the ECU will not know that the air is not making it there because the MAF has already calculated how much air went through it and the ECU already calculated how much fuel to put in the chambers SO if air is not making it to the chambers then you are putting more fuel than necessary resulting in a "rich" condition AND LOSS OF POWER which would explain your low numbers.

Look into it