So I was driving home after work crusing at about 70mph. Next thing I know car loses power and Eml and service engine soon light appear. I believe the battery light came on also.. But anyway I pulled off to the side of the road and restarted the car. Car came out of safe mode but service engine soon light remained on. I scanned it later on and the two codes that came up were P1688 and p0456. Just wondering how bad/ common these issues are? 2005 Cooper s

 

Have you had the battery tested?

How does the crank pulley look?

Usually when the EML light comes on it is for problems like major vacuum leaks.

Do you smell a burning rubber smell while the car is running? See contact between the crank pulley and the timing cover? Does the car make boost? Do you feel an imbalance in rotation, ie the rubber being broken apart in the crank pulley?

 

Just went through this on mine... 06 R53 JCW with 71k

The 1688 code is so generic. It points towards the MAP and TMAP sensors if you read the bentley manual... BUT, start by opening the hood.

look on the passenger side and see if your serpentine belt is actually turning. mine was at first but after about 5 minutes, the belt would stop turning.

The actual problem was the harmonic balancer was separating, so it stopped spinning the serpentine. Thus the SC pully is turning, so air flow into the engine isn't what the computer is expecting.

 

I have not had the battery tested. I wanted to see what info I can pull up before I check everything out first this way I know what to look for. I'm a first time mini owner but am fairly mechanically inclined.

As for the rubber smell I don't recall smelling anything when it happened. The car does make boost. The only other issue I had which happened before this was what I thought a malfunctioning timing chain tensioner. Reason being because I thought I heard the "death rattle" but after doing more research on the forum I saw that people were saying it could be the pulley. So I think I am leaning more towards that now.

 

Funny thing is, I had just gotten off the phone with my local mini dealership right before this all happened because I found out there was an open recall on the passenger airbag switch in the seat. So luckily the car is going in on Wednesday for that and they will give me a complimentary inspection on the car. So hopefully they will be able to diagnose the problem.

 

Update:

Ok so I dropped the car off at mini and they told me that the codes came on due to the belt being chewed up and slipping on the pulleys. Now to me that makes sense. They recommended changing out the tensioner because they said that the bearings in the pulley were going bad and that caused the belt to shift and become shredded. Also they said the harmonic balancer was beginning to bulge and I guess that's the early signs of them going bad.

Now they quoted me $1100 for parts and labor to replace those 3 items. Which I'm most likely going to go ahead and do because I'm only $3800 invested into the car. How does that price seem to you guys?

Also I noticed some rust forming around the tail lights and with a little research on the forum I found out there was a 12 year rust warranty. since the car is a 05 I inquired about it and they said that it will most likely be no problem to have it taken care of. So that's a plus if you ask me!

 

1100 for a belt, HB, and tensioner!!! Man, i wasted time studying engineering. They got it good...anywho, that it is toooo much. i wouldnt even pay 500 for that to be done. get another estimate from your local mechanic and shop around.

 

SHOP RATE must be $200 per hour, and higher than normal markup...
The tensioner is about $100 on Amazon, about 2x that from the dealer, belt is $20...
Harmonic balancer...the OEM type will fail again....you can get a good ATI or SFI unit for less that will be lifetime parts, for less or equal to the OEM cost....so about $300...

Crank damper issue is common....and it was wobbling as it tore... likely was the cause of the belt jumping...and when the damper was smiling...that likly gave you codes....the airflow did not make sense to the ECU.
Hopefully all is well now, enjoy your car!!