Originally, my '08 Cooper S started having intermittent failures of the turbo. I bought a used one and had it rebuilt so I could swap it out with the new one. In the meantime, while the used turbo was in the shop being rebuilt, I got a misfire like one cylinder was not firing. I was out of town so took it to the only shop in Denver that had time to squeeze me in. They had good ratings so I had no reason to doubt their abilities. They replaced the rubber air duct from the turbo to the intake manifold because it was bad. I picked up the car at the close of the day on Friday afternoon and was not very confident with their diagnosis. Sure enough, it drove fine for 15 minutes and I made it one block from my sisters house before it started missing again. I could not wait around until Monday to take it back to the shop so I replaced the plugs myself which helped for a while then I just limped home to Taos. I took it to my mechanic in Taos with the rebuilt turbo. He replaced the turbo and cleaned the carbon buildup on the valves with walnut shell blasting among other things and when I picked it up it was like a new car. It had more power than when I bought it with 50,000 miles on it (now 91,000 miles). It ran great for a week and I drove to Denver again when of course on Friday afternoon it started misfiring again with an intermittent flashing or steady check engine light again. I will take it to Auto Zone and check the codes today. I am frustrated trying to figure out what this issue is. Any ideas? Timing chain? I have been reading posts here looking for answers but haven't seen anything.

Another gnawing problem that comes and goes is power steering failure on start up. Occasionally when I start the car I have no power steering with the steering wheel light stays on following the self test. If I shut it down and restart the engine the power steering will be fine though sometimes it takes an additional restart or two. This issue only occurs once in a while and is totally unpredictable. Naturally, it never happens for my mechanic and there is no failure code. I have been told it is a result of low battery power but it has even happened with a new battery so I'm not buying that. I have read about people experiencing power steering motor failures on 1st generation Minis while driving but I have never experience that. It only occurs at start up and once I restart it is fine. I may go for many months before it happens again.

I love this car and it is solidly built but issues like this are rather annoying. I am hoping to keep this car for a long time, at least another 60,000 miles so hope I can get some good information here to make that happen. Is there anyone out there with high mileage cars with a lot of experience with them? What is the typical lifespan of a 2nd Gen Mini?

 

at 90K miles, if the timing chain has not already been replaced at least once then you will probably find that a live data reading will show a retarded timing issue from stretched chain. Me, I would refrain from dirving and replace the chain and guides and anything else associated using a decent kit with a lower sprocket, bolts and crankshaft seal. Your power steering, I have no idea, mine is electric and yours is hydraulic I believe.

 

Thanks Scudder!

 

@Kelly Rudy you may want to also check the intake valves. You'll need to pull the intake manifold to see but they have a tendency to get coated with gunk due to the engine design. There are a lot of videos on YouTube about cleaning your intake valves using walnut shells as a media. There's a special tool on Pelican, FCP Euro, ECS Tuning etc that makes it pretty easy...it would be ideal to do this when you change the timing chain since you will be in the engine all ready.

 

Yes I just had that done when the turbo was replaced. They were pretty ugly. After that the car ran great for a week but then the misfiring started again.