Hi everyone!

So, I bought a 2009 mini cooper non s. The last owner put a bunch of stuff from a 2012 turbo mini. For instance, the manifold, thermostat housing, oil filter housing, turbo, air box, down pipe, exhaust, rear bumper and seats. Other than the seats, rear bumper and a portion of the exhaust, I replaced everything with original parts. On top of that I put in new spark plugs and fuel injectors.

Now, the check engine light is on and I have run a scan tool to find 4 codes.

P0120
P1631
P1637
P0100

The car turns over very well but doesn't fire.

I can't seem to figure out what is wrong. If I can't get it going, my next step is bringing it to a mechanic. I would like to try everything possible before that.

Does anybody have any ideas?

 

If the fuel filter was replaced, check the seal on the fuel filter container/cylinder. If the top is not perfectly sealed (turned until it snaps in place) your car will not start.

 

I wonder how far did the previous owner take it? was the whole engine an N18 engine or was it partially swapped? was it running before you put the original parts together? what about the ECU, engine wiring harness, fuse box, cooling fan, ECU body side plug wiring? I dont think your issue is mechanical, yet. it is mostly electrical.

 

I didn't replace the fuel filter. The pressure seems to be fine.

The car wasn't running when i bought it. He had the intake manifold and fuel rail off because it needed injectors apparently. I don't think he changed the wiring harness because I had to rewire a connector that he changed out for the thermostat housing. He had just spliced in a 4 wire connector, so I changed it back to a 2 wire when I swapped the thermostat housing. I'm not sure if he reset the ecu to accommodate for the turbo,but I dont believe so. Honestly I dont know. The fuse box is the same that would be on the original engine, it wasnt swapped. I havent checked to see if the cooling fan was swapped, but it looks original. What about the ecu body side plug wiring? How would I check that? One of the codes is for the maf sensor. If I unplug the sensor, would it bypass the maf and possibly fire if that was the issue? I also have a strong suspicion that it is electrical. Some of the wires leading in to the ecu have been wrapped in electrical tape, but I dont know what to look for or to change if that is the problem.

 

Could you provide pictures of the following:

cylinder head without the valve cover and from the front looking at the exhaust and the back looking at the intake.

ECU

cooling fan plug

other loose parts line intake and exhaust manifolds...etc

 

Now that ive taken the valve cover off, should i be putting silicone on the corners that had it before? I remember reading about people doing that after replacing the gasket.




Is this the cooling fan plug you were referring to?

 

How can i fix this? Would this be causing it not to start? In the center if the picture, you can see a piece came loose and is not where it should be. Im no mechanic, so i dont know what its called. But def6not supposed to be like that.

 

Excellent....The head is now an N12 head along with the manifold and injectors. The cooling fan is indeed the origianal (N12). The ECU also appears to be for the N12. I was going to ask you about compression test, but you posted a picture of the lifter out of its place...

what was the condition of the head when you bought it, or where did it come from?

 

The head seems to be in good shape. I dont see anything wrong IMO. It is the same one that I bought with the car, I didnt change it out.

Is there an easy way to get this lifter back in place? Would that be causing the engine not to fire?

By the way,I really appreciate your help! I cant thank you enough.

 

I thought the car had a turbo and the head was from a 2012 engine?!

if this is the original one, then I would check the timing and then compression. there might be a chance that the valve seat dropped cause the valve to not fully go up resulting the lifter to be thrown out.

you can still position it using a flat head screw driver pressing on the valve and at the same time pushing the lifter in place.

 

I also just notice the fuel line (that attaches to the fuel rail) is the wrong one.

 

He didnt replace the head with a 2012, just a bunch of other parts. The reason I wanted to take it back to stock, is because of this. I didnt feel like he did enough to accommodate for a turbo being put in. I think he was trying to do a half assed job and call it a day.

Could I check the timing myself? Or do I need special tools and knowledge I probably dont have? I enjoy learning and would like to do as much as possible myself. I dont have a compression tester either but could buy one.

 

I have this fuel line, should i replace what is on there with it?

 

even if he added the turbo, it wouldn't have worked lol....

as for the timing, there are special tools to lock it BUT, you can at least set it without them to see if every thing lines up.

remove the spark plugs and place two long straws (12") in the cyl 1 and 2. then rotate the engine until cyl 1 starts coming up and cyl 2 start coming down...when both straws line up, STOP. then check the two cams orientation. there should be lettering in middle of each one face up. If not, repeat step one. take a pic and post.

Also, check this website. it should help you a lot newtis.info

 

yes, that's it.

 

Your a wealth of knowledge! Do i just rotate the engine with a ratchet on one of these sprockets attached to the timing chain?

 

Noooo...I should've mentioned to use an 18mm and rotate clockwise the crankshaft. the lettering should be between cyl 2 and cyl3 on the camshafts. take your time.

 

Awesome! I believe I can access that through the passenger side front wheel well correct?

 

yes...remove the wheel of course

 

The skewers i placed in the engine are even, and the letters are facing up on the exhaust camshaft. While i was turning it, i was looking for letters on the intake shaft but didnt see any.

 

Take a picture of the ends of the camshafts, not sprocket side but other end.

 

 

Sorry brother, take it from the top of the head...side shots are hard to visualize certain parts.

 

Ill take a picture of my dog doing a backflip if it helps lol. Whatever you need. I appreciate all the help.

 

Lol...i like the spirit...

Look at this picture and notice the squared area....there are three flat surfacesurfaces and one rounded side. The rounded one need to be facing down for both cams. If not, you're put of time.