Hello my name is Kevin and I just wanted to introduce my self. I am new to North American Motoring and just wanted to say hello. I also need some help.

I have a 2003 Cooper S with 32,000 miles; I have done a few performance modifications to it which include: K & N Air Filter, 15 % Pulley, Magniflow Exhaust, Engine Oil Cooler, Intercooler Air diverter, Multiple Sparking System, Engine Carbon Fiber Strut Bar, Rear Cabin Strut Bar and 22MM Sway Bar.

Last Tuesday around 10:00 PM while driving back from LAX, my Mini started to overheat. I pulled over and called the road side service number. They had me tow it to Bob Smith Mini in Calabasas California.

The following day I was informed that the head gasket was blown and the North American rep said that due to the engine modification I had installed it would not be covered by the warranty.

His claim is that the 15% pulley had caused too much air to be forced into the super charger which intern caused the head gasket to blow. There findings as of right now is that the min allowable warp age is .003 Orlando was warped to .014. Now this seems a lot of warp for a head that has only had the 15% pulley installed on it for two months. They are also recommending that I convert back to the original pulley with a grand total cost of $5000.00 dollars.

So do I do, go back to the original configuration or not?

Has anyone out there ever herd of this happening to a Mini? I find it hard to believe that this was the cause for my head gasket to blow.

The research that I did before having the pulley installed never mentioned anything of this nature. The closest thing that I have found was on this web site forum and it was dealing with the head gasket being installed wrong at the factory.

Any information and help would be appreciated; I am currently disputing the North American rep’s decision.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

 

sorry about that.. thats a horriable story... consider this, if they want you to switch back to a orginal pully why not have them install the jcw version of it. maybe it would be worth most of that money if they were to simply upgrade instead of spending that money for stock setting. btw, jcw pully and 15% are practically the same.

 

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE!!! we have Minis running 35 lbs of boost...

ALSO, the JCW pulley is a 15%....which only changes things from 11.2 lbs to 15 lbs

call his bluff....talk to his manager..and then if needed talk to MIN USA!!

worst case senerio buy a head gasket/head bolts....a bently manuel...the tools...and do it your self...it's a joke...

 

It's all BS! Theres no way that pully blew that headgasket. Like Tuls said theres mini's running 35lbs and have no problems. I myself am running a 16% now since june and havent had any problems. Get ahold of miniusa and tell them the situation your in and im sure they will figure something out.

 

You all may say its BS, but to the originator, its very real.

Who needs those hassles from a dealer?
Who needs or wants to have to argue that that the pulley didnt cause the problem?

Dunno if it did, dunno if it didnt

Just saying its a terrible hassle for the originator. Right now he's sitting with a 5K bill

 

yeah thats true, but like tuls said he can get the parts and the tools and do it himself to avoid the 5k bill.

 

You said the min allowable warpage is 0.003 and you are at 0.014. What's the max allowable warpage? Was that the head or the block? Are they saying they need to resurface one or the other?

BMDoubleU's option is good: pay $6300 for the JCW kit rather than $5000 to have them return it to a stock configuration. Since the kit includes a head, they have to do a new head gasket as part of the normal install, and if it's the head that is warped it takes care of that too. There should be no upcharge due to the head gasket the way I see it.

Now the really interesting question is would that restore any part of the warranty?

Tuls has the low cost solution, although if the head needs to be resurfaced that would take more tools, time and a machine shop charge. Still nowhere near $5K though, you could do it tools and all for less than $1k.

 

Cant argue that, your right if he can DIY. Or take it to a local shop. Its still a hassle ... thats all I mean.

 

Oh yeah i agree with that

 

Sorry to hear about your problem and subsequent response from MINI.
The reallity is, that they can deny the warranty request, at their discression.

Now for the simplified "do it your self" if you have the tools, statement from Tuls may seem OK on the surface, but is way more complex then bolting on some wheels on your car IE. not recomended for a shadetree mechanic.

If you are in the Los Angeles area feel free to call us and I can point you in the right direction. Do not pay 5K for a head change....

peter
Team M7
562-608-8123

 

$5000.00 is insane. If your head is damaged I would call Randy Webb and get one of his performance heads before I paid to install a standard one. Their is no way 2 months with a 15% pulley would blow the head gasket in my opinion. It was probably flawed from the beginning and the dealer is just tring to get out of a repair. If you really want the dealer to fix it I would fight the warranty issue more with them.

Or you could upgrade to a JCW kit and at least you would get something more for your money.

I'm very sorry for trouble.

 

Silly, but considering the bill, may be worth a try... Take it to another Mini dealership if there's one nearby. Here in DC there are 3, with only 1 being mod friendly, and 1 being mod 'tolerable' from what I hear.

Yeah, the regional rep may be the same, but maybe the dealership would take care of the problem without needed to call the rep? Just an idea.

Good luck either way. And keep us posted on events/results.

 

Sorry max .003, my Orlando .014 on head, Block OK with no additional damge to engine. Head would be replaced for $2099.00, to return to origanal factory condition with origanal pulley $5000.00. Pulley and belt is fine.

 

The JCW pulley is 14.8%, not 15%, which I believe was an intentional design to differentiate from the 15s so many after-market modders like to use.

I don't know who did the mods for you, but maybe you should stop by Steve's install/bbq party tomorrow to discuss your situation. Read this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=54706

So sorry about your issues. The suggestion by MINI Monkey to consider upgrading to the JCW is a pretty good one, as it will be warrantied.

 

Were you in traffic when you overheated? If not, I'll spare you my half-baked hypothesis.

 

I have been a mechanic for 25 years, but monkey wrenching around in mini engine compartment when I'm 6'7" tall is not something I realy want to do any more.

This is exactly why I posted it here for some ideas, and you all are deffinetly giving me some ideas.

I have already talked with the service manager of the service department who sent me to Mini cusomer relations who assigned me a case manager. He claims that the regional reps word is pretty much the law. It has already been assigned a PUMA number. He said to give them a chance to look into it and for me to call him back next week.

Just received fax from dealer with write up of work done and recommendation;

“Started engine and found engine to run rough & sputters. Check coolant reservoir and found coolant level at empty. Filled reservoir with coolant, bleed and top off coolant system. Installed coolant leak pressure tester, Coolant pressure does not hold and coolant immediately goes low in reservoir, inspect and localize for any coolant leaks in the cooling system, none were found outside the engine block, cylinder head, coolant hoses, water pump and radiator, removed spark plugs to inspect cylinders and found coolant accumulating inside cylinders #1 & #2. (Further inspection needs customer authorization, factory warranty void due to aftermarket supercharger pulley, Ignition Booster, induction system & oil cooler.) Customer approved to remove cylinder head, found head gasket blown between cylinders #1 & #2. Inspect head warpage @ .014ths of an inch; minimum is 0.003ths of an inch. Inspect engine block surface and found it to have no warpage. It is recommended to replace cylinder head and supercharger with original components. It is also recommended to remove the aftermarket ignition booster and oil reinstalls the factory oil cooler.”

I feel for my head to warp that much and then still able to start it when they did their initial check, it would seem to me to have been there for a while. I have noticed a consumption of oil over the last few months but did not think of it until I had a chance to climb underneath it and found residual oil. Told Mini about it on my last service which was in October, they replaced the pan gasket at that time. I did not notice water only because there was always some residual in the tank so I thought it was OK.

There was no factory oil cooler that was mine, but you all know that. So what is the general consensus?

 

Did you ever have the power steering fan/pump changed? If not my guess is that crappy fan gave up the ghost, overheated your motor and the head warped as a result.

With that scenario, the problem was caused by the pump which they are well aware of and have subsequently redesigned.

Just my 2 cents.

Rich
(currently arguing with my dealer that my clutch is broken and not worn at 41,000 miles and should be covered under warranty as it makes a racket when cold starting from first)

 

It is easy for me too sit here and make all the suggestions while you are sitting there with $5,000.00 bill. the best way is to contact MiniUSA and fight for it, it is the hardest way to wrap things up, but i guess worth trying. Sorry about that, and honestly, i don't eat that 155 pully BS...

 

Well I guess that's relative to your confidence with stuff like that faustk....the fact is it's just like bolting wheels on a car...it's turning bolts and taking stuff off and putting other stuff back on....and turning more bolts...if you can turn a bolt you can do it...we are not talking about putting in new pistons here...it's a head...it's time consuming.....but not hard

that's how I learned to work on cars...I just went for it....and I didn't have nice books to help me get tq specs right...


what happend when you over heated was the head lifted...meaning the everything got too hot and the head bolts let go do due the heat...they are stretch bolts..that's what happens....so chances are your thermostate/or power steering fan failed THEN you over heated causing the issue...not the boost...

that's crap

 

Freeway driving with no traffic average speed was about 70 to 75.

 

I think I would go for just the head replacement if you don't want to do it yourself. That said, you can find heads for $400-$500 that have been taken off cars that have the JCW package installed, but if it is worth $2100 to just get it done, go for it.

I would not do the supercharger because a 15% pulley probably was not the cause of the gasket, the gasket was just weak or the head needed to be retorqued. Besides, they've already cancelled your warranty, so why go back to stock?

That's my $0.02.

 

I second that!!

 

Hmm... Not looking good for my theory, nor that of my colleague Mr. Wolfson. But I still think this is the most likely explanation.

Did you ever over heat previously, or think you came close?

One thing I would ask that your dealer check, ideally under your watchful eye or that of a mechanic you trust, is that the PS fan has not failed and blown the fuse that also controls the engine cooling fan. If this circuit has failed and there is currently no power going to the cooling fan, then I think you've got a very solid argument that the initial head warpage and ultimate gasket failure was due to an earlier over heating incident caused by this known design flaw. Definitely worth a shot.

 

your head gasket problem could be just a freak event...a couple of head bolts looser than required, for example. If you were having overheating problems due to fans, water pump, etc. that would show up in your ECU fault code history.
Here is what Mini is facing: they probably don't know for sure what caused the problem (no one may ever know for sure), so if they fix it, they have to replace anything that might have contributed or they will have it come back. If they change the pulley, my guess is they will change the SC as well since no one puts a stock pulley back on.
If you do gop the the dealer, I would consider the JCW option: about the same $ but a waranteed higher performance package that replaces the same parts.
As far as the cost seeming high, the same argument can be made about the JCW cost, except you get decals.

If you do the work yourself, or go to a private shop, allow about 5-6 hours to swap heads. lots of stuff to remove, but it isn't that bad. defintely get new head bolts. you could probably get away with the entire job for less than 1,200

 

Where ca I find the JCW Head?