OK... I am still in shock from what I just saw....

This is the deal. I installed some new parts last night that I got for Christmas, Alta oil catch can and Alta air diverter. The install went very smooth and everything looked awesome. I took the car for a quick test drive last night and everything felt just fine.

Today my wife took the car for her 50 mile commute to work. About 30 miles into it, cruising down the freeway at about 65 mph she hears a loud BOOM!
She thought that one of her tires had blown and immediately pulled off the road. She looked at the tires and everything appeared to be OK. SHe was confused and had loud music going at the time of the boom, she could not pinpoint where the sound came from. SHe figured it could of been a passing truck on the freeway or something. She back in the car and continued on her way to work. SHe said the car drove fine. No loss of power, no weird noises, no warning lights on, normal. She pulled up to her work about 20 miles/minutes later and said there was smoke coming up from in front of the car. This is when she called me.

I asked her if it was smoke or steam? She was not sure. I told her to pop the hood. She said there was brown stuff all over the engine. I said is it water or oil? she said it was watery oil. SHe called a mechanic/tow truck driver friend of ours who immediately came over. He called me and said I was screwed, "my valve cover was cracked". He then towed the car on a flatbed over to my mother in laws house.

I arrived to the car at about 8:00 tonight. I got the flash light and walked over to the car. The first thing that I notice is oil splatter covering the whole boot cover area. I am getting nervous....
I pop the hood, shine the flashlight and...

I S&%T you not.... The entire valve cover is blown into 2 pieces! Not just a crack, but a 1/4 inch gapping gap that runs the whole length of the rear of the plastic valve cover! Needless to say there is oil splatter everywhere, but mainly to the rear of the engine compartment by the coolant and brake tanks.

So questions....

1. How the hell could this of happened?? I know it has to do with the installation of the OCC. But, everything appears to be hooked up and routed correctly. I talked to Jeff at Alta today and he said that the hoses involved do not make that much pressure and see no boost. The only thing I can think of is that after routing all of the hoses, perhaps when I reinstalled the intercooler it could of pinched one of them. But it seems that it would of popped a fitting before it would grenade the valve cover! Jeff said that you could literally plug the hoses off and it would not make that much pressure. Is this true?

2. How much damage do you guys think was caused to the engine by driving it for 20 miles after the valve cover blew and I lost oil? Remember it was cruising on the freeway at about 65mph in 6th. My wife said it was running just fine right up to when she parked it and noticed the smoke. BTW my wife is pretty intune with the way engines feel being a professional motocross racer and doing years of performance testing. That is why I am somewhat disappointed she did not diagnose the source of the boom more just a little more thoroughly when it happened. But in her defense... she is having sugery tomorrow, she was late for work, and it was raining out. So whatever.

3. If this is something that is manufactuer related.... Of course my car just went out of warranty. It is a 03' but only has 30k miles. What is the likelyhood of them covering this? The only motor related mods that I have done are a K&N cai, TSW engine dampener, as of last night OCC and air diverter. Would these mods void any responsibility of MINI? Do I need to do the "back to stock mod" real quick?

What should I do now? I dont want to just tow it to the dealer. I need to do my homework on this one! If there is not that much damage to the engine and I just need to remove the OCC and replace the valve cover it does not look that difficult.

I am Soooo bummed, one minute I have my dream parts installed, the next minute I am about ready to cry. My detroit tuned BPV even arrived in the mail today. Mariokart and myself were going to install it and the VGS mod this weekend. Damn!!!

Please Help... Any advice or help you all could give me would be very appreciated.

I know this has the potential to cost big bucks! which would really hurt right now just after Christmas and all.

I do not have pictures yet because it is dark out now. I will post some tomorrow. Wait until you see this! OUCH!!!:impatient

Thanks for the support,

Jasun

 

1) I'm not entirely sure how the OCC is installed on the MINI but is it possible your PCV valve stuck and caused pressure to build-up under the valve cover?

2) The amount of damage would really depend on whether the engine was deprived of oil at any time. I actually had something similar happen on my Plymouth three times (I learned a lot of lessons with that car). The first time I left the oil cap off when I shut the hood, the next day I came out and drove a few miles up the road before I realized the cap was sitting beside me in the center console! The engine sprayed oil under the hood but it didn't loose enough to cause the oil pressure to drop. The second time somehow my dipstick blew out on the highway. I didn't notice the hot oil being sprayed on my exhaust manifold until I had slowed down and pulled into a parking lot with smoke billowing under the hood, again, not enough oil lost to cause a loss of pressure. The thrid time I cracked the valve cover by overtorqueing the bolts (too lazy to walk across the garage to get a torque wrench for two bolts) This time I covered the entire valve cover with duck tape and checked the oil more frequently. Although the crack grew everytime the engine was heated and cooled it never got so big that I lost too much oil.
3) If they see you have the Catch Can on there they may try to blame it on that, whether it's at fault or not, so I'd look to see what other potential causes there are, and remove the catch can before taking it to a dealer.

 

Great points deviant. I would add that the only way for this much pressure to build up is if both vent lines were blocked, PVC and the low pressure vent on the drivers side. I would guess that you might have pinched the lines when you reinstalled your IC.

I would put it all back to stock before getting it back to the dealer. Are you over the 4 year warranty?

 

This would have been my first guess after reading motonikki812's story. I don't know what the tq specs for those bolts are, but perhaps when you put everything back together, you may have overtorqued something? Otherwise, you would have expected the hoses to pop on the OCC if that somehow became pressurized.

 

Blown headgasket? Do a search, there were a bunch of them.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ght=headgasket

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ght=headgasket

 

I doubt that a blown headgasket would result in a cracked valve cover. My money is on the OCC install - something(s) got pinched.

Regarding potential engine damage, check the oil level via the dipstick. If your oil level is higher than the low mark, then there is probably no engine damage from lack of lubricant. I would change the oil and filter after the valve cover gets replaced (and whatever caused the valve cover to bif gets fixed/replaced), however. The smoke could have come from oil escaping through the cracked valve cover contacting the exhaust header.

There is also a requirement for cleaning the engine compartment.... I don't envy you that chore....

 

Dont they still have those oil eating bacteria left over from the Exxon Valdez spill?

 

Ha! The bacteria were for the oil that couldn't get sprayed/scrubbed off. Remember those pictures of workers in hazmat suits spraying and scrubbing rocks???? Someone is going to be doing something similar to a certain MINI....

 

It's still around...although, it only turns it from hazardous oil to a nice gray sludge that is not hazardous to the environment. Still probably nearly impossible to clean. I think they used it for the oil that was floating in the ocean because it would sink to the bottom...good luck with the clean up!

What kind of pressure buildup would cause that amount of destruction? Wouldn't it take some kind of fueled explosion to cause that?

 

You don't have a blown headgasket. I'd bet a cup of coffee & a bagel on it. You somehow caused your crankcase breather system to not breath. Pressure built up until BANG. How much oil was left in the car? Did you pull the dipstick & check?

Here's what I'd do, pull the OCC off & put everything back the way it was before you did the install. Now put a new valve cover on. Top up your oil to replace any that went missing. Some did, but most likely not too much. Go to the car wash & clean the engine. Drive your car & watch for other oil leaks. It's not out of the realm of possibility that you blew some other seals too. If you are lucky just the valve cover went bang. Good luck to you.

 

the lines got blocked and pressure from blow-by built up. Better hope your other oilseals are good....

Also, the valve cover is plastic, and large. So a 2 PSI pressure build inside of it is somewhere north of 150 lbs of force pressing outward. Something has to give.....

Matt

 

I'd bet that the plastic valve cover gave before any of the other seals would have. I'd be more worried about how much oil was lost and how far the car was driven?

 

Thanks for the feedback everybody!

I got some more info from the wife last night concerning the incident.
Apparently after she parked the car before it got towed there was a huge puddle of oil that formed under the car. I guess this is a good thing since there was still alot of oil left in the car for the 20 miles she drove after the BOOM! It will be interesting tomorrow to drain the remaining oil out of the pan and see how much is left in there.
That is a good point deviant that people leave thier oil caps off all the time without mcuh permanant damage to the engine. Hopefully I am lucky.

It is still a mystery to me on why this could of happened. Tomorrow I will remove the intercooler and do a better inspection on the hoses to see if there are any pinched. So far looking at things with the intercooler still in place the only hose that looks like it could be pinched is-

The bigger portion of the one that comes out of the valve cover on the drivers side of the engine, right next to the spark plug (see picture). This was a hard routing at installation due to the bend in the hose wanting to go towards the intake and not back towards the passenger side where the OCC is mounted. I kind of cut it short before the bend in it and twisted it back the other direction. It looks like that one got pinched under the intercooler.

The bummer about about taking the OCC off and returning it to stock is that you must cut alot of the factory hoses insert the reducing unions and run the supplied hoses with the OCC.

So... If I find a definite pinched hose do you think it would be OK to keep the OCC on, replace the valve cover, then fire it up and look for oil leaks?

Also, I am going to have to buy a new valve cover for sure (again see pics).... Where would I purchase this? The MINI dealer, would they have the best price? Is this something they would normally stock? Also, how involved is this repair? Is it something I could do my self with medium mechanic skills? (I know what you are thinking after my last motor mod work) but I kind of know what I am doing and a pinched line is a learning experience. Is there any other parts that I will need to buy? gaskets? sealant? etc...?

I would like to try and fix this myself and not pay an arm and a leg for the repair.

Thanks again for everybodies support, you guys are the best...

Jasun

Also, Is there are any other parts that I am going to have to purchase.

 

More pics of the installation, house routing and possible pinched line.
I have not been able to remove the intercooler yet, it is dark now and no available garage at the mother in laws house. I will post some more tomorrow. Does this routing look right?

Thanks

 

Yes the valve cover blew because it was the weakest link in the chain of things keeping the pressure held in the engine. I'd guess there was a whole lot of pressure generated driving 35 miles on the freeway at say 3,000 rpm. As far as the other seals go, well the jury is still out on that one.

 

I'm sure you can put a valve cover on. I'd be very surprised if any dealer has one in stock. If you can't find it local try Classic MINI in Ohio, they give a nice NAM discount. Have it overnighted if you are in a hurry, I know you are. Also ask Classic what flavor of instant gasket is required. Best use the right kind. Since you've sliced & diced your lines you have little choice other than reuse then. Be very careful with your examination & re-installation of your OCC. It should work out.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/classicauto

 

You may also want to check how you've got your OCC plumbing connected against this thread... https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=75360

 

Wait a second!!!! now I am really confused!!!!

I just compared the way I routed my OCC, which is done to the T based on the instructions included from Alta.
It is completely different and seems way more complicated than the method posted by polezei.

Which way is the proper routing?????

I have it routed with the breather on the driver side of the valve cover going to a T fitting at the PCV valve. It then continues on to the OCC. The other tube coming out of the OCC runs along below the intercooler and on to the side of the intake tube.

The way poleizei routed it seems much much easier, and also seems to make more sense. It takes the possibility of lines running under the intercooler out of the equation thus reducing the possibility of a pinched line.

What do you guys think? Should I bag the routing in the Alta directions and go for the polezei routing method. It does seem much safer. Is one or the other routing methods more effective for catching oil?

Thanks again for the support!

Jasun

 

Well, the good thing is that your M7 strut bar kept the rest of the car from splitting in half...

Sorry - seeing that in the pix just made me smile.

Sorry you're having problems. But I suspect you'll recover soon.

 

that was cool ; with the 2 psi converted to lbs.

 

Yes, bag the Alta directions. If you have one OCC, connect it up to just the PCV side as poleizi instructs. For the breather side, you should use another separate OCC, and not have the two sides connected. If I remember the explanation correctly, it is necessary to preserve the vacuum on the PCV side to keep the oil in the right spot for cylinder lubrication. Connecting the two sides with one OCC screws this up. Also, there's nothing to catch on the breather side anyways -- this side sucks in 99% of the time.

 

Ok I just took off the intercooler and checked all related hoses and fittings to the OCC.
Everything appears to be fine. There are no kinks, pinching or binds in any of the hoses.
I took off the ends of every hose 1 by 1 and blew through them to check the flow. Everyone of them has no restriction when blowing in them or sucking on them.

SO....
Could this valve cover explosion be related to anything else? Anything more serious within the engine that does not have to do with the catch can.
I am sure the installation of the catch can was right. I am now pretty sure that there were no blocked or restricted hoses. So now I am a little more concerned????
What else could this be from???

Please help!!! I am stumped on this one..... I know alot of people in our community are great mechanics and part time rocket scientist. I work in real estate and am a wanna be mechanic. Somebody has to have some ideas.... Come on all you genius'!

Thanks, Jasun

 

I doubt that the valve cover would explode from pressure build up…no matter how you hooked the catch can hoses up. There are a few ways that folks on here have done it but that is another subject.

You won’t really know everything going on here until the valve cover is removed and see what is up inside.

Sorry no cut and dry answer.

 

I'm sorry Jasun, I have been wondering what had happened after I spoke to you the night of the "Boom". I hope you wife does't blame you for any of this. To me the OCC had nothing to do with anything, it was just all bad timming. Please call if you need help or just want to chat. Is your car in SB still, maybe you can bring it to Ventura and we can replace of the valve cover together,or I can come up there. Just let me know what I can do to help.
Mario

 

The valve cover explosion was due to positive pressure that was not released. Why the pressure is not being released is the question at hand. If it were my project, I would put everything back to stock (as in de-install the OCC). Then start the engine up with the oil filler cap off the valve cover. Put the palm of your hand over the oil fill hole in the valve cover. No positive pressure (pressure pushing against the palm of your hand)? Everything is good (the PCV valve is working). At that point, you have a decision - whether to try the OCC install again or bag it. If you decide to do the OCC install, you will need to do the crankcase pressure check (palm of your hand) after completing the OCC install. If there is positive pressure on the palm of your hand after doing the OCC install, you have your answer as to what caused the valve cover to explode. Unless you want a repeat of the valve cover explosion experience, you will need to find out what is causing the positive pressure. Alternatively, you can just put things back to stock and move on. It sounds like you have a willing helping hand in MarioKart; so, that might argue for trying the OCC install one more time.

Regardless of which decision you make, you will need to check that no seals were blown out by the pressure before the valve cover blew.