2007 Mini One 1.4, Power Loss When Upto Temprature.

1472 Views 9 Replies 2 Participants Last post by mike1967, Feb 9, 2020

bestbass42

Discussion Starter · Jan 22, 2020

Hello everyone. I Have recently bought a lovely little 2007/57 reg Mini One 1.4 litre. The car is like brand new inside and out. In fact it drives like a brand new car too, very quick and responsive engine. However when I've done around 2 or 3 miles and the cars got up to temperature it looses around 30% of its power & on accelerating sounds like its got one of those big stainless steel boy racer exhausts on! Switch the engine off and on again & it goes ok for another mile or two then loses 30% of its power again. When I bought it the EML light was on & my mechanic diagnosed codes for Lambda sensor & one of those other sensors at the top of the engine that are parallel to each other (ones at the front, ones at the back, both on the left of the engine as you look at the engine from the front). I Had to order the one sensor from BMW so the mechanic took the EML light off & I went home but within a couple of miles EML light back on & car down on power.

Fast forward to today & mechanic calls to say cars ready after fitting both sensors. Got three miles down the road, just as the heaters in the car are getting hot the cars down on power again only this time the EML light has stayed off. Took the car back to the garage but the mechanic had just nipped out so left the keys and I'm now waiting to see if he can find and fix the problem. In the meantime I thought I would ask you-the experts-if you have any pointers as to what the problem could be???

Thank you all in advance!

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mike1967

· #2 · Jan 23, 2020

sounds like timing chain stretched or a timing issue where the oil thick when cold and thins to much when gets hot this can effect the vanos timing and add to it,, as you have 02 sensor codes another sign of timing stretch,, ie chain stretched causes retarded timing this means engine dont breath correctly and causes heat build up that also hurts the upstream 02 sensor and cat,, rule of thumb on those engines is treat timing chain like a timing belt ie change every 60,000 miles,, also always keep engine oil on full mark on dipstick ,,,
so it needs live data with daignostics tool, read the vanos positions, and timing,, or measure the travel on the chain tensioner,, that said if chain has not been done within 60k this must be your first job ie fix the reason for the 02 faults and cps faults ie crank and camshafts timing fault,, so many people get this issue and just treat the out come ie the outcome is dead 02 sensors dead cat dead valve stem seals and at worse and believe me i have seen these engines with 18000 miles before chain slipped and big engine damage,, sounds like you need to use a garage that knows these engine a bit better as they would of told you straight what they all do its not a if or a few dont its all of them at some point

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bestbass42

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 23, 2020

mike1967 said:
sounds like timing chain stretched or a timing issue where the oil thick when cold and thins to much when gets hot this can effect the vanos timing and add to it,, as you have 02 sensor codes another sign of timing stretch,, ie chain stretched causes retarded timing this means engine dont breath correctly and causes heat build up that also hurts the upstream 02 sensor and cat,, rule of thumb on those engines is treat timing chain like a timing belt ie change every 60,000 miles,, also always keep engine oil on full mark on dipstick ,,,
so it needs live data with diagnostics tool, read the vanos positions, and timing,, or measure the travel on the chain tensioner,, that said if chain has not been done within 60k this must be your first job ie fix the reason for the 02 faults and cps faults ie crank and camshafts timing fault,, so many people get this issue and just treat the out come ie the outcome is dead 02 sensors dead cat dead valve stem seals and at worse and believe me i have seen these engines with 18000 miles before chain slipped and big engine damage,, sounds like you need to use a garage that knows these engine a bit better as they would of told you straight what they all do its not a if or a few dont its all of them at some point

Thank you for the reply. So If I have a new timing chain fitted will that likely fix the fault? Anything else I need to do at the same time? What sort of price will I be looking at? Thanks again, much appreciated.

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mike1967

· #4 · Jan 23, 2020

depends on who fit the chain kit and what chain kit used, main dealers are £800-£1200 one thing i will say i get sent loads of them from local garages who have in past had so many issues trying to get them to time up right as its a right faff and easy to be a few degrees out and engine will run but will feel flat etc, so good idea to find a mini or Peugeot Citroen specialist as its same engine,, also the kit used i use FAI branded or febi bilsteen and always fit a genuine chain tensioner as these have been updated and are longer and better the springs are not so hard on the timing chain as well,, so the best thing to ft extra £53 ,, also depends on how many miles your car has done over 100k ish then a full kit with vanos sprockets a must do if around the 60k then just chain and tensioner and bottom sprocket,, would also do the oil pump chain at same time if car has around 100k on it thats sump down the kit is around £75, the fai full timing chain kit is around £250 prob looking 5-8 hours ,, a part kit from fai is £100 ish plus tensioner,, as for curing the faults chance are after a few mile and hot to cold re starts etc the 02 sensor might come back to life again some do some dont,, i remove them and soak in seafoam and then use egr cleaner on them will fix them when its a residue issue but not when melted in sides

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bestbass42

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 25, 2020

mike1967 said:
depends on who fit the chain kit and what chain kit used, main dealers are £800-£1200 one thing i will say i get sent loads of them from local garages who have in past had so many issues trying to get them to time up right as its a right faff and easy to be a few degrees out and engine will run but will feel flat etc, so good idea to find a mini or Peugeot Citroen specialist as its same engine,, also the kit used i use FAI branded or febi bilsteen and always fit a genuine chain tensioner as these have been updated and are longer and better the springs are not so hard on the timing chain as well,, so the best thing to ft extra £53 ,, also depends on how many miles your car has done over 100k ish then a full kit with vanos sprockets a must do if around the 60k then just chain and tensioner and bottom sprocket,, would also do the oil pump chain at same time if car has around 100k on it thats sump down the kit is around £75, the fai full timing chain kit is around £250 prob looking 5-8 hours ,, a part kit from fai is £100 ish plus tensioner,, as for curing the faults chance are after a few mile and hot to cold re starts etc the 02 sensor might come back to life again some do some dont,, i remove them and soak in seafoam and then use egr cleaner on them will fix them when its a residue issue but not when melted in sides

Thanks again! I've decided to bite the bullet and have a new chain fitted as the car is on 99k miles its going to need a new one anyway. My mechanic is actually a Citroen/Peugeot specialist & knows all about the fitting etc. I Will report back after the new chain has been fitted. If this doesn't cure the problem its going to have to go in a an auction so fingers crossed.

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bestbass42

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 30, 2020

Well I had the timing chain done, cost almost £500! I Think you were right Mike1967. Its cured the loss of power when car gets warm and is now running like a dream...except after doing 15 miles the bloody EML light has come back on!!!!!! To say I'm furious is an understatement! So far the car has cost me over £600 on timing chain and sensors. Got to take it back tomorrow so he can put the machine on it again.

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mike1967

· #7 · Jan 30, 2020

need to scan it ask them to scan live data for vanos positions first at idle then at 3000 revs or higher the timing on vanos should change, also need the adaptations reset or drive it 3-5 times cold to hot and try and use all revs when doing each time then have light reset if light stays off then adaptations as learnt its place in life ie new timing and fueling etc, pc below shows correctly timed 1.4 at idle after i done the chain and new vanos sprockets as well

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mike1967

· #8 · Jan 30, 2020

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bestbass42

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 9, 2020

mike1967 said:
need to scan it ask them to scan live data for vanos positions first at idle then at 3000 revs or higher the timing on vanos should change, also need the adaptations reset or drive it 3-5 times cold to hot and try and use all revs when doing each time then have light reset if light stays off then adaptations as learnt its place in life ie new timing and fueling etc, pc below shows correctly timed 1.4 at idle after i done the chain and new vanos sprockets as well View attachment 276733

THANK YOU mike1967 seems like your diagnosis was spot on! After having the timing chain etc done which cured the initial problem of power loss when hot, it seemed after the engine light came back on all the car needed was a reset via the diagnosis machine which cured the problem. The car has now been sold to one happy customer!

I Have now bought another Mini, this is a 1.4 One with 112,000 miles on the clock, really nice car & drives 'almost' mint. It had a new Timing chain fitted at 60k.

A Couple of problems you might be able to help me with. Firstly when cold, when coming to a junction & car gets to around 5mph it dies & I have to keep pressing the start button. As soon as the car has done approx 2 miles its fine, drives mega & continues to do so till the next morning when same thing happens. Could this be as simple as the battery is no good???

Second thing occasionally it jumps out of second gear. Seems like this problem happened before as there's an invoice from 2014 for a new recon gearbox and jumping out of second was one of the symptoms (garage charged £1,200 for recon gearbox!!!). So I know I'm going to have to change the gearbox, I can get one from a scrap yard for £100 & my mechanic will fit it for £100. Its a 6 speed gearbox and my question is are all the gearboxes the same? I Know they changed them from around 2003, do I need one out of a 2007 1.4 Mini or one from a 1.6 be the same if its 6 speed? Can I get an older one?

Its also got a noisy heater blower, again can I get one from any Mini, are they all the same?

Thanks again in advance.

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mike1967

· #10 · Feb 9, 2020

gearbox issue would guess cables need replacing or the gear stick mech or sometimes the air pipes to airfilter box drop on to the gear shift linkages,,
as for running issues the idle thing prob the rocker cover pcv valve leaking, can get from china repair kits for £10, or £50 for rocker cover complete,, also as timing was done at 60k and its on 112k now fore sure will need another one also oil pump chain and the oil control rings on ends of cam shafts as well,, would also run car on idle for a hour then rev it see if blue smoke out of exhaust if so valve stem seals are always worn out after 100k on them if not before
glad to hear your last one was all good

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