2009 Mini Cooper S - Engine Whine - Oil Pump / Oil Pump Chain?

could be oil pump as rotors are fairly long so bit like a diff on a car can whine, worn out cam shafts can make a noise as well, also if with gearbox and clutch area thrust bearing seen them to do it if go faulty ie dont return all the way back so always pushed on fingers of clutch pressure plate, also input shaft on gearbox would check oil levels also engine running get someone to pressure clutch pedal and release listen for big changes in noise, or banging noises dmf or even clutch pedal pumping with foot on peddle half way or light pressure on it are signs of issues

Thanks Mike. Car is automatic so no thrust bearing issues. Whine exists in both Neutral and Drive. Stethoscope really points to the noise coming from inside the oil sump? Not many people seem to have had to swap the oil pump but it's possible it may have ingested debris from a previous cam chain guide failure or other catastrophe. Oil pressure seems good. Will drop the sump to investigate at the weekend so will spot any obvious wear in the chain and gears but not sure how to check for wear in the pump itself. May try and source a good used item and swap it in to eliminate it from my investigation. Will update this post for the benefit of the next guy who happens along this road....

its auto box they whine with age getting oil level checked or better still change the oil on box anyway. might find the noise is travelling along the crankshaft as such form gearbox.. jack car off road on axle stands and run in drive at revs it makes it worse at then listen to all the different places see where it sounds loudest.

Thanks Mike - latest update on this. After checking with the stethoscope all over the engine and transmission it was clear that the noise appeared to originate from the sump. I dropped the sump and found quite a bit of play in the oil pump drive chain. I've seen quite a few other people reporting similar issues but none of them advising that it was associated with a whine. Having removed the oil pump drive sprocket I was surprised to find it was quite difficult to turn the oil pump drive shaft. I was expecting to be able to turn the pump freely however there is significant resistance and it feels notchy to turn? Is this normal? Happy to swap in a new oil pump chain but reluctant to spend big $$$ on an oil pump until I am sure this is the root cause. Anyone had similar oil pump issues or any experience with the how freely the oil pump should rotate?

pump should be smooth fairly easy to turn have seen on some failures where run low on oil or dirty oil will hurt them, as for chains they tend to just about do 120k ie couple of timing chain changes, if were my car i would also stick a new timing chain on it at same time for piece of mind

You are describing a timing chain issue to me. It makes a lot of noise on start and then gets quiet. This sounds like the Mini Death Rattle to me that you are describing. It sounds like it was run "low oil" and that would explain the excessive wear on your Oil pump and chain as well.

mike1967 said:

pump should be smooth fairly easy to turn have seen on some failures where run low on oil or dirty oil will hurt them, as for chains they tend to just about do 120k ie couple of timing chain changes, if were my car i would also stick a new timing chain on it at same time for piece of mind

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Thanks again Mike and just to close out this thread for the next guy. Fitted a new oil pump and chain and problem solved - no more whining from the sump. Old pump had bits of a previous tensioner guide rail jammed inside the intake too - not enough to restrict flow but shows engine has had a failure in the past and may have run low on oil.

duke013 said:

Thanks again Mike and just to close out this thread for the next guy. Fitted a new oil pump and chain and problem solved - no more whining from the sump. Old pump had bits of a previous tensioner guide rail jammed inside the intake too - not enough to restrict flow but shows engine has had a failure in the past and may have run low on oil.

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thats in keeping with its had a chain failure at some point and so one did not remove the oil pump and clean it and the sump and crankcase out

thanks guys for this forum its very helpful.im having this whine sound at first i thought it was the belt tensiner but this sound stops when i open oil filler cap or dipstik