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2012 countryman cooper s all4 smoking eating oil

32K views 179 replies 7 participants last post by  GEOFFSNOOK 
#1 ·
my latest mini is in and ready for stripping down and refresh ,, this car has 80k on it and burns around 3 litres of oil to under 800 miles ,, its also feels very flat, I scanned it and flagged a oil pump control solenoid fault codes ,, so it will be having either a full oil pump or at least the control valve piloted from ecu,, head will be off tomorrow and then the bottom end hmmm bmw should be shot for mounting the transfer box in the way of one bolt to the sump ,, still un decided on how I will get around this and how far the transfer box needs to be moved etc either way its a mission, I already seen the timing chain is stretched from where the writing on camshafts dont match each other ,,, the n18 engines are direct injection like the n14 cooper s engines but they have added longer lift for inlet valves like the n12 and n16 engines and a exhaust vanos for timing as well ,,, hmmm even more to play with my day working out what is wrong etc,, this one i think has a few things going on, first off the crankcase is really black signs of piston ring issues and really burnt oil and maybe services had been 24 months and 20k ,,, these survive better with 12 months and 8k oil and filter changes,,, i also noticed and pointed out by owner its running glycol blue antifreeze,,, not the best way with these,,, I use neat pink antifreeze,, proof of this is when i bleed them the antifreeze will pool n top of gearbox and just never boils away,, where cars with water and blue after a week its all gone with the heat,, i also when using any fluids to any car only order it from MPD and with reg number and the list is pink for these cars,,, bmw have their own named antifreeze,, I use neat no water in it as water boils at 100c these cars run up t0 112c when fan fully on and sit around 105c on the road with air flowing,,, where the neat antifreeze dont boil until way past 100c and dont turn to steam as easy, i always check a car before working in it for a number of things,,, ie check no evidence of coolant issues and residue of a head gasket sealant etc, also do a full code scan and full live data run to see what is working whats not,, this car has a oil pressure issue that dont effect a oil light so should find the crank will be fine,, its just the controlled oil pressure to the vanos timing on camshafts is effected and that also needs to be gone through when its a part,,, every part I treat like it need to prove to me its not faulty etc ,, rather than taking for granted it should be, will add to this post as I go along as not put a countryman all4 up before ,,,
this car has codes for timing and oil pump burns to much oil smokes if left running on idle for to long and tap the gas pedal etc ,, and scrapes through emissions test for mot , what I do will sort all this and then some,,
 
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#4 ·
when i do these i only do them one way and that is head off sump off piston do away with the crap piston rings from factory fit better psa latest spec rings, also valve stem seals get changed to elring seals new full timing chain kit and oil pump chain,, these bleed oil from these parts after its done they stop eating oil,, but there again if timing is out they do all kinds of twisted running,, another thing is cant use cheap timing chain kits or timing lock tools on them as are very touchy,, the exhaust valves get most of the heat that travel up to valve stems seals so yes timing would have some effect on using oil from exhaust side stem seals as these are always melted on badly running cars,, i'll band a load of pics up on it as I go ,,,
 
#5 ·
today pulled head pulled sump off found timing was 3 teeth out or more as per pick of locking tool, also found vanos sprockets clogged with debris, found timing chain guide pivot had broken common failure on these hence why 60k do a full kit even on N18 engines,, the chain was so stretched the extra long tensioner had come apart and stayed in by luck,, hmmm did tell owner he should go get a lottery ticket as drove from wales down, i found parts of the chain guide lodged in oil pump restricting flow no wonder this car was running very flat, in pics will see pic of turbo oil feed pipe i put araldite on it to prevent it from moving as they will leak if moved,, also found head gasket leaking on rear and signs of k-seal ie red residue, ,, bores were shiny but no lips so will hone perfectly,, there are two types of piston rings on these engines and the gaps in piston are different between them,, tomorrow i will pull pistons hone it and rering it etc will also pull valves out the head pulled one exhaust valve out and stem seal was shot and seat very badly pitted so a few hours of pain for my lapping them in lol,, will say not as easy to do as the other mini's , gearbox transfer box is in way of sump etc, so new oil pump ordered and 02 sensors and cat as per the norm with oil burners,, when its done should be a good motor again.
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#8 ·
you bought that lottery ticket yet lol ,, tensioner fell apart and was only pushing the very end of travel on the chain ,, tensioner was out to it max and then some hence why fell a part, your in for a treat when its run in then as they go a lot better than that was driving for sure,,, they are not the easiest to work on as engine is a fairway from front of car etc made harder when on axle stands etc, think realistically will be not this week end but week end after, also gives me more time to make sure its all playing nice,, I also found some of oil leaks as well i'll sort them out as put it back together etc, it was deffo not far off doing its timing chain and taking out the exhaust valves
 
#10 ·
i always aim within 2 weeks max,, but some dont want to go lol, done a cooper 2 cars ago that one just was a onion did fix it and now runs a treat again
 
#12 ·
I know on many levels it just wanted to live lol,, bit like the black night on monty python when he lost all legs and arms and still want to fight lol,,, tiss just a scratch lol
 
#16 ·
Mike,

I sent you a pm, but I'll repost it here too.

Would you mind sharing the torque specification for the rod bearing caps, camshaft cap bolts, head bolts, cam gear bolts, and front crankshaft bolt?

Also, should the piston rings be gapped to a certain spec?

Kind regards,
Matt
 
#17 ·
same as n16
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rings are pre gapped i use the latest Peugeot ring sets RS1600 or RS1698 depending on which pistons yours has as there is two different types based on ring gaps
 
#18 ·
my day today pulled all pistons out found big end bearings right on verge of destroyed without hurting the crank ie still shiny so should be good to go again, checked end float on crank mains with lever bar think he just got away with the oil pressure issue from timing chain guide piece broken off,, so got bores hone'd as per pics and pistons cleaned and new solid rings fitted ready for when the new crank bearings arrive couple of days,.. i then stripped head and cleaned it and set on the valves all clean and shiny and lapped the seats in and rebuilt back up ready to go back on,,, new oil pump arrived today, and so did timing chain full kit and head gasket and bolts still waiting for the cat and 02 sensors,, as in pics I soak the new timing chain and vanos sprockets in oil until I fit them wet, i also clean the non return valves for the vanos sprockets,, when i rebuild the head i put thread lock on the bolts as per pic, i also add well seal to the inlet camshaft posts to head and end vanos journal where meet the head as its oil ways etc same on exhaust camshaft,,, i also crush the lifters in vice ,, they should be solid at first then spring back,, if not solid then faulty if dont spring back same thing i had to replace two on this one,

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#19 ·
and part two of pics,
pic below i use a pick tool and vasiline to help fit the valve collets on valves stems ie makes then stick to the sten so can use the pick tool to guide them in to right grooves,, important the thick end of collet is at top,, also the piston rings have TOP wrote on them and must point to the top of piston, piston ring packets has 1 2 3 pouches for where each ring fits to the piston,, also there are two types of piston rings for n18 depending on when car was built
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#21 ·
bloody cold up there lol..
 
#23 ·
had another afternoon on this one today , pics below show pistons back in and new king big end bearings, and new full timing chain kits and oil oil[pump chain etc ,, also shows how to hold the 18mm socket when doing stretch bolt up on crankshaft, ie 50nm plus 120 degrees ,
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#24 ·
and these pics,,
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engine rotates like silk no noises when turned by hand ,, i always use engine builders grease as in pics ,, protects while it get oil around, i also crank engine for a while with no plugs in before running it get oi around,, also soak the new timing chain and the vanos hubs as well and also use well seal on head gasket and on the timing chain guides to prevent leaks going forward
 
#26 ·
just chipping away at it lol
 
#30 ·
kings,
 
#33 ·
roof got blown off unit in that storm we had 30 minutes later i would of been in there lol , should be back on for Tuesday I have been told ,, lucky never took car out so covered it over and all its bits etc roped the cover on it thick caravan cover to protect it,, so i'm on stop at mo with it, I also planned a weekend away this week great timing me thinks so will deal with it all on Tuesday,, either i'm moving in to a bigger unit or they get their fingers out and sort my roof,,
 
#34 ·
will add even if no roof still on tuesday i will go in and finish geoffs car anyway just have to work around the weather maybe go get a gazebo and put it up around where i need to work in there,, couple days at i'll be there with it,
 
#37 ·
i will do my best to sort it,, might end up barrowing works recovery truck and taking it back there to finish it etc ,, i'm prettysure the landlords where i have unit will sort things fast i've been there for a long time and never once messed them around on rent ,, in fact i've repaired a few minis for their family members over the years as well,, if not I will go get some pond liner and nail to the roof beams myself and send them the bill for it lol,,
 
#38 ·
at work we had a high side van parked up waiting for mot and it picked the nearside wheels off the ground at one point,, when I got call from garage down the estate ie for me to get in fast as roof was gone,, I nailed it in there came around one corner and had a ho bugger moment tree in the road,, was really bad down here in bude a 400 year old free in the centre got pulled up from the roots,
 
#39 ·
Yeah mike but make sure it dont cost you anything as thats really poor construction i had my own building firm for 25 years and would never have put joist's in like that minimum of wall plates on top of wall and wall plate straps fixed to walls 900 long every 2 meter's maybe not stopped the actual roof blowing off but would certinally have helped
 
#40 ·
i've already picked that up with them on that and told them as unit is right out in the flow as such they need to put some angle brackets inside and outside the roof going forward as i'm not staying there if any chance this can repeat its self ,,, trying to keep chilled over it but inside i'm boiling, they sort i'm sure they will i've been there a long time
 
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