Engine Timing? N14

ssashton said:

Thanks Mike. The car is only on 49K so it does seem early for a new chain but regardless it's an 07 plate so not a young lad anymore.

How can I check the tensioner length, please? I don't think I can see it from with the valve cover off. Do I just remove it, or then it will spring to full extension?

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below link is best way i can help you with out spending the afternoon typing
https://hausofminis.com/2015/05/is-...ing-chain-on-your-2nd-generation-mini-cooper/

as for 49000 miles i have seen them gone at 24000 miles before on turbo cars, my theory behind this is, when car new new owner dont know that those engines use oil by design low friction tech so they run them under the full mark and thats the big issue,, that engine you must treat the max fill mark as the min level never want ot to get much under it, as when do the chain dont get enough oil to it, the cams might not get enough oil to them so causes drag on the chain, also the oil gets very dirty on 20k service times then add to this someone runs the oil low even less oil to keep clean and can over heat the oil this breaks down sooner and wear just gets worse,
turbo cars dont tend to get much past 70k on chain when they are looked after and driven at lowish revs.. bmw mini decided the fix was to produce a tensioner that is twice the length as the standard ones as a fix, but that just moves when the rattle begins and not when the out of timing engine starts eating its self from heat etc, the real fix should of been a duplex twin chain system like bmw used back in the 1990s on 2.5 tds engines

ssashton said:

Whats' the dummy tensioner for?

27mm thin spanner for the aux belt tensioner?

Click to expand...

i did refrain from any joke reply lol,,

so you remove old chain kit and then slide new one in with bottom sprocket held by the chain and guides clipped together and put all the guide pins in and vanos sprocket on loose and the bottom sprocket loose, so all sprocket can free turn on their shafts,, at this point you use a dummy tensioner,, ie its same as spring one but has a threaded bar to manually set the amount of pretension force on to the chain tension guide,, ie just enough that it dont flex the guides in any way , at that point can set sprockets to 20nm torque wrench,, then remove locks and turn engine by hand 4 times over then relock and check if all locks drop on to the cams after setting the crankshaft pin,, if does i always insert the spring tensioner and repeat this for peice of mind,, if dont match up then either to much force was on the dump tension tool or not enough,, ie its trying to match the load of the sprung loaded tension with the manual one when setting it,,
i know this all sound alien complex but its just a process, the first time i ever done one i got it wrong but caught before running the engine or doing up the stretch bolts etc,, check re check it this dont cost you a penny just 10 minutes of time,, ie must be able to lock crank shaft then just drop the cam locks in to place when checking timing always final check before doing stretch bolts up is try with spring tensioner in place,,

Okay time to give an update on this.

I re-timed the engine over the bank holiday weekend.

I used a cheap timing kit from eBay. Yes, I had to reduce the main body of the crank pin to fit the flywheel housing bore. I just stuck it in a drill and used a small file to work it down.

Also yes, the timing lock fixtures needed a little work. The exhaust lock needed a small section cut off because it interfered with the turbo (I think an extra screw hole for mating with another engine) the angle-grinder took swift care of that. AND yes, the locking fixtures needed some shimming to get a really snug tolerance fit on the cams. In my case the exhaust fixture needed 0.14mm shim and the intake needed 0.1mm shim.

Once I put the crank pin in, the exhaust locking fixture slotted dead-nuts on. Nice. The intake fixture on the other hand would not even go on more than half way because the intake cam was angled backwards towards the engine bay bulkhead. So yeah, it was out of time. I don't think it is chain wear because that would be spread across the chain evenly and appear on the exhaust and intake cams. In this case it was only the intake cam and I think it was probably not installed carefully since I found the valve springs wanted to push it off time just like I found it here.





I removed the timing chain tensioner and replaced with the manual tool done finger tight. I'm not really sure why I shouldn't just leave the automatic tensioner in there (except if you are replacing the chain).

In order to loosen off the vanos intake sprocket bolt I needed to remove the top brace / radiator mount and also remove the intercooler to intake manifold pipe. Using a swivel socket to avoid the engine mount I was then able to release the stretch bolt and adjust the intake cam relative to the sprocket / timing chain.



I installed the new stretch bolt (20nm) and did a few test rotations, then reinstalled the timing tool. Then I did it again to be sure before I torqued the bolt 180 degrees for final tightness and did a final third test rotation and locking kit install. Everything was perfect!

Oh, I will warn you that the tensioner hole is fed with oil. So I got a nice pool down the back of the engine when I did my test rotations with only the manual tesnioner tool in there.






The result? Well at first it seemed to run smoother. Then it didn't, then it did. I think this has helped, I mean it can't not help getting the engine timed right. However first I think I will need to have the adaptions all cleared so the ECU can learn the new timing. Second I have a suspicion I need to check the sensors and wiring. Yesterday I gave my MAP sensor a blast of alcohol to clean it and now the car actually runs worse than before, so I suspect a poor MAP sensor or weak wiring too. I battle onwards!

This is the one I ordered, but it actually came in a blue case and looks more like the one you linked.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-MINI...4-1-6-TIMING-LOCKING-TOOL-KIT-UK/263309545823

The only reason it didn't like the turbo engine is because a small bolt hole needed trimming off, also on your blue kit there.

for adaptation reset could do a hard reset as per below
How to reset all ecu's

this procedure is called a power latch

firstly turn on the ignition not engine running,
open bonnet remove battery positive lead and then turn off ignition.
then touch the positive lead to earth,this powers down all ecus and resets erasing intermittent faults in the process.then reconnect the battery lead.
if the vehicle doesnt start straight away leave the ignition on for 2-3 mins as it has gone into anti scanning mode.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
upon starting the vehicle DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE allow vehicle to idle until cooling fans cut in to allow the engine ecu to reset correctly and reprogramme the learning curve,then drive in all gears upto 4,000 rpm accellerating steadily.

as stated this resets all ecus so any electrical faults caused by conflict errors in programming will be erased and fixed.if the fault is still evident there is a problem that will need further diagnosis