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mini cooper s over heated burning oil running badly,

9K views 53 replies 7 participants last post by  mike1967 
#1 ·
so today picked up my next engine job i dropped it at remapper yesterday to map it before i take it apart so gave me a chance to do a full diagnoses on it , it got ok oil pressure , but that where things stop not so long ago it had a coolant leak and got over heated so i today done a simple test where header tank top off ran engine hot while cap off and kept adding water so coolant right at top of tank so can see the bubbles ,, and yep as it got hotter it got more and more bubbles all signs of cracked head ie very common when these engine have a coolant leak and air gets in the head,, i also found in the sump debris from a past timing chain failure as per pics ,, also found where a garage had over tightened the turbo inlet pipe and broken the plastic insert then the broken plastic has destroyed the blades on the compressor of turbo ,, i should eb able to fix this with a new chra centre part of turbo and new inlet pipe , i also have a used compressor outer somewhere incase the old one is damaged inside, i checked the sump and no white metal in the bottom thats a good sign, also found oil pump chain so loose its nuts and why who ever done the timing chain last year never done that chain as well is beyond me,, i also as per pics found the timing was 3 teeth out chain was done by a garage not long or many miles ago and going by the guides would say under 10k ago,
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below pic spark plugs total eaten by oil some of other were pink ie anti freeze from cracked head
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below 1 to 4 plugs different colours from different issues in each bore
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surprised this drove from midlands
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above pic shows how far timing was out on it its funny these days i can drive one for 10 seconds under load and just know its out or not,
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above timing so out, also the tensioner was a fair way out so chain is stretched ,
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above pic is of the damage to turbo from debris off the intake pipe from someone over tightening it mostly,
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above pic of intake pipe and its damage that nailed the turbo ,
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above pic of another load of parts for a mini engine,
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#4 ·
wish I was lol, but these days its a open it up know where to look and start working out best way forward that dont cost the earth so far i've always beaten them , will go very well when its done,
 
#5 ·
pulling it apart at present so always the time of finding issues before making a cheapest best plan forward with it,
 
#6 ·
done another 5 hours today on it ,head off and pistons out crank really good and bearings really goo bores are bang on for hone and new rings, found timing chain that was done last year was a cheap china one , and was stretched, also found the pivot point broken on the guides and the stretch bolts used were lacking much force to remove all signs of a cheap part,, all this was done by a garage they even replaced the thermo housing but never done the plastic link pipe at same time ,, they also fitted a new 12v aux water pump and failed to clean the wiring harness on oil and crud and on 02 sensor harness plug, one thing for sure it wont be going back like it, also stripped and rebuilt turbo as per pics notice the damage on the compressor wheel because garage when done thermo housing recently failed to do the clip up correctly and broke the intake pipe and the debris went through the turbo, they also failed to diagnoses a cracked head /gasket failure from it over heating before they try'd to repair it,
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above pic pistons out
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above pic of not very old timing chain guides pivot point broken cheap chain kits, i can tell from tensioner normally as cheap ones have a recess hole on the them ,
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turbo all built up ready to go again after new chra

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above pic of damaged one on right and new one on left damaged from over tightened intake pipe to turrbo , i fit mellet genuine chra found them to be really good for money
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02 sensor plug soaked in oil and harness i clean these off before putting back together
now waiting on a used cylinder head to arrive so i can refresh it and move forward again
 
#7 ·
Was good to hear some good news on the crank, bearings and bores earlier. Just shows how poor them Chinese timing chains and tensioners (thanks to the last owner) are when it’s f****d after 24,000 miles since it was done with 5,000 mile oil changes and the oil level checked weekly just shocking. Iv never put a cheap shite brand part on my car so even more happy knowing Mikes refreshing it all with proper quality parts.
 
#8 ·
Iv never put a cheap shite brand part on my car so even more happy knowing Mikes refreshing it all with proper quality parts.
Best thing you ever did for your Mini.
You really wont be dissapointed.
1500 miles since Mike refreshed my N18. Hasnt missed a beat. Sounds and feels like a new car. Not used a single drop of oil.
 
#12 ·
funny how plans can be destroyed by the parts fairys as they tend to pick on me it would seem, lol,, got this one stripped all pistons out and head off ,, before pulling it apart i spent a bit of time diagnosing the cooling system issues also timing and lamda outputs etc,, I found bubbles coming out coolant tank when over filled with coolant to show up a possible head gasket at best and cracked head at worst.,, after pulling head off very clearly pink residue in cylinder 1 and number 2 also found the head gasket was not very old and had wellseal on it as well,, ie i always use wellseal on these engines as its a insurance from surface to surface leaks,, it also on engine like this proves there to be a cracket cylinder head as reason for air bubbles in coolant system,, so now we are waiting for a used head off a known running cat with no coolant issues so i'll refresh that head instead and throw old head in scrap pile where it belongs, since this discovery the owner sent me over a invoice from not long ago for a garage that indeed pull head had it skimmed and pressure tested,, trouble on these engines is pressure testing is done cold and these engines run 105c to117c and this head held pressure until got to around 90c when air started to appear as bubbles in header tank,, heads up to theirs i have done many of these engines now and with coolant problems like this,, and have few times until learnt my lesson wasted the £120 ish for pressure testing and skim to find when it get hots the cracks open up, so just better off not wasting money on pointless test and skim change the head and know you have avoided the issue,, nothing worst that wasting a day and half of labour plus head bolts and head gasket and cam bolts on top of pointless skim and testing to still have to buy a head anyway,
also in the invoice was a mention to low oil pressure ie oil light on idle, most likely caused by the heat and damage to camshaft vanos rings from heat,, and oil pump most likely screwed by the thin oil from over heated,, also the rubber nin return valve in oil filter housing housing also gets hurt by it,, so this car i'm waiting for oil pump pierburg brand, also waiting for turbo diverter valve once again pierburg , and cylinder head before much can be done was going in today and do the pistons and rings and hone the block but decided to have a extra day off as prob wont see parts until first week in jan ,, all the above could of been avoided by replacing the water pump and plastic link pipe and thermostat housing on the over heating level,, but the oil burning and timing chain level cant be avoided
 
#13 ·
been in today done a few more hours on it got all pistons done new rings and put back in block also fitted new oil filter housing and correct someone bodge with old oil seals and sealant that will not work on oil filter housing also found non return valve faulty no oil held back in filter housing a sign of it,
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above pic of new filter housing with cooler comes complete,
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above pic i pull seals out of new housing and between the seals and the oil filter hosing i use grey sealant that goes hard with heat so none can get in to oil system as let go hard before adding oil etc , in fact i do this will all sealant areas including sump and block etc let dry 24 hours or use a heat gun to speed things up helps to reduce the risk of oil leaks
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above pic new seals that are flexi rubber unlike the had work out ones fitted,
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above pic I always clean up anywhere around where do such work with brake cleaner and scotch brite so grease free then sealant seals better and it becomes easy to spot a leak on first start ups etc, plus its my pet hate where some in the trade to lazy to give something a clean off, like they think they are above that in some way, I excepted a long time ago i'm a glorified engine cleaner most of the time lol
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above pic of one of pistons cleaned ready for new rings

Font Gas Electric blue Transparency Packaging and labeling

above pic of the rings sets I use I dont use anything else on these have found them to be the best on used honed bores,
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above pic of how the rings are in packet notice the 1, and 11. ie 1st fit oil rings then middle black ring then top silver rings the middle and top rings both have wrote "TOP" and must be facing top of piston,

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new rings fitted to piston, the oil rings bottom are 180 degrees apposed to the gaps and set the other rings when putting in bores i put them 180 degrees again so inline with dudgeon pin , reason behind this i did once have one dig the as the gap moved to the thrust side of piston ,, you want the full even part of ring in such area stronger,

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bores honed two pistons in, see no lip or black wear marks at top of bores also can see the bores are even and have a 45 degrees finish to them, to do this you must when honing keep moving the hone tool in and out the bore,,i first use 180 grit stones and wd40 then for the 45 degrees I rehone with softer stones 280grit slowly in and out the bore,,

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#14 ·
done a few more hours today , replacement head arrived yesterday was sourced off ebay for £175 , turns out this head was a new head at some point maybe 30k ago as camshaft dirt dont match the case and the numbers on case look to be different from factory plus its never been skimmed and was easy to sort out all seats lapped in stem seal fitted also changed inlet camshaft rings for vanos , also checked the end journals and camshaft for wear and its zero worn so all good, old head had wear and not very good part form being cracked and was off before and not fixed etc, 3 paths with these engines one is only replace bare min and hope for the best or replace the known worn parts and known parts that do not make it much past 100k and forget about, or go full on buy a £7k crate engine off lohens ,, guess could go down a different path and buy a engine from breaker and hope for the best hmm not one I would want to try as most of these if not all of these engines by 60-70k all need work doing on them,
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above pic replacement head
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above pic of how all inlet valves were before cleaning and seats lapped in
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above pic before and after inlet valve
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head cleaned ready for valves and stem seals
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all valves cleaned and lapped to seats all in order to what they were removed from the head
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new stem seal fitted and oil ready for valves

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head finished ready to go back on
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inlet camshaft end journal where rings sit I fit ned ones always do ,
 
#16 ·
its getting there I got the gearbox seal the other day will sort that take video of how bad leaking it is,
 
#18 ·
yes and its a lot worse than that now really wet with transmission oil , would say when that guy done the clutch he caught the seal putting shaft in , guy on here i done his years ago after he say thing mobile guy on his drive and said he was out there swearing at trying to get drive shaft in,, as the driver side one is a faff but there is a process of doing where can avoid smashing the seal while doing it , just jack engine forward and up slightly helps a lot anyway it will be done i got a spare seal for me while i was there so if other sides needs checking i will ,
 
#20 ·
see where I go for mot that would be advisories for that as its a bad leak I smelt the oil and its gearbox oil, there again where I use also train mot inspectors so I now that anything I get mot'd is proper and correct rather have that way than something not safe and not seen somewhere else , i have had people ask me to just get a mot anyway I can and I just decline off that, dont want the risk of hassle when something bad could happen or break due to a lax mot test,
do you want me to change gearbox oil while I'm there ,, I've got the additive to add to it that will make it smoother and also conditions the seals on gearbox ,, ie i always put that in a remapped one just makes the gear box feel smoother ,,
 
#22 ·
, i always drop oil in clean container and let stand for a few hours see what metal is in there can give a good guide to condition of box,,
 
#24 ·
been and done another few hours today , bank hour special lol , so been and pulled drive shaft out and fitted new seal to gearbox as owner had a mobile mechanic fit a clutch and since its been leaking , seal was creamed by end of drive shaft ,, these seals are a total mare to get out and put back in correctly, little tip for anyone put extra strong thread lock on the metal part of seal helps to lubricate on way in and goes hard and helps seal, i have a seal application kit that i use and what i do is run a long 1/2 drive bars from drives side to where the seal goes in gearbox and use applicator on end to ensure seal dont get distorted,, ie it dont go in equal then chances are you will still have a leak after as the lips get distorted, ,
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above pics of drive shaft seal genuine bmw and its part number .
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little cheat to hold engine up with engine mount and head bolt with two 1/2 drive sockets
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above gearbox seal with the application boss,
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above new oil seal made of metal ,, its really important that all the force is on right point of seal when hitting it in to gearbox

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above pic oil seal and how i use 3 long 1/2 drive extension bars to reach out driver side to hid with hammer on the end ,

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above pic of gearbox additive i use smooths the gearbox also treats rubber seat prevents leaks, i also made up a funnel and pipe I use to fill gearbox from top with bungy cord to hook to bonnet , just pour in and have a oil catch try under the gearbox ,
also found when stripped it drive shaft spline and new wheel bearing fitted with no grease and hit in so hard was a total mare to get back out, i always light grease such things,
 
#25 ·
engine wise got head back on and turbo and new plastic link pipe and thermo fitted
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above the turbo i rebuilt back on the head
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above pic notice the white lines next to head bolts i mark each bolt after a do 90 degrees stretch to it, back waiting for parts fairy's now
 
#28 ·
two minute thing that makes life a bit more easy
 
#29 ·
had a another 4 hours on it today, put all cat and tins back on and sorted out sump ,still waiting for some parts slowing me down a tad,
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above pick new vanos sprocket and timing chain soaking in engine oil a must do job,
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found these marks in sump from oil pump where someone had jacked the sump in to ie reduces oil pressure flow not good should always jack with wood block and rag wise,, i knocked the dent back out again very common thing i find on these, o also cleaned it and painted it with stone chip paint tidy it up,
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above pic after installing camshafts me and owner had a chat about lifters and he decided wisely fit new ones so 16 brand new ones are on order ,, this motor will sound lovely now when finished ,,
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turbo ready for exhaust fit and pipe work and diverter valve ie the old one got damaged when debris entered the turbo in take and destroyed it, I only ever use genuine peirburg ,
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above new and old damaged diverter valve see the end is broken way and would of prevented boost, its funny when owner finally gets to use it in anger he thought it went ok before ,, and its also been remapped 210bhp with a really strong mid range
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new cat ready to go on

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i always spend 20 mins repainting the tins just looks better when lift bonnet

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new cat with sticker removed before fitting saves owners driving up road and smelling the paper burning off and thinking there is a issue or something ,

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new ntk 02 sensors ready to fit,
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cat fitted i always put cooper slip grease on threads and exhaust sealant on the flange zero air leaks
 
#30 ·
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above pic of parts number for ntk 02 sensors i always use for all n14 cooper s engines 2006to 2010 genuine


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above pic tins on 02 sensors in
 
#32 ·
its getting there will be back on it over weekend as long as parts arrive if they do should be back running for monday if do, got another one arriving on 9th and another on 15th will be double jobbing them ,
 
#33 ·
had another 4 hours on it today all the parts arrived and camshafts in timing chain kit on oil pump on sump on back on its engine mount
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above pic new lifter posts i soak in oil for a few hours before fitting them,

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above pic camshafts locked and crank pinned with draper pro lock tools, also preload tool inserted
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new oil pump chain and sprockets as comes in timing chain full kits I use
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above pics timing chain kit on new vanos and exhaust sprocket new stretch bolts etc
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new timing chain guide posts i clean with brake cleaner and the engine block with brake cleaner no oil and coat where seals are with sealant prevent future oil leaks,

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stretch bolts done, i mark the bolt head and the sprocket before doing stretch part, notice inlet vanos the white marks are 180 degrees away from each other, were side by side before doing stretch ,, same as exhaust but exhaust is only 120 degrees as smaller stretch bolt,
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above pic of water pump jockey wheel adjuster , notice there is a spike in case as a bove and a slot in the piece you pull out, you lock the pull out to this spike thn can easy fit the assembly , when done bolts up release it again,, also must tension aux belt before release this or will hurt the water pump coated wheel,
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above new and old jockey wheel
 
#34 ·
well been in my normal sunday place in workshop under a mini, got this one running today first flick of button and straight to a nice no misfire idle sound bang on had live data running on first start took some screen shots , smoothing running all within where should be and zero misfires and vano position bang on etc, even lamda target matches prescribed all good sign its happy, i ran of for hour , with let it cool down and tomorrow will be run for a number of hours and driven and oil and filter will be changed get rid of debris from bores ie always get some metal from where rings bed to bores , tomorrow will be run for 30 minutes at 1000 revs then 20 minutes 2000 revs then 20 minutes at 2500 revs then i change oil then it can be driven up the road , then next oil, and filter change at 300-500 miles and bedded in then owner will have the grin when lets it eat lol,
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above pic new spark plugs
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above pic all new seals for rocker cover
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above screen shot of autocom cdp plus and how you can work with bcm on cars and i can switch things on and off around the car and drop windows etc with diagnostics, not bad for a £60 tool it also reset adaptions on most things not all cars
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above pic shows zero misfire's not bad when think its only run for 2 minutes at this point from engine being totally apart
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above pic shows vanos positions 30 cr and both math this is correct, if one was more than 2 degrees different there would be a issue, i have found when replace retang rings in camshafts they can for a short time mis- time until the rings settle in,
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#36 ·
well been in my normal sunday place in workshop under a mini, got this one running today first flick of button and straight to a nice no misfire idle sound bang on had live data running on first start took some screen shots , smoothing running all within where should be and zero misfires and vano position bang on etc, even lamda target matches prescribed all good sign its happy, i ran of for hour , with let it cool down and tomorrow will be run for a number of hours and driven and oil and filter will be changed get rid of debris from bores ie always get some metal from where rings bed to bores , tomorrow will be run for 30 minutes at 1000 revs then 20 minutes 2000 revs then 20 minutes at 2500 revs then i change oil then it can be driven up the road , then next oil, and filter change at 300-500 miles and bedded in then owner will have the grin when lets it eat lol,
View attachment 288206
above pic new spark plugs
View attachment 288207
above pic all new seals for rocker cover
View attachment 288209
above screen shot of autocom cdp plus and how you can work with bcm on cars and i can switch things on and off around the car and drop windows etc with diagnostics, not bad for a £60 tool it also reset adaptions on most things not all cars
View attachment 288210 View attachment 288211
View attachment 288212
above pic shows zero misfire's not bad when think its only run for 2 minutes at this point from engine being totally apart
View attachment 288216
above pic shows vanos positions 30 cr and both math this is correct, if one was more than 2 degrees different there would be a issue, i have found when replace retang rings in camshafts they can for a short time mis- time until the rings settle in,
View attachment 288215
Me I'm not sure what's going on with my 2007 Mini stalled out a little click noise and I'm definitely not sure about any vehicles just a mom trying to not get ripped off. Any information appreciated?
 
#39 ·
I hate failure and just will not be beat by anything , this car in this thread today i've been up road in it ,,, it pulls like a train now no chain or tappy noises and no bubbles in coolant as had cracked head , at most limited to 3000 revs after being run for a few hours breaking it in then i change the oil again then its what it had today first drive ,, but did after a few miles get a fault code for throttle body so owner has ordered a used one from ebay so i got another couple of hours pull it apart again to sort that but thats the only issue , but its all part of what i do dont take me long these days to sort most things ,, its why all the garages around me keep sending people my way or they ring me up and ask me to run my ear over something ,, think it might be a illness lol and long term one as well ,
 
#41 · (Edited)
wrong pst
 
#42 · (Edited)
wrong post
 
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