[TomVSMini]

Hello world!
Recently acquired a 2010 Clubman (non-s) with 100k mi and been doing some routine maintenance to keep things rolling along. Unfortunately I hit a snag and would greatly appreciate some advice. What started as a simple weekend valve cover gasket and plug job has turned into more...

Initial issues:

• hesitation/pulsation from the engine when its under load/bogged
• small amount of oil in some of the plug shafts

What has been done (in the order completed) :

• Replaced valve cover gasket and o-rings
• Replaced spark plugs
• Replaced upper timing chain guide (bracket was broken off near the studs....a very surprising find!)
• Replaced the coil packs

Status:

• Car starts right up and runs normally
• Seconds later the engine begins to sputter and stalls
• No CEL or codes in the ECU

I hoped the coil packs had gone bad and replacing them would solve it but no dice. Next thought is to buy another new set of plugs - maybe something is wrong with the new set I just installed? In a perfect world I would have done a complete timing chain/guide replacement while in there but I didn't see anything else broken/out of place other than the upper timing guide. Crazy part is the thing was running almost perfectly before opening it up to do the gasket job.

Thanks for your suggestions!
Tom

 

[TomVSMini]

Thank you VERY much for the suggestions! I will recheck all the connections to the cover. I have a cheap OBD2 to bluetooth scanner with Torque running on my phone. Its basic but has worked well for troubleshooting other vehicles.

Agree, a full chain job is in its future. My thought process was, right or wrong, to complete the tasks at hand and make sure everything was still good before going deeper. So much for that!

 

[TomVSMini]

Hopefully this makes sense to someone better at this than I am but I am content with the fact that I found the issue!
Thanks again to Mike for his quick replies today!

Tonight I went out to take a look at things and disconnected and reconnected a few things on the right side of the engine...cam sensors, and such. I also removed the airbox and took a look around to see if I simply missed something. After confirming nothing obvious was disconnected or out of place I hooked everything back up, with the exception of the airbox and MAF, shrugged and decided to start it up. It ran like a kitten! Containing my excitement I turned it off, connected the airbox and MAF, and started it again....sputter and stalled. Disconnected just the MAF, started it and purred. Removed the airbox, leaving the MAF, and plugged the MAF back in, start-sputter-stall.

SO....I need to replace or clean the MAF!

Having not touched the MAF through the whole maintenance procedure I have no idea how it magically went bad. But its something I can replace without tearing everything apart again so I'm not complaining!

I look forward to the next test of my skills! Thank you!

 

[TomVSMini]

Thank you for the suggestion! That's difficult to do when it wont stay running more than a few seconds at a time. I fancy myself an optimist but after I clean the MAF sensor today, its original to the car, I hope to have a good idea how to proceed.

 

[TomVSMini]

After comparing some before and after pictures of the valve cover I found a grommet/cap was missing. This must have occurred when I removed and flipped the cover over to replace the gasket. It appears to be part of the PCV system and is missing a plastic cover to hold it in place. I found what appears to be the correct part on ebay and ordered it. Search for part #: 11127646552

Once I placed the grommet/cap in place it started and stayed running, though not as smoothly as without the MAF sensor. There is definitely suction on the grommet so the vacuum leak was dead on. THANK YOU!

Hopefully this new cover eliminates the issue completely!