[mike1967]

Hi, hoping someone can help. I have an 08 Cooper S.
I have recently had the following happen whilst driving on motorway at steady speed.
Cruise Control Failure light came on on dash followed instantly by loss of throttle response & check engine light.
Got it onto hard shoulder & got recovered.
Codes showing are P2103, P1637 & P1638 which all seem to be related to throttle valve.
Engine has been apart with new rings, timing chain, deoke etc etc & has no carbon build up at all.
If I switch it off for 10 mins say then I can drive it fine for 30 secs, maybe a minute or 2 but then throttle does the same thing & just doesn't rev up, only stutters to approx 2000rpm.
Engine hunts wildy on tickover too.
It did the same thing a few months ago but without showing the codes only the crusie control failure light(cruise control wasn't on on either occassion) & check engine light.
Switched it off for 10/15 mins & then it was fine & has been until the other day when it did it again about 100 miles into a trip but now with the 3 fault codes.
Basically what I wanted advice on was do I change the throttle body & go from there or is there something else more likely to be causing the fault ?
here's hoping you guys can help me, thanks.

first off check the breather pipe at rear of rocker cover when these split it will misfire the throttle and map senor will try and level the closed system being open and cause codes related to throttle,, that said its also possible the throttle body could be at fault, check the est cheap bits first. also check the oil filler cap seal is good, best way to check this system is a smoke machine, but if not got one removing and checking cheapest way, also can use easy start can to spray carefully at the rear breather pipe with engine on idle if revs increase then thats your issue, next on the list need a diagnostics you can run live data so read the injectors see what its all doing, autocom cdp plus on ebay good for this,
worth sticking some injection clean through the system i use seafoam it will very slightly white whispy smoke on idle for a few days while its in there but if its got dirt anywhere it will clear it, without live data read whats misfiring and when it will just become a throw apart at it project ans thats expensive,

 

[mike1967]

the trouble with flexi catch can pipes is it will suck in and stop all breathing to the engine,, this can also cause oil leaks and can ruin the clutch if pushes the oil past the rear crank seal,, the breather pipe must be solid pipe for best results,

 

[mike1967]

Ah, I thought those pipes were under pressure, but if under vacuum of course they'll cave in. It's obvious now. Thanks for pointing that out.
Btw, I've ordered a can of seafoam so I'll give the entire intake a good clean out too.
Cheers Mike, so glad your back on the forum 🚗

your welcome sometimes just need to get away from car stuff made use of lock down,,, hmmm drove me up the wall not having much to do i'm not wired that way,, since gone back i have not stopped got more things to fix than i can do,,, then my own car went bang again finished that off yesterday nearly,, next week got a clubman with bcm cas unit problems, and vw caddy diesel i got to put a 150bhp crankshaft and rods and pistons in a bxe engine block, and got vauxhall insignia that will break the owners heart when i discover all the damage in the engine ,,, hmmm its will be a lot i just know it , another crap made engine,, seeing a pattern of German cars,, almost like all got together and decided to design equal crap designs to fail lol

 

[mike1967]

have you checked the inlet valves for carbon build up,, also be aware last month i done a cooper s on 2008 had misfire on 3 cylinders i cleaned the inlets with scrap tool and seafoam and egr cleaner mixed still done it,, then i remove the turbo and exhaust manifold off head and charged the bore with air from compressor and sprayed seafoam inlet spray in to each exhaust port ,, bugger me found they were leaking ended up pulling head to find most of exhaust valves had black rock hard oil carbon residue on them and were leaking,, i also found valve stems seal;s were totally shagged and oil was dripping down and caused it,m, i also found 9 lifters when went to remove them, they fell apart,, 87000 miles that car bmw service from new was a bmw trade in and this guy got caught on it,, i ended up pulling head off and doing all valve seats and stem seals also deglazed the bores as well with light hone, put car backj in for mot hour after finishing rebuild the mot guy laugh at me and said bloody hell carbons were 0.2 not see a n14 engine that low before lol, they are the gift that just keeps giving, this poor guy everytime i found another layer of broken shit was on verge of divorce,, he was a school teacher so i sort of felt sorry for him and really looked after him on it had some parts kicking around i gave him ,,, after 3 days he phoned me up saying lights on dash etc so i scanned it was abs and dsc lights on looks like a abs ecu issue or maybe wiring nothing to do with the engine job,, one thing after another bloody cars

 

[mike1967]

P2103, P1637 & P1638 all these codes point to throttle body , or wiring to it maybe,, if had flat battery or charging fault could also flag up a code due to low voltages

 

[mike1967]

that dash warning is cruise control related
below link might help

MINI Cooper R56 Throttle Housing Replacement (2007-2011) | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

See how to replace the throttle housing on MINI Cooper R56 models with a normally-aspirated engine.

www.pelicanparts.com

 

[mike1967]

worth a punt and yes linked via a number of ecu's ie EDC and BCM and even abs is linked to it,, ie if cruise is set and car hits ice say it should stop cruise,,
little tip search on ebay for Peugeot Citroen one ie 1.6thp 207gti and 307gti and the gt is same part might find more of these being broken and lowest mileage key to,, i found one other day done 32k for £30 saving on the £200 new price for genuine

 

[mike1967]

cracked inlet would cause the issues for sure,, i know that 10mm under it is painful with know ramp . its possible to change the throttle body without removing inlet 3 torx screws in it

 

[mike1967]

they are same i have fitted ones off Peugeot Citroen to 1.4 and 1.6 and turbo cars crossed over to mini engines in the past worked fine.

 

[mike1967]

hmmm i'm pulling mine off tomorrow as have a backfire issue on the over run will have a lot at mine,,, is it a crack or part of mould lines from being plastic moulded perhaps,,

 

[mike1967]

i'll have a look tomorrow

 

[mike1967]

never got to it today had a day from hell outside in the sun as well i'm bloody cooked,,, joys of vag silliness,,

 

[mike1967]

drip some thinners or petrol on one side of it, if it dont seep through then its not cracked,, as said before might be a mould line,, from the heated metal injection moulding process they get made by at factory,, ie they heat the plastic up until it is liquid and then pump it in to the moulds,, below link explains how they are produced ,

 

[mike1967]

no i had a day off today spent in and out of hot tub lovely day no bloody oil or grease even switched phone off,, been waiting on some engine parts meant to be here first thing and never turned up so made use of the day lol.. will get at it over weekend sometime,, need to do it as i have a slight back fire on over run think i got a injector dripping or coil pack maybe playing up, a cracked inlet could also cause it as well

 

[mike1967]

I filled in the crack with some sealant, fitted the new throttle, spent an hour putting that twat bolt back, cleared the codes and took it for a spin.
Drove like a dream, no codes, no hesitation, spot on.
Such a relief. Looks like it was a faulty throttle after all.
Anyway, the bitch of a car is getting sold!

its funny that i have come to that decision with mine partly due to the amount of my life i have spent under it and some life style changes and a pet that is just growing like the bill on my mini lol.