I rarely post but figured I should put this up here. I began hearing a loud knocking sound from my motor last weekend, a sound that instantly reminded me of when I spun a rod bearing in my supercharged '99 Mustang GT. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was way, way worse. My oil pump went at 65K miles and resulted in my engine being down 3.5 quarts. Where did it go? That's the million dollar question. Regardless, the end result was very, very bad. I need a new motor. Price of new motor? $8,000. Warranty? Nope.

I had the car towed to Mo-town MINI. They're great and fixed my other issues and tried to help on price, but unfortunately $8,000 is not in my financial capabilies. I'm in search of a rebuilt/used motor to have put in. My car is now in good hands with DMH Motorsport and we will make a decision on major surgery in the next few days.

Anyone else hear of/had this problem? Don at DMH has dealt with a few, so has the guy at the Mini salvage place I found in the midwest. Not cool, Mini, not cool at all. So after a year and a half of more fun than I thought I would have in a little hatchback (especially after coming from a 12-second mustang), I'm selling the Mini and probably not looking back anytime soon.

Writing this doesn't bring my Mini back to life, but hopefully I've informed a few people of a potential landmine lurking. Like Wilford Brimley says in the Diabetes commercials, "Check your [oil], and check it often".

 

ouch..hopefully you dont ditch your mini..
no one on here wants to see that day come.
but that's a crazy amount of money. is that price including the engine and the installation costs?
buy from a junk yard?
oh man. hopefully everything works out.

 

Mighty: Had you been checking the oil fairly often? I've found that's a hazard in long-oil-change interval cars. One must still be diligent about checking fluid levels, air pressure, etc. and with 3-5k oil changes these things get checked. With 10k+ oil changes, stuff gets missed.

Good luck whatever you choose to do. Should be able to source a used/salvage engine for under $8k I'd think...

 

Sorry to hear that,

We have a used engine with a bad rod bearing, if you need it let me know,

 

You should be able to do it for far less than $8000. Check www.car-part.com. There are a couple of wrecking yards in your area of the country that have used engines. The most expensive one is $3500. Shouldn't cost more than $1000 for install labor and supplies.

 

Would an oil pressure sensor in the mini prevented this issue?

 

This makes me glad I have the oil pressure gauge in the Chrono package but it the oil pressure was falling wouldn't the idiot light on the dash come on? I know on my Plymouth when the oil pump was going out (oil pressure gauge told me so but it wasn't worth fixing) The light would come on at idle when the pressure dropped below 20psi.

 

Thanks for everyone's concern. The one thing I really like about owning a Mini is the tight knit car community. After everyone's suggestions I now have a better idea of what my options are.

An oil pressure gauge may have prevented this, but no way to know for certain. I usually go 3 - 6K on an oil change and check it a bit more frequently when I know I'm getting close.

I checked out Car-Part.com and called about the $3,500 motor. He was willing to negotiate price which was good. I'm not sure how big this thing will be and if it will fit into the back of a Pathfinder or should I just rent a van from Avis for a day.

 

here is one on ebay used. have you looked at that?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...spagenameZWDVW

 

Also, there were no Check Engine lights or anything of the sort going off so that is also concerning. What are they there for if they don't do their job?

I should note that this all started the day after my radiator fan continued to run for a couple hours while I was at the driving range and ultimately killed my battery. I searched NAM for clues, only to find tons of postings about the same problem: the relay in the fan assembly that craps out. That was a $750 repair, parts and labor.

The car was great for the time I have had it, since 26K miles through 65K. It WAS bulletproof. Now I am wondering what other gremlins are going to strike next....

 

No, I didn't see that one, Naffets. Thank you. I do appreciate everyone's help out there.

 

I fit a GM 5.7L V8 in the back of a S15 Jimmy so you shouldn't have a problem fitting it in the back of a Pathfinder. I would recommend that you take some cardboard and maybe a tarp to protect the carpet though. Even better yet would be to tow a small trailer. Good luck.

 

Well , an update on the situation: I'm having a new motor, balanced and blueprinted, installed by Precision. At this point it just makes sense to hang on to the car since now I'll have a brand new engine. So it looks like I'll be a Mini owner for quite a bit longer now.

Thanks for everyone's input. It's been an interesting experience.

 

Glad to hear it. Let us know how it goes.

 

What's the price on the Balanced and Bluprinted engine?

I would think that this will get you some pretty good HP ratings with the other mods you have listed!

 

I will be spending something in the 8K range, which based on all the searching I did, is a very fair price for what I am getting. This will be a new motor, warrantied, and the work will be done by one of the best bmw/mini race shops in the area. So after taking all this into consideration, I'll keep the Mini (which don't get me wrong, I LOVE!) and when finances allow, get a second vehicle for work, i.e. meeting clients and other sales related stuff.

I am pretty psyched to see how the car performs with the same mods on a tight motor. I will def keep everyone posted.

 

Its good to hear that you decided to have your MINI resurected, tell us how the new engine turns out!

 

Have them install an oil pressure guage for ya too!

 

^^^^ funny...

Are you having any "Mayzwell Zlongas" mods done while they have the engine out? You know...

Zlongas you're pulling the engine, Mayzwell do a pulley/intercooler/Quaife/clutch/flywheel/etc... as well!

Do tell - we LIVE for details like this! Or are you keeping us in suspense?

Congrats on keeping the car - it should be worth it in the long run, especially with a balanced/blueprinted motor - I had one in a previous (non Mini) car and it made all the difference in the world...

 

Actually, I will have a few gauges installed, matter of fact! Oil Pressure certainly being one of them.

As for the Myzwell Zlongas modifications, I would have something completely unnecessary done if I could swing it, financially. I may have something done, I'm not too sure.

That was how my mustang became a complete demon. While the engine was out, the headers, and clutch, and flywheel, and driveshaft, and vortech supercharger with all of its compontents (fuel injectors and mass air meter from a lightning) were installed. End result of a 390 rwhp / mid 12 sec on street tire mustang. Looked completely stock, until I opened it up.

Not to say the Mini won't undergo the Frankenstein treatment eventually. I'll post some pics up when it returns. Also, how do I get those cool icons and Mini graphics in my signature?

 

Just thought I would update this thread. I got my car back on Saturday morning. I've put about 600 miles on it since The car runs great. Of course I've been as gentle as can be breaking it in, keeping it under 4k. I will give it another 500 - 600 miles before I attempt to wring it out a little.

There's a brand new long block in there, plus all the vacuum leaks were fixed. The exhaust has a little deeper tone to it, too. Also, it has a warranty and more than I probably would've had through a dealer. So far, so good. Glad to have her back.

 

congrats. I hope all stay well and you enjoy your new engine. :D

 

Good luck and congrats on having it back!