It always seems to be 1 thing after another! I noticed about a week ago that my MINI sounded a little weird when I was accelerating, but now it's getting bad! It sounds like the fuel is cutting out or something. I have a few basic mods(15% pulley, CAI, plugs, wires, coil pack) and now I have another issue here. I replaced the pulley belt recently, and it sounded much better (the old one was starting to slip). But now it is making a different sound. It sounds like it's basically not getting any fuel or something. I hope this isn't a symptom of the S/C going bad . Anyways, I've tried to video tape it but you can't really hear it. I only have 1 video of it that you can kinda hear it, and it's only 1 "sputter". Sometimes it's not really noticeable and then you have some that are really noticeable, like the one in the video. It's about 8 seconds in, I was WOT and about 4500rpm's when you can hear it. It just sounds like it cuts out for a second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbqXBqMzMt0

***I added an annotation that pops up briefly right when the sound is noticable (or lack of sound I should say)***

 

Does it seem more like a skip as it doesn't appear like you are losing power correct ?

 

Yeah, it seems like a skip to me. I don't believe it to be an issue with the belt slipping because it did do this before when I had the old belt on (I only noticed it right before I changed the belt and it did it only once) but not like it is now. Maybe since the old belt was slipping a little bit, I didn't notice it, and now that the new belt is on, I can really notice it. So I seriously doubt it's an issue with the belt. It seems more or less like maybe it's not getting enough fuel through 1 injector at WOT. Or maybe it's just not sparking. I put the new pulley and everything on about a year ago, probably like 20k miles ago. I have cleaned the new filter out probably about 10k miles ago, though I don't believe this to be an issue. I am going to clean out the filter again this weekend when I replace the suspension. I am also thinking about replacing the fuel filter since I have high mileage on my MINI. I just was seeing about what ideas are out there. The only way you would even know it's doing this is because you can hear the S/C quiet down for a split second.

 

For some reason the embedded video isn't showing on my computer, but the link works fine. You can faintly hear it, for only a split second between 8 and 9 seconds. It probably doesn't sound like anything, but that was like the only spot you can actually hear it unless you're physically in the MINI. It's more of a faint sound most of the time with the occasional sound of what I'm trying to show with the video, where it sounds like it completely stops for a split second. It's really hard to explain and it's not easy to get a video of it that sounds good. There's too much interference with that outside noise which really drowns it out, even with the windows closed. Any ideas out there? Anyone know what the symptoms of a failing supercharger are? That's the sound you really notice is wrong. It's not smooth at WOT, and again, I don't believe it to be an issue with the belt. It doesn't feel like it's slipping or missing or anything, the S/C just doesn't sound smooth but doesn't have the sound of the belt slipping. I'm trying my best to explain what I'm hearing, but it's hard

 

If you feel the plugs, coil pack and wires are ok, and if you are not getting any CEL's for the injectors and no other audibile symptoms like pinging or knocking, and no codes for the throttle body, I'm wondering now if the crank pulley is having issues ? I don't recall there being a huge issue with the 05/06 crank pulley though.... ?

What's the mileage ?

 

I seriously doubt they are bad after only 20k miles. I am assuming they are still good at this point. I don't assume that anything else is though. I bought my MINI used 2 years ago with ~80k miles on it, and seeing what condition my parts are in, I doubt much has been changed (see my "camber plates issue" post). The MINI currently has 117k miles on it, and I'm replacing a lot of parts on it when I do my suspension this weekend. Seeing the condition of the ball joints and bolts, I can probably assume nothing has been changed out on my MINI. I just hope it's not the S/C going. I really don't want to have to rebuild it

 

I've seen the mis/hesitation like this before. It could be a number of things.

Cranks pulley slipping, before it falls apart
belt slipping
belt tensioner bad
bad plugs,wires,or coil

Check that stuff first

 

Way, are there any visible signs of the tensioner going bad? Like I said earlier, I replaced the belt and it definitely ran smoother. I know it won't be the belt slipping, but maybe the crank pulley is slipping on the belt? I would say the tensioner looked fine when I replaced the belt, but I never thought to look at the crank pulley. I'll have my front end apart this weekend so I can definitely take a look at it. If you have any helpful descriptions on what a bad tensioner or crank pulley would look like, let me know. I've never actually seen one go bad before so any helpful hints would be great, a picture would be even better

I am open for all options here.

There isn't a pattern to the sound either, it's very random so I'm really thinking it might have something to do with the fuel/delivery system, as opposed to the belt side since that would sound like a pattern to it. At least it had that the last week on the old belt. It definitely had a pattern to the slipping belt sound. I will take a look at the plugs and wires this weekend just in case, but I don't believe it to be this. They just seem like they'd last longer than that. I did buy them from you Way and you don't sell junk

But any ideas on the problem are valued, and I will check out everything I can that is thrown out there!

Oh, so does this sound like a S/C on it's way out?

 

With 117k miles on it, change the fuel filter. It's a simple procedure, pulling out the back seat and replacing on the passenger side. When I changed mine after 120k miles, it was black and needed replacing. BMW will charge you approx 60 bucks for the filter.

 

I'm definitely going to change it out. But I fear there to be a different problem here. It's getting worse/more noticeable. I notice it very distinctly when I shift from 1st to 2nd gear and give it gas. I don't even have to give it a lot of gas either. Here's a short video of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8UWvHC7trI


And here's a video of me doing it on the highway. I am just cruising in 6th gear, and then give it throttle. Sometimes it does it, sometimes it doesn't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fdxhY0rlR8


I really starting to think it might have something to do with the BPV not working correctly now. Seeing as how it's doing it more frequently and not when it's under high demand. It can do it as low as 2000rpm's now, and not at always at full throttle. And now I'm feeling a power loss. I don't hear anything else besides the S/C bogging down for a split second. There are no other noises that accompany it either.

 

Try cleaning your wheel speed sensors.

Jeremy

 

I have had an issue with one of the speed sensors failing, but I've had it the bad one for about 5 months without any kind of issues like this. I'm in the process of putting in new suspension, which I'm running into some serious issues with right now. I'll be ordering some new wheel speed sensors to replace all of the ones I have on my car. This all started after I replaced my brake pads in the spring, which would make sense if they just need a good cleaning!

 

Man, the videos don't do your issue justice. Going along with Way's recommendations, the first thing I would do is change out the coil pack for the stock one. I've previously read some MINI owners had spark problems after upgrading. Just to note... the stock one is supposed to be good up to 300 HP. Make sure the terminals are clean; #3 is notorious for having corrosion. Use some STP carb spray cleaner sprayed onto a shop rag and/or a brass brush.

Check your plugs for color. Normal burn has a light to medium brownish-grey color. Here's a couple of links to use as a guide: http://www.theultralightplace.com/sparkplugs.htm; http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/faqs/faqread.asp. If you have questions, post a picture of them. If you do determine your plugs are white, and it's a possible lean condition, DON'T FLOOR IT. You'll cause possible damage to your pistons and/or valves.

Make sure your plugs are snug in the tubes in the head. Make sure the wires are seated on both ends. The end on the coil should produce a "click" sound when you press on them. The tube ends don't necessarily do that; just press on the top of them a few times to make sure they feel seated.

As for the belt, stock length is 1388mm. I have the 1374mm belt (I think this one is for the JCW). Proper tension will have 8-12mm length on the pulley tensioner shaft showing (inside the spring in the diagram below), or roughly the entire first "hole."

 

I believe I still have the stock one floating around. I'll check that when I get a chance. Right now, my MINI is in the middle of a suspension swap, and I unfortunately don't have time to work on it during the week. So right now, I have a "loaner" car and man is it scary to drive. I feel like it's the unsafest car out there! And its basically brand new! I can't wait to get my MINI back together and running fine!!!

 

Well I've been off the radar for a while now! Had a lot of things going on in my life, and it made it very hard to get back on here. I found the problem to be the supercharger pulley itself was slipping. Luckily I hadn't been driving it enough to mess up the S/C shaft. I decided to replace the pulley with the Alta V2.0 pulley instead. It has a "clamp-on" style that just seems like a much better design. I tried to make the original one work but there was nothing that would work. I've had the Alta pulley on there for a couple months now and it works fine. Funny thing is that every time I checked the S/C pulley, it was tight and didn't wobble or anything. It's just one of those freak things I guess. My buddy actually caught it. I checked the pulley and then he checked it and it was fine, then he started messing with it and then it just pulled right off the shaft. We were like "Holy S***!" cuz it seemed fine to both of us. He wasn't even trying to pull it or anything, he was just spinning it around looking at it and inspecting it, and BAM! off it came! Never heard of something like this before. I figure it might have been either an issue with the shaft being ever-so-slightly smaller than it was supposed to be, or the aftermarket pulley being ever-so-slightly larger than it was supposed to be, or possibly a combination of both. Either way, it's fine now! Sorry it took so long to get back to you guys with the solution!

 

What brand was your original pulley? Your signature hast he V2.0 shown, but you mentioned you already had a 15%er on when this problem started...

This is just for my information, I haven't put one on my car yet...

Thanks,
John

 

Glad you guys caught that before there was a major oops at redline!

Jeremy

 

Glad you figured it out.