I got my letter.. will be calling the dealer today.

 

How about reimbursement? Last year I paid to have the chain and tensioner replaced for a second time (First time was done under warranty but was fitted the same faulty parts).

 

My timing chain, guides and tensioner were replaced in middle of June, part numbers below. Strange there are two chain tensioner part numbers?

1. Tensioner 1 11-31-4-609-483
2. Tensioner 1 11-31-7-534-833
3. Timing Chain 1 11-31-7-516-088

 

Not a recall.

And if no noise is evident and deflection of the chain is within tolerances or if the updated tensioner was installed prior to your purchase, the Action will not be performed.

 

I'm sitting at Orlando MINI right now. My SA called the service campaign an actual recall (though I haven't seen that term used for this yet). He also said that unless there's a "leak," components do not get replaced. I asked about the original tensioner being a common problem, he said the campaign is just for diagnostics and that nothing get replaced unless there's a leak.

I'm not sure if we were on two different pages in that part of the conversation (since you'd check slack on a tensioner, not leaks?), but you can bet your behind I'll be upset if what he said is true. When I scheduled the appointment, the service manager told me issues or not, as long as the original part number was still on the vehicle, they get replaced. Maybe I misunderstood and I am way off.

I mean, I get it .. if nothing is broken, then they technically have nothing to fix. I just hate going to dealerships for nothing .. and I'm being mildly grumpy about my Cooper having to be in there for several issues.

 

Your MINI should qualify for the turbo oil line heatshield service campaign as well. I also hate going to the dealer for no reason so I was at least glad to get the heatshield installed when I found out I was not eligible for the timing chain repair.

The term 'leak' is a little unusual since they should be checking the tensioner in units of mm. If you don't like what you hear, ask to speak to the service manager to get clarification.

 

The question I have that hasn't been answered yet, to my knowledge, is what will MINI do for us if we bring our cars in, they check and see that the updated tensioner is in place (like my car), but some time down the road the updated tensioner fails? Is MINI still going to replace the entire cartridge assembly like they are now? Or are we SOL for those of us that got the updated tensioner before this campaign came out?

 

SOL would be my guess. Each dealer has the "good will" ticket they can punch if your "worthy." I'm joking somewhat. From what I understand different stuff is taken in to account about good will. Your service experience, relative warrant factors - mileage, date, etc. I suppose if they like you and know your face they could take that in to account too, like on how hard they pitch the good will to MINIUSA for reimbursement. But, at this point, I wouldn't count on a thing. I believe all parts bought at and labor done at a dealer are warranted for 2 years....

 

Just had my Clubman serviced at Braman BMW/Mini. Engine is noticeably smoother. They found pieces of the guide rail at the bottom of my oil pan so oil and filter were part of recall. They even supplied me with a loaner for the 4 days my Clubman was in the shop. I am attaching a copy of my receipt for each part number with their findings. Good luck

 

Will I get a letter for the turbo heat shield thingy? I had my timing chain worked on back in January so I don't think I qualify for that.

 

Markel BMW/MINI here in Omaha has my car as of last night at 5pm. I'm driving a dreadful and dreary base base base model Paceman while they check out the timing chain components, install the heat shield, and contact MINI about replacing my hood scoop.

 

I got my letter about a week ago and scheduled an appointment. They said they'll keep my car for one day. A free courtesy car is part of the deal. I'll update when it's all finished to let you know what happened.

 

Alright update on my situation, and review(again) of my local dealer so far, since everyone seems to have some seriously crappy and shady dealerships around them:

-Called yesterday to schedule the appointment. They said I could drop it off that night after work to be looked at today.
-They had a loaner car waiting (base model Paceman. YUCK) since they had already had my insurance and drivers licence info from the last time I came in.
-Got a call at about 2PM today stating it's all done and ready to be picked up.

The verdict: "You have the updated part number, no service needed". The service adviser couldn't tell me what specific part they check, but I'm a bit annoyed that it's "updated part or not" rather than checking deflection.
Other items: New heat shield installed on the oil feed line to the turbo as expected.
Contact with MINI about the hood scoop resulted in them telling me "there is no association between the warped hood scoop and any kind of recalls, nothing we can do for you on that".

So over all I'm mixed. I'm annoyed that they don't check the timing chain, they just check the part number of some mystery part (SA told me it was the cam or something to do with the cam??? I suspect they just check for the updated tensioner.). My issue with this verdict is that I installed the new tensioner myself. I didn't measure the chain or anything, I didn't change any of the timing components BUT the tensioner. So if the chain or any other components were on their way out when the tensioner was replaced, I'm screwed I guess?

I'm also annoyed that a very obvious design flaw causes the hood scoop to warp, but MINI neither gives me the under hood shield that the later cars has, nor do they replace my warped scoop. Bad design, common problem, zero give a fukc on their end.

My dealer over all is great though. Never any hassle on getting me a loaner or bringing my car in to do a free diagnostic on the car. Heck, they did a full on inspection last time which resulted in me buying a new output seal that I wasn't aware of needing. So some good came from it!

 

If I were you I would demand that the dealer actually measure the chain slack like there supposed to, this way you have some piece of mind. Are they actually afraid to check the slack on the timing chain because Mini don't want to pay if it is worn?

 

def ask that they check the slack...my dealer said i had an updated tensioner but they checked slack and was off by only 1 mm and they still replaced everything ... it all went pretty painless which surprised me

 

People keep saying "Service Campaign" and your receipts state "Recall". I wonder why people don't believe you when you say you were told it was a recall?

Some of you are lucky that you got to use a MINI loaner. I was stuck with a Chevy Cruze!

 

To shed some light on this issue that Injected and I are having, I emailed my SA about what was done when my car was in for the timing chain campaign.

I asked: "When the timing chain tensioner was checked, was the valve cover pulled to check the measurement of the chain, or was the tensioner the only thing that was looked at, to see if it was dimpled."

His reply was: "The recall is for an inspection of the tensioner, to verify which version is there. If we’ve got some rattling, or timing faults the tech might fish and take the covers off inspect for broken guides, but the recall doesn’t pay for that. SO, most techs won’t do it without already having a strong expectation of what they’re going to find."

So take that for what you will. Quite frankly, I'm mixed between disappointment and relief because, while it's nice to know I have the dimpled tensioner, it would have been more reassuring to have an actual measurement of chain slack, because as Injected mentioned, there's no saying the chain was starting to go out of spec when the new tensioner was installed. Kind of a half-hearted response from MINI on this issue, IMO

 

All my service advisor did was scan my key FOB and then stated they would replace the timing components. My car was not touched until the next day. I assume the FOB told him that I did not have the updated tensioner. Only after the car was repaired did I find out the chain was at 70mm. This was the first time that I have ever been to this dealer, as I had just purchased the car (not purchased there). If the repairs are truly up to the dealers discretion, I was really lucky to have such a great dealer so close to home!

 

I am taking mine into St Louis MINI tomorrow with my letter.

I replaced the tenser myself with the newer model the day after I bought it with ~40,000 miles on the clock. I did not measure the timing chain.

I will make sure they check the chain and let them know that I do here rattling when I cold start the engine.

I will update with my results.

 

Update: mine is in the shop as of right now. They said it is a one day thing. they are doing the tensioner and adding the turbo heat shield. they gave me a 2013 clubman s automatic for my loaner car. got to say it's not a bad car. I would prefer a manual but the auto actually shift pretty good and it goes just as fast as my hardtop.

 

That's BS. I got a BASE Countryman and Paceman. You at least got a turbo lol.


As for my concern, after emailing the SA, he checked with the technician who apparetly DID measure the chain(he says they measure via the tensioner hole?), and mine was at 63mm, and the tolerance cut off is 68mm. He said that they've been just doing them if they're even 2-3MM on the good side to be safe, but mine was so far in the green they would not be able to do so.

 

I know i lucked out! i was worried i would get stuck with a justa or somthing but i really like the clubman S. it's got a little bit more room which is nice but still has the power and take off that my hardtop has.

 

Brought my '12 Cooper with 13k in for routine service today and had them check if I needed the upgrade. SA said it did not apply to the '12 NA Cooper and that I had the upgraded tensioner. Does this sound right?

 

yes, as far as i know it was only for the 07 and 08.

 

Would have been nice to know before I ended up getting a new long block a few weeks ago. (~$7200 all said and done.)