So yesterday, pretty much out of the blue, she AGAIN starts doing another impression of a Ford 7.3L diesel (and no, this is not the same video from above):


I think its louder this time. WooHoo!!! Well, the repairs almost made it a month. This is soooo much fun!!!
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Damn Gecko you are cursed, that really sucks :(
Time to get rid of it maybe? Im sure you put too much money into it by now though. Hopefully the shop can get it sorted out with no charge after how much time they've put into it.

Can't see the video, it's private

 

Sorry. I'm sure its frustrating

The video shows as private for me so I couldn't listen.

 

Resolved the private setting issue.

(See, and I can't even get YouTube to work properly! LoL!!!)
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What aftermarket cam do you have?

Certainly sounds like stuck lash adjusters again. Could be an oil feed problem to the head, or low oil pressure to the rocker arms.

 

Sounds like the lash adjusters again to me, too I'd start back at the shop that switched them out. It's only a few minutes work to pop the valve cover off and take a look.

 

No aftermarket cam (wish I had thought of it when the other work was being done).

Sounds the same, huh? Already trailered the car back to the shop that switched the lashes out ... nice present on there doorstep for Monday morning.

Driving up, I started thinking about an oil feed problem to the head too. Debris or blockage? What a pia.

 

Sorry, I thought I remembered you mentioning a cam but now realize it was a replacement stock cam.

So I went back to your earlier posts to see if I could find some clues, and there are some. Your original cam was badly spalled, which is unusual unless you have very high mileage (which I don't think you do). That and the noisy lash adjusters both point to an oil flow and pressure issue to the head.

It is possible that this noise is due to a stuck timing chain tensioner. They are inexpensive and easy to replace, so you can give that a try.

As David mentioned earlier, if the rocker shaft is installed backwards (tbh, didn't even know that was possible), it will block the oil flow to the rocker arms. However, that shouldn't cause an intermittent problem, you should have experienced this problem shortly after starting it up the first time after the repair work, so extremely unlikely that they did that when re-assembling the head. But it's also an easy thing to check.

The cylinder head gasket has an oil flow restrictor orifice between cylinders 2 & 3 on the exhaust side that feeds oil to the cylinder head from the main oil gallery in the block. The head gasket can only be installed one way, so this isn't your issue.

The low oil pressure light is set at a very low pressure (I think around 3.5 psi, but can't remember for sure), so you can be running pretty low pressures at idle and not give an indication. That low of a pressure with the retrictor to the head, and it's possible that the cam and rocker arms aren't getting enough oil flow. The only way to know for sure is to put a pressure gauge into the system. You can have the shop remove the oil pressure sending unit from the oil filter housing and put a plug in that has a hole in it to hook up a pressure line to a manual gauge. I would think that a Mini shop would have that little test plug (or they can make one by drilling the right sized bolt).

The oil filter housing has 3 valves in it. A quick drain-back (drains when the cap is partially unscrewed), a by-pass (keeps cold oil from damaging the paper filter element) and an anti-drain back (keeps oil in the filter housing when you shut down). If either the drain back or anti drain back valve in the oil filter housing are damaged or stuck, they could be leaking and causing low pressure. I think this is the most likely cause of your problem and something that could be intermittent. I think that it's the quick drain back valve that can sometimes be damaged during a filter change if the person doesn't know what they're doing. One way to check it is to uncrew the cap very fast (with a power tool) and quickly look to see if there is any oil left in the housing. Do this after the engine hasn't run for at least an hour. If the quick-drain is working properly, you might spill some oil from not giving it enough time to drain. If any of the drain valves are leaking, the housing won't have any oil in it (got to be able to get that cap off in just a few seconds and look immediately though). If you do this test, and are unsure of whether you were fast enough on the draw to see if oil was still in the housing, you can quickly add oil to the housing with the cap off and time how long it takes to drain.


Another (possibly very messy) way to check to see if you have oil flow to the head is to remove the valve cover and crank the engine (disconnect the coil and injectors).

There are bleed holes at the end of each rocker arm. You should see a small trickle of oil coming out of them. At cranking rpm it's probably barely dribbling out, but there should be evidence of oil flow in the head in other areas, like the cam journals, and oil should be building up in the head and flowing back through the drainbacks and chain cavity. You'll have to crank for a while before you can expect the oil to start moving, I'd estimate at least 5 sec. and probably much longer.

If you do that test and are still unsure about oil flow, you can hook up the coils, H/T wires and injectors and actually idle the engine with the valve cover off. This won't hurt anything but it will definitely make a mess if there's good flow to the head and you need to do it on a cold engine with something to catch the oil spray (like plastic sheeting around the head) and you'll need to rig something up to hold the coil pack. Definitely DON'T DO THIS WITH A HOT ENGINE, as you risk getting an oil fire if oil hits the exhaust manifold.

The other, more painful possibility is that there is something partially blocking the oil restrictor to the head or stuck in the oil pump pressure relief valve (like a metal chip), or that the oil pump is damaged in some way (although these Gerotor pumps are pretty bullet proof).

Are you experiencing this only on a cold start or did it happen after a hot re-start?

 

Lump~

Thank you for the thorough analysis. I will pass it along.

She appears to make the noise whether the motor is cold or hot, first-start or re-start.

 

* * * UPDATE * * *

So, the indy place took a listen to the car this morning ... and guess what ... they said it wasn't making any noise. I'm starting to think this car just plain hates me.

They said, however, that from listening to the video it sounds like the timing chain is the culprit and have advised replacing the timing chain and all of the timing components. Now, even assuming, arguendo, that I had stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night ... which I didn't ... I cannot espy any difference in the noise the car made from the prior video other than all the lashings have now been replaced.

I'm happy they have made a suggestion consistent with Alex's (Lump) analysis above. I have to admit though, the cynical part of me is now wondering whether the lashings needed to be replaced in the first instance. Meh, at least now I have bragging right for my shiny new lashings! Bling, Bling!!
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The tow truck must have taken a detour to visit the big assed pothole. My technique works!

 

Ha, ha ... I was the tow truck! And every pothole I hit on the way up I thought of you!

Built this for a tow vehicle:



One of the best mods I've done for my mini (not to). Not only does it get me through the snow when the mini can't, but when the mini's broken and can't make it to the shop under her own power, Goliath tows her on a flatbed trailer.
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If the issue is the timing chain tensioner, there is very likely no need to replace the entire timing drive system. That is an extremely expensive repair, as the crank damper and front housing/oil pump need to be removed to replace the chain.


Instead, I'd advise to change the timing chain tensioner yourself. It is extremely easy and done from the outside of the engine. Part is around $50 and you can probably do the job in less than an hour. There are some youtube videos on it. ModMini has one:

 

I love this guys videos! They've been very helpful on a number of other things.

Man, that's a great find ... the noise coming from that video sounds eerily like mine (both of them). After watching this video, I would definitely consider changing the timing chain tensioner myself ... looks easy-peezy!

However, I don't need to consider this option because the shop has said the replacement of the timing chain, and all of the timing components, is on them. To be honest, I think they've realized their mistake.

Like this video counsels, I hope they remember to check for pieces of the timing components in the oil. That would stink if I later came back on here complaining of an oil feed blockage as a result of timing component debris.
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Good for them - apparently stepping up and owning the situation. That's hopeful.

 

Absolutely ... I am quietly optimistic.
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Wow. Talk about just throwing parts at a problem. They sound like a stand up shop but still...

Eventually you will have a quiet engine

 

Thats good they are covering it.

 

Hi, I hope i'm in the right thread. The other day my car stalled and had no throtle response after restarting. I was in a line up for a car wash. Then I waited a bit and restarted the car and it was kind of rough but eventually I got it moving. I managed to drive it home, but the engine light came on. I took it the the dealer monday to find out what was up and it turns out I have low engine compression. My car is 2005 coope S all maintence up to date, no leaks of any kind. They said Cyl 1 140 psi, Cyl 2 & 3 was 135psi and Cyl 4 145 PSI. They said Cyl 2 had misfire stored in DME, they said no signs of coolant in Cylinders, after clearing the FC all cylinders were running smooth and no hesitation at the moment.


My car only has 116K km, the compression sounds like that of an engine with much higher milleage but more than half the milleage was done city driving. Car is has only been driven on weekends for last 5-6 years and not daily.


I guess my big question is, is it safe to keep driving?

 

130 PSI is when you'll start to save for a refresh. Being force inducted you run a lower compression ratio, therefore lower compression numbers.

Were you given a reason for the misfire? Because those compression numbers won't be a cause for a misfire.

When were the plugs last done? Wires? Coil pack? Is there rust on the coil contacts?

If it was water induced, you may have exposed wires on the MAP sensor in the intake manifold causing problems when exposed to water.

Find a better Euro Indy shop and have them look at the car. Dealers don't have the resources to do in depth diagnostic like a reputable Indy shop.

If the coolant, oil, and stars are still in alignment I would say don't worry until you have to.

 

Hi, thanks for the quick response. I dont' drive the car on a daily basis for last 5-7 years. The contacts are like new I did inspect them myself. the spark plugs were changed at 100,000 km during inspection II, but that was maybe 3 years ago they said the plugs were fine. They didn't give a reason for the misfire, but I recently replaced my original battery because lately i've had starting issues where the car would partially start and then stall because it didn't turn over fully, not sure if that had anythign to do with it. They said they did not find any other issues with oxygen sensors, fuel pump, pressure regulator, fuel lines, injectors or anything. I just worry that it may stall on me and i become stranded but knowing this I will not use this car for major road trips in the near future.


However I did replace my rad fan in Sept because the stage one resistor went and wasn't sure how long my car was running on stage 2 because I noticed it when in the summer having the AC on in traffic the fan spins up and down like a yoyo but on high speeds. Aside from that I did replace the thermstat 3 times due to coolant leaking from it and the reservoir twice, once under warranty and once out of warranty. sometimes i do take the car to an automatic car wash and water can get inside the scoop but that also happens in a rain storm.


Thanks for the advice

 

I'm feeling a bit like Gecko (and Gecko - I'm in the snowy NE too - Maine - so shop recommendations would be most welcome).

I have a 2008 Cooper S convertible with 51,000 miles. About 2-3 months ago my supercharger failed, which cost me $2.5k to fix. Then last month the engine threw some error codes and started running really rough. The local garage I use did the compression test (don't have the results handy), and tried cleaning it out, to no avail.

They didn't feel comfortable opening the engine up, so I took it to another Mini/BMW specialist. They did further test, but seemed reluctant to open it up, and instead pushed me to buy a replacement engine for $9k! I explained the car was lucky to be worth that and asked for other options. They said a 2nd hand engine would be $7.5k!

I drove the spluttering wreck back home where it's now been parked outside for 2 weeks. Much as I love the car I've lost confidence in it now. I'm trying to decided if it's worth opening the engine up (I have a buddy who used to do hot rods in his time and seems interested), or trying another shop, or just junking it - which is a shame, as it's immaculate at 51,000 miles.

I should add that I just about know one end of a spanner from another, so DIY isn't an option.

Rebuild?
Replace??
Junk???

 

I love fixing cars like that. If you get desperate enough to junk it, please PM me and I will buy it as a project.

Hope you can find a better solution, though...

 

My first instinct is that you have a vacuum leak somehow related to the supercharger work. But that is a real wild guess

 

Maybe make a post looking for mechanic in Portalnd since your current mechanics don't seem very helpful.

I'd be really surprised that your 55k motor was bad, unless you ran it without oil it's probably perfectly fine, at least the lower end is anyway. Heads are most likely fine too I would guess.

Have you done the usual tune up stuff? Plugs, wires, coil?