OK. Just picked up the car from the dealer.

Here is where we stand.

They replaced the HPFP. Oddly car still doesn't start on first try. Although it now "fails" much quicker. Before it would turn over for a few seconds before giving up. Now it fires almost immediately and then fails. Maybe it is actually starting and then immediately stalling?

Once driving it exhibited pretty much the same behavior as before, except that while parked it would actually stall from time to time until it was warmed up. Before it would idle rough but not stall. This is in nuetral by the way as I put the car in nuetral at lights to tame the lurching that it would do if I left it in gear.

The idles smoothed out and the stalling stopped once the car was warm.

Here is the list of issues from the diagnosis from the dealer:

Valve Cover Cracked - Replace Valve Cover $818.14
Turbo Oil Lines feed lines and housing Gasket Leaking $1255.58
Vacuum Pump Leaking $612.91
Carbon Cleaning $699.00
Replace all ignition coils/Plugs (no price for some reason)
Waterpump leaking $696.00

Also my OBD II reader came in today so I can read my codes once I figure out how to use it.

 

Both the vacuum pump and valve cover are relatively easy tasks, Pelican Parts has articles on R&R-ing both. Both should take less than an hour total. Buy the after market vac pump, get the Mini valve cover, not the fleabay one...

Coils - easy, 10 minutes tops. No price may mean they covered by a recall? verify before you spend money....

Plugs - have you ever replaced plugs before? If not, let Mini do it, otherwise do it. You'll need a 14mm 12 point thinwall deep socket.... Do not cross thread!!!

Water pump and Turbo issues are labor intensive, particularly for a Mini newbie, consider having Mini do these...Unless you are ok with spending 16 plus hours....

It would be helpful if you gave us some sense of your technical skills and experience.

 

Should this be the first thing to do?

This is interesting. I noticed there was no price next to it on the estimate and then a note that I "declined" to have them do the work. I of course declined any chargeable work but if these are covered under warranty and they did not do it while they had the car in the their possession I am going to have a very uncomfortable conversation with my Mini dealer this morning.

There must clearly be something missing in my knowledge of Mini's here. I would have thought replacing plugs would be the easiest of all the jobs. If you consider it a difficult job then I have something else to learn about this car. If it is just a matter of having the right socket I have no problem just ordering one of course. I may already have it though.

I don't mind it being labor intensive or taking a lot of time. I have all the time in the world on this thing. My goal is to recover the most money from this thing for my sister when I sell it. So I will do any job if the cost of parts is less than how much it will increase the selling the price. That is pretty much the sole metric I am employing here.

Not a certified mechanic but I am 50 and have been working on cars my whole life, beginning from when I was 16 and poor AF and had to do all the work myself. I can get a little lost on some of the intricacies of modern cars. But if a job just requires wrenching and time I can pretty much get anything done.

When we get into needing expensive specialized tools then I am probably out.

I also have access to a lift and my brother who is a far better mechanic then me, and far better equipped from a tools perspective. He is about 150 miles away though so it would have to be an extreme need for me to go that route.

Hope that helps and thanks again for all the advice. At this point I am just trying to decide which part to tackle next. And My goal would be to attempt whichever job is most likely to cure or mitigate the misfiring. Fixing that issue would make the care far more derivable, thus far more sell-able.

 

Update on the coils. Mini dealer said they were not covered under warranty. The reason there was no price was because they 'forgot" to include it on the list.

She quoted me an additional $801.18 to replace coils and plugs. Bringing their total estimate to $4,800! This would be to repair a car that is probably worth $6,000 at best.

My faith in my local Mini dealer has really gone down though. but at least I got a list of repairs to work on and a car wash for my $60.

 

Good god thanks for reminding me why I avoid the dealer again.

• The carbon cleaning requires, or at least benefits from, a specialized setup. It's not super complex and if you have a compressor and shop vac, you are mostly there. MINI makes an intake extraction adapter and an air hose blasting wand. I'd like to say if anything, have this one done. However I don't trust anyone to do that actually gives a !@#$.
• Valve cover and vacuum pump is grunt work, parts are expensive though. Pierburg Vacuum pump is supposedly same as MINI Brand, just diff stamp from the OEM and much cheaper
• Water pump is grunt work, I recommend the Febi with metallic impeller. Do not get a GRAF as the shaft is slightly longer causing clearance issues when installing from the top. This can be done from the below/side or the top of the engine. There are some good guides around. If this diagnosis is true, you should have spotting under the water pump location and drips evident at the outer shaft.
• Turbo Oil Lines and Oil Cooler housing is some tedious grunt work, most difficult part is removing the downpipe to gain access IMO. This requires some new hardware for exhaust clamp most likely, maybe turbo studs and/or turbo/downpipe gasket, oil cooler gasket kit, oil and coolant of the top of my head. Some guides suggest placing the bumper in the "service position". Not required but might enable you to avoid pulling the downpipe, pick your poison. I am guessing you have an oil leak and they think it is from one of these and are not sure which. Both are common leakage points and it should like like absolute crap under there if this is the case. Pelican Parts has a good guide for these.
• Coils and plugs... I think you can handle it from your last post.

Sounds like your valves are really coked up if she's steadying out when warmed up. That's a major indication.

Have you noticed all these leaks the dealer has pointed out? You should be losing coolant expansion tank level and spotting black from their report. I don't see them having anything to do with your engine with possible exception of the valve cover, which I still have my doubts about. If anything related, I'd say PCV.

Anyways, this is all my unprofessional opinion so good luck and please keep us updated with your learnings.

 

They want you to give up and buy a new car instead, or a new car's worth of repairs.

 

Would this be the right coils to buy?

 

It appears to be a compatible part.

Never heard of TRQ brand. Could be fine, could be Chinese garbage. Your mileage may vary. I don't want to tell you to spend a bunch of money but I also don't want you to buy something of dubious quality.

The forum sponsors may know more about brands like this. They are very helpful when they are on the boards and I try to reward them with my business but that's just me, so I try to minimize shilling.

 

Even though I am selling the car I don't want to put garbage in there either. I am more than happy, and even inclined to purchase from a forum sponsor if possible since this forum is literally saving me thousands of dollars.

 

So in the interest of going with a name brand for the coils and using a forum sponsor, how about this kit for coils and plugs? Also looks like I can order the correct socket from ECS at the same time.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-assemble...37575010iskt3/

 

Those are fine and I'm not telling you not to buy the other set, just that I know nothing about the brand. Gotta make your own best decision on your parts vs pesos.

 

ECS provides great customer service. You'll save about $50 if you buy the Delphi coils and the Bosch plugs from them, instead of the kit. The Delphi coils are fine, I believe Delphi is an OEM supplier. Note that Mini's supply chain is very costly.

In my previous post I was a bit cautious regarding changing the plugs as I've known a few DIYers, who should have known better, really F' them up.

Overall the order of repair operations really does not matter much. I would do the tasks that are the least labor intensive first, kinda breaks you in to working on the beast....

I disagree with those that say you can service the turbo leaks without placing the front end in service mode. Up to you to pick your poison.....

Have someone with small hands when doing the water pump, you'll figure out why when you're in there...

 

LOL, it CAN be done. Didn't say it was easy but I don't recall any major snags except fumbling around on my back trying to remember how the downpipe went back up inside along with the lower heat shield.

I did replace pretty much the entire cooling system at the time so it probably helped clear up some more space (granted, that's an important omission I didn't consider last post). I WAS pulling the radiator support but backed out because I didn't want to disturb the condenser connections. I believe you can do this without doing so if you suspend the condenser but I chose not to. Still, with the downpipe removed, you should have pretty good access under the turbo.

With the R56 for the water pump, you can raise the motor pretty far out with the left motor mount removed. I have only done a Countryman WP from the fender well, but even then I jacked the motor up and down for access.

There are a lot of good guides and videos available here and elsewhere but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

More importantly, how much fluid are you losing?! I ask because I doubt any of that is contributing to your sputter issues.

 

I'm not losing that much fluid. So that is very good question.

I'd like to address whatever issue is most likely contributing to the misfiring.

 

OK I know this thread has been dead for awhile but I finally got around to digging into this car. I think the nice weather finally arriving in Southern California has something to do with it.

In any event I decided to just remove the valve cover to start and see where that takes me. So I got it off. I have not had a chance to clean and inspect the cover but I thought I would share the attached pic with all of you to see what I found just sitting there in the engine. Looks like some sort of bushing or spacer or something. This is probably not a good sign right?

Edit: Apologies for the link. I can't upload the image for some reason.

https://i.imgur.com/6gZ9i1D.jpg

 

Hummm...not a familiar part. It's not a hydrolic lifter for sure and non of your rollers is out, right? It might be unrelated. While the cover is off, check the timing :-)

 

No missing rollers. No where obvious it seems to go. I've removed it.

Going over my valve cover now it seems I can't get to the diaphragm. I don't see any cracks anywhere but I am sure it would be easy to miss. I notice there are replacement valve covers with gaskets for $55 on ebay.

Should I just order one of those and be done with it?

 

There is a dowell that one of the HPFP bolts chases right on top of. My bet is it was pressed out with the HPFP replacement.