Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm new to the forum and the world of Mini in general and a bit of a novice mechanic with a lot of drive! I recently purchased a 2011 Cooper S Clubman, 120K miles, and doesn't start or turn over. Got it for a decent price granted it's issues. First thing I did was put the scanner on the OBD and it pulled up a PCV (P053A) Code. Following that I checked the fuse box and wouldn't you know the R2 (i'm assuming this is PCV based on some of the other threads here) relay is missing, it's now on order. After looking a bit more it appears some of the other fuses are also missing, like FL7 (feed to ignition switch). I'm not quite sure what happened prior to my ownership, but I'm assuming these relays need to be in place for the car to at least turn over.

In any case I'm assuming these fuses were removed because they were blown, but the previous owner never replaced them. If this is the case, will replacing them solve the starting issue?? If they blow out again after I install new ones, what would cause these fuses and relays to pop? I'm imagining the starter might be shot or it could be a more serious DME issue.

Any and all help will be much appreciated!

Thank you!
John

 

my advice would be to take the valve cover off to inspect mechanical issues with the timing chain, if any. Then, get a long extension with 18mm socket and try to spin the engine by hand. Again, you're trying to sort the mechanical portion before the electrical. The last thing you want is to crank the car and cause damage to the engine because of previous unfinished work on the engine. good luck

 

Thank you! I checked everything over and found that the engine is indeed seized, but not for the reasons one usually thinks about when they hear a mini cooper engine seizing. The dumb dumb before me somehow got coolant in the oil and then didn't flush the entire system out. So the coolant sat in the engine and rusted the Pistons and cylinders into oblivion. The Engine looks cherry otherwise. Would probably need a new timing chain and guides, but at this point i'm just going to find a junkyard engine rather that fool around with rebuilding.

The original owner told me the engine would stall when he was driving it. I thought it sounded like a VANOS solenoid issue, he had no clue what a VANOS solenoid was. Turns out the Solenoids are clogged with oil and and dirt... so had he just changed those, he probably could have avoided all of this.

 

Seems like you're speculating a lot about how a certain situation came to be. If you replace the engine then no impact. But typically if coolant gets in the oil it got that way because of a blown head gasket (or less likely some sort of contamination in the oil cooler). Since that would have made the car inoperable or at least very unpleasant, it may have sat in that condition long enough to generate the rust you see. It would cause it to stall when driven until it gave up the ghost.

Finding and transplanting a junkyard engine is non-trivial. You got a project on your hands. Make sure you go in eyes wide open and factor in the costs of the "new" engine, plus any ancillary gaskets, hoses, TTY bolts, etc that you need to complete it. Then add in special tools or things you don't yet have. And of course your time, whatever that's worth to you. It's fun and can be rewarding but it can also be frustrating. There's a reason why these frequently get parted out once they experience some of the common/inevitable issues like head gaskets, timing chain, dropped valves, etc. Also keep in mind you bought a car you couldn't inspect running--once it runs you get to see if anything else is wrong with it; transmission, brakes, suspension, etc,.

Not trying to be a Debbie downer, just want to warn you about what to expect and what the value of your project will be when you're done vs. your cost. It may be wroth re-considering your options and recouping what you can and moving on to a more manageable project more appropriate for a novice mechanic. If you decide to move forward there are a lot of resources, including this forum. Good luck!

 

I appreciate the heads up! I ended up buying a Junkyard engine, should be here by next Monday. It's got 56K miles on it and a 90 day warranty. Right now I'm prepping to remove the old engine, and have everything ready to accept the new engine.

My next question is!! Can you remove the long block without pulling the transmission?? I'm betting i'm going to replace the clutch (120K miles on it, not sure if it's ever been replaced), I would prefer to just remove the long block and leave the transmission in and not mess with the axles and linkages. I'm sure there are cons to this, but just wondering if it's possible.

 

I applaud your ambition! I didn't take the block out when I did mine and can't answer your questions. My guess would be yes as it's not being held on the passenger side once the mounts are out and I think I saw some bolts on the tranny. Anyway, you NEED to invest in a good manual. Everyone says Bentley and that's what I got but it's not the easiest to track across big projects, lots of jumping around.

You probably want to start a new thread if you need to get questions answered. And sincerely, good luck.