Mini Cooper With Severe Engine Noise And No Power

This Mini Cooper came from another workshop because they were unable to diagnose the true cause of the engine noise and lack of power.

We began our process of diagnosis. The engine was not idling properly and the engine noise sounded like a timing chain problem. We removed the tappet cover and discovered the exhaust vanos was badly cracked. This is something we have never seen before! We consulted with a number of our industry contacts and they too have never seen a cracked vanos!

Mini Cooper Continual Fault Diagnosis

The timing chain appeared to be in good order. We ordered and installed new intake and exhaust vanos units. The engine was re-assembled but the engine noise persisted. We re-opened the engine and replaced the vanos actuation bolts as well as the vanos solenoid controller and new tappet cover gasket.

The engine noise disappeared but diagnostics indicated oil pressure and installation faults. It showed the timing or camshaft was incorrectly fitted. We replaced the oil pressure control valve and increased the oil pressure. Inspection of the camshaft timing showed it was correctly installed. However, there were still intermittent oil pressure issues and the camshaft installation fault was still present.

We removed the sump and replaced the oil pump. Inserts were installed in the head to ensure tappet cover bolts could be tightened fully to correct torque settings. This solved the oil pressure issue but the camshaft installation fault was becoming stressful.

We physically inspected the camshafts. The intake cam pickup was located with a dial pin. The exhaust cam pickup was press fitted onto the cam. We compared the existing exhaust camshaft with one from a different Mini engine. We discovered the existing camshaft pickup angle was out by 3mm. We replaced this faulty unit with one from a second hand engine (client approved). The installation fault cleared.

The car was re-assembled and road-tested perfectly.

This was a complex job which required a methodical step-by-step approach to solve all the issues.

Get in touch with us if you feel as if your workshop is not able to solve the problem.