11 replies to this topic

[mini83]

Hi

 

Today I drove from Bath to West Midlands to buy my dream mini.. A surf Blue Mini Cooper Sports pack.. :) Ah I was so pleased until I started to drive it down the M5!!??

 

The car didn't seem very fast or responsive for a 1.3mpi.. It struggled to get past 70mph which really confused me.. I also have an spi 1.3 and he is really nippy! Anyway, after driving it for about half hour a little confused, It started to lose power and started misfiring and making a popping noise from the bonnet...

 

Eventually I lost power completely and had to pull over on the hard shoulder. The oil light came on and water was leaking on the floor. On inspection the engine had overheated and all coolant was gone. I had to call recovery and be towed home

 

Any ideas?? It is fitted with a rather large K&N air filter and has a hose which goes from the front inside grille to the K&N but is not attached to anything and is very split??

 

Any help would be great as Im not great with SPI/MPI engines..

 

Thanks

[cal844]

Id be tempted to say head gasket, BUT FIRST

 

Check all the hoses, wiring etc are tight and secure

 

Get a code read carried out

 

Then change the air filter for a standard type element

[mini83]

Thanks Im hoping ive caught it in time and the head gasket hasn't gone.. taking it to garage tomorrow.

 

Would it be lacking power because of the k&n? I had my foot to the floor and it would barely go any faster than 70mph.

[robminibcy]

No k and n will make no difference to power, not that you will feel anyway. It may actually slightly improve power if its the type that goes in the airbox. I too would be tempered to say head gasket, that would dramatically reduce power as well as the symptoms you describe

[Cooperman]

It does sound rather like a head gasket, but the water leak and oil light could indicate otherwise.

Did the water come out from a split water hose, then the car overheated and the oil got so hot that it thinned and the oil pressure light came on? If this is the case you may have damaged the main & big-end bearings, indicated by the oil light, and possibly the cylinder bores/piston rings. That is kind of a worst case scenario, but it's something which you might consider.

Was it a private purchase or from a dealer?

[RedRuby]

When you say there was water on the floor do you mean on the road or in the car, if in the car then probably the heater matrix or a heater hose has gone. As to any other possible damage it could be head gasket, but hopefully you have been lucky and stopped in time.

[mini83]

Hi Thanks for all of your comments! :) really helpful. Minis just been taken away to garage for a diagnosis. (worried) the cars already cost me a fortune!!! 

 

Cooperman It was a private purchase unfortunately. He probably;y knew this would happen!!!

 

RedRuby - Water was on the floor on the road. 

 

Fingers crossed its a head gasket at the worst! Im a little worried as the guy I bought it from said he had replaced the engine. 

 

Will keep you all posted. 

[Cooperman]

If water has got into the oil that could cause the oil pressure light to come on. But water on the road could have come from the header tank when it got hot.

If it were me I would check all the hoses and not run the engine further. I would drain the oil out and inspect it. If there is water in the oil, then take the head off and check the head gasket. You will probably find that it has failed between a combustion chamber and an oil way and water way.

However, that would be a fairly unusual failure mode as gaskets usually fail just between two combustion chambers.

So drain the oil and take the head off. That will give you some idea. But if the oil has been seriously thinned or has dropped in level and run at a very low level you will need to pull the engine out and check the crankshaft bearings. Don't take any chances with this as to run it without checking further could cause major engine damage.

Sorry to be less than optimistic, but that is classic cars for you.

[jaydee]

In most cases coolant leaks from the expansion tank on the mpi.

Thats probably where the water you found on the floor came from.

[mini83]

Hi Everyone

 

Well,. apparently there is no oil pressure and now the garage need to strip the engine and I may need one!?? Arghhh!!!

[Cooperman]

You won't need an engine, but the engine might well need a re-build, especially as it seems it has run with no oil pressure.

Are you able to do the stripping of the engine yourself? If not then be sure to find a Mini specialist to do the work as 'regular' garages just don't understand classic cars and 'old technology'.

I know it's a personal view, but if you want to run a classic car it really is necessary to either be able to do the vast majority of the work yourself, or to have a large bank balance. At c.£40 per hour for engine building work a full re-build is expensive in labour terms even though the parts are not expensive (in relative terms). For example, parts for the sort of re-build you might need will probably come to c.£400 and that includes new pistons, main & big-end bearings, thrust bearings, cam followers, an oil pump, and gaskets. Add around £200 for machining and £600 will be the total for parts and out-sourced machining costs.

However, if someone else has to remove the engine, strip and inspect & measure, then re-build and re-install that will add around 30 hours labour at, say, £40 per hour = £1200. That makes the whole job cost £1800.

You might get it done cheaper, but as you get what you pay for don't expect a really thorough job for anything less.

Most classic car owners just D.I.Y. and that's how they afford it and that's why we 'Mini Docs' are here to help and advise those who want to D.I.Y. You can get an answer very quickly and we never mind being asked what might be called 'basic' questions. We all had to learn in the first place (and are all still learning really).

[maccers]

As above - if a person seemebled something, then a person can dis-assemble it and re-build it. Its not rocket science, 90% of this you could do, some stuff like bore machining and cam re-profiling are left to machine shops and those who know what they are doing. Sounds like you have access to another car, and I might go as far as to say the beauty of seeing how things are attached etc in real life vs most of us relying on a picture..! Get stuck in