I worked on both the performance and durability development of this engine at Chrysler. The stock valve train will run all day at 6500 rpm, (in fact many engines were run @6500 WOT for 200 hours straight during development) but my recollection is valve float starts at around 7300-7500 rpm. Continued operation at those rpm's will eventually lead to the exhaust valve heads breaking off. You'd need stiffer valves springs, but they're also a double edged sword, as they put more load into the valve. I don't think that this was a pre-ignition failure. If it were, you'd see signs of piston melting. Damage looks all mechanical from what I can see in the video
+hoganfan924 Wow, best comment all year. I eventually figured out that the failure was indeed mechanical, due to a skipped timing chain tooth a couple years prior that caused exhaust valves to touch the pistons. Just enough to put a little nick into the top of each piston. I fixed the timing chain and never knew there was any valve contact. The valve stems were ever so slightly bent - still sealed just fine but were flexed each time valves opened/closed. Eventually one of them had enough and the head broke off in the combustion chamber. RMW builds performance ported heads with stiffer springs and stronger/bigger valves, that can run up to 8000 RPM. Any thoughts about bottom end durability? The cylinder head of this engine has been proven over the years, but I do hear about thrown rods, worn connecting rod bearings etc.
+Mod MINI The bottom end of the "HPD" high performance derivative (Cooper S) is quite strong, as it has a forged crankshaft and forged con rods. The base engine has a cast crank and near net shape forged sintered metal rods. Once you start cranking up the rpm's and cylinder pressures, the rod bearings are probably the weak link, as they don't have enough surface area to handle those loads.
+hoganfan924 Yup, it skipped two teeth... :-( It skipped due to a failed tensioner. It is fairly common for the tensioner to fail, but fortunately they are very easy to replace. I have not heard of any issues with stretched chain for this engine, although it is a major issue for the 2007-2010 with the Peugot/Prince N14 engines.
+Mod MINI How did the tensioner fail? Did the plastic guide shoe just wear all the way down? Or was the failure of the hydraulic tensioner proper? Seemed to me the hydraulic tensioner would be very robust while the guide shoe could wear through or crack with high miles.
+hoganfan924 It's always the tensioner itself that fails - it will get stuck and not pop out all the way with hydraulic pressure. Once the tensioner does fail, the chain starts to slap and if driven without care, can cause the nylon chain guides to break and end up in the oil sump. Even on high mileage cars the chain guides look pretty decent.
I’m astonished at the age. Thank you for providing this information even under the pressure you were at the time. Your skill is something to be admired. I have a daily driver that I’ll be rebuilding the engine to soon (this year). I’ll be studying and taking notes from this series. I never ever race mine and keep it low RPMs for MPG and longevity. The last owner was bad to my R50. Thank you again good sir!
I’m currently installing my engine after an unscheduled rebuild. I had one bracket that I couldn’t figure out where it would fit. At 11:58 into Part 7 there it was. Mine where the bolt goes threw is bent at a 45* angle plus not being attached to the harness didn’t help either. Also my pulling the engine 10 months ago without taking pictures didn’t help. LOL Thanks for a Great Series! I only wish that I found this before I got started but it made for a great review of what took place.
***** I'll be getting back to it in the am. I had a shop install my LSD. They installed the ACT clutch plate backwards and then had to pull it apart and change it. I wasn't sure what damage occurred? But the engine builder (different shop) that I took the crank to just looked at me and said what did you do with your clutch? My thrust bearing was history with metal everywhere. Well before I bolted the block back to the gearbox I tried to fit the clutch plate to the spline. It would not fit. Another shop, where this fellow that tried to rebuild the crank used to work, salvaged my Cosworth head. Where the cam sits was gouged from the metal deposits. He used a ball end mill to resurface it. Then he cut the caps and line honed it. You think not having the Mini running was bad. Try being on the Auto-X committee and having to watch everyone out enjoying themselves month after month. LOL Well it will be ready for next season. Not to get off topic but do you think a big brake kit would make any improvements in Auto-X? I know when I went to Hawk HP Plus pads it made a huge difference.
Ho wow what have I stumbled upon, these videos are great! My 2008 R56 Cooper S has apparently some turbo problem, hoping to learn something. Your articulation and camera work as you go through the various analysis and commentary are fantastic, really great stuff.
I'm Feel Sad Broh! To See You Mini Like That. But You Are So Good To Build That Mini! I Hope You Put That Together Soon. I Want To See How Is Gonna Came. Because I'm Sure Is Gonna Be Better Then Before. Good Luck! ☺
I just came across your channel, awesome videos! My wife's 09 S just had the same thing happen. She was on the freeway check engine light came on then half engine, big plume of smoke and that's all she wrote. After a 250 mile tow home I found water level was low oil ok. Started to pull the plugs #3 looked just like yours yikes! Did a compression test #3 0 psi. Pulled the exhaust manifold one of the valve heads is gone 😣 also the turbo has play. I was thinking it msy also have a blown head gasket. That's as far as I have gotten. I'm hoping it's just a head job afraid of what I'll find once I pull the head. Your videos have been very helpful getting me this far. Thank you,
Your entire engine is done. If the plug looks like that, it's not a head gasket. Something let loose. In my case it was the valve. You may be able to reuse crankshaft and connecting rods for other cylinders, but you'll need new head and either resleeve the block or increase bore size and use oversized pistons. Also may need to replace oil pump. Maybe more.
@@ModMINI Thanks for the reply! Just got the head off. The cylinder dome is pitted the piston also and a nice hole in it where the valve head must of punched through. The cylinder walls don't look to bad. Question can the head be fixed and block be bored and install a new piston? I know the whole thing will need to be tore down. I don't have thousands to throw at it. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.
@@TheYotamaster Have you rebuilt an engine before? If not, you'll need someone who has to inspect it, but most likely new head and machined bottom end. A junkyard engine will usually be the cheapest way out of this.
When you go racing you must expect stuff like this to happen from time to time. The engine was able to be fixed and you look like you enjoyed the work. Once the engine blew, dropping the clutch wouldn't make any difference as the damage was already done. Sounds like the car has come back meaner and stronger than before, so no real damage done. This shows that you were being competitive which is the code of racing.
It is certainly expected - bound to happen eventually. I would have stopped driving sooner if I had realized it was the motor (I thought it was just a limp mode / check engine light thing) but yes, all the damage was done within the first 2 seconds. The only damage is to my wallet.
For many, prepping the car to make it competitive is as much fun, even more fun, than actual racing. It's the anticipation of improving times, upping performance and tighter handling. If this is your first engine blow, you have had a great run of good luck and have had great service from your well behaved mini. To go faster, I think you need to shed dead weight. The car is well trimmed..take out the passenger seat.. Spare wheels need to be taken out, as well. That engine is at the max. Time to look elsewhere? In the UK, raced minis seem to be stripped out to the minimum. Heaters, trim, dash, the lot. Kilos mean 10ths. They also look very mean. Yours is a 'used every day' car, so I know it will be tough. You can always put stuff back......I dare you!
binkyboobosh1 Well the car has no spare tire in the first place, but you are right - the car is too heavy. It's a daily driver though, and if I wanted to get into competitive racing I'd get another car for that.
I thought the r53 had a spare wheel. My r56 doesn't. It has a can of tyre inflator and run flats. That's not a good thing. I guess the car gives you best of both worlds. Quick lap times and practicality around town. It's great having a car you can take to the track for a day of thrashing that you can later drive home. See how things work out. Maybe one day you will get another car that you can work some extra magic on.....that will be strictly track. Lean, powerful and totally bonkers.
Great video. Love the matter-of-fact approach. Just bought a nice '06 JCW R53 and plan to upgrade it to mostly a track car. I would love to have enough experience to "hurry up" and disassemble the entire engine before a business trip haha! Good comments too - esp by @hoganfan924. I have read quite a few threads on minitorque forums and seems like a stock motor will eventually die. Wondering if I should preemptively replace pistons and rods...
Well, any motor from any car will eventually die. These motors are fine. Every once in a while, one loses a connecting rod bearing but it's not a sure thing.
You will not have a blown motor - this is the kind of thing that happens at the track when you push the car beyond what it was intended to do - but good luck with whatever car you get.
We're you able to root cause reason for too lean of a mixture? I just burnt a piston for possibly the same reason. Will do a fuel pressure check soon (as well as engine swap/rebuild).
I've had a new timing chain installed. It was loose after a tentioner failed. A new tentioner was too late. A few monts later my engine lost power, running on 3 cilinders. No compression on cilinder 2. Hoping a new cilinder head will be enough.
Next time your engine blows up, Get off the gas and kill the ignition as soon as you notice loss of power, then hit the brakes and get off the racing line and onto the grass as soon as possible so you dont dump oil on the track. You stayed on the track and limped around like you thought the engine was going to get better.
Yeah I know that for next time, although in this case it would have still been too late. I kept going because I thought it was an electrical / sensor problem that I had previously experienced, that would cause it to go to limp mode under certain conditions. Totally true to do so to not dump oil on the track. That's dumb newbie stuff.
Is it really necessary to remove engine and transmission for engine change ? Nothing wrong with my transmission or clutch ! Thanks love to hear from someone before I waste my time ! Thanks
Does the gearbox and/or axles need to be installed to move the car after engine removal? My motor will be out a while but need to move the car out of the garage. Thanks for content!
I’m about 90% sure you had a valve break due to an issue with valve lash slamming the valves into the seats, allowing one valve to break loose, which then started beating up the piston and broke more valves off which then punched the hole through the piston and finally causing it to puff smoke. All of your piston damage is from the valve breaking off. If you had a lien scenario, it was probably only in the one cylinder due to a bad injector, but I don’t see any evidence of lean what I see is failed valve that completely destroyed your engine. I would contest that this should be covered by the entity that built your head you’re connecting rod and pistons that you currently have or sufficient enough. With the amount of damage, your piston sustained from the broke off valves that would explain the loose wrist pin because your piston was completely hammered to death. The piston had to give out first because that was the only place those valves could go they can’t exit through the top of the head so they have to exit the piston Valve dropped into pan. It bounced around inside your motor and took out the oiler. If you were running lean, you would be able to see heat damage on the valve stem component that was still remaining in the head. I do believe you’re being Upsal for pistons and connecting rods really isn’t a bad idea. Also same with the bearings. I believe it was a craftsmanship issue with the headwork that caused your problem. Very likely a defective valve was installed. I could hear your engine starting to sound a little off just before it dropped a valve then I could hear the valve train failure and then I could hear it punch through the piston and let the oil through. It’s very clear on the video so I would contest their suggested failure reason.
I have a couple of questions on a mini cooper engine replacement. I bought a 2003 cooper S with a blown motor and plan getting it up and running for a daily driver. So your videos here are a work of art and a life saver, thankyou. Q1 do the minis have an air bag sensor in the bumper ? Q2 is there a difference in a supercharger engine and a non supercharger engine other than the supercharger itself?
The air bag sensors are on the crash tubes. The supercharged and non supercharged engines are different. Do not attempt to put a supercharger onto a non-supercharged engine.
Something I've been wondering after watching your series of videos, did you have the bottom end balanced when you rebuilt the motor? I was just thinking that with the lighter rods and pistons that the crankshaft would need balancing to suit.
No, the crankshaft was probably balanced separately from the connecting rods at the factory anyway. It may have been a good idea to rebalance but I didn't have the funds or time to do so. Either way, the car is running smooth and strong...maybe I just got lucky?
***** It's something I didn't even think of to be honest and one of my mates asked me if I had allowed for it in the costs of my rebuild, just figured I'd ask. Cheers for the info
do you have a water/meth system? If not, with the higher HP, and the sped up S/C, and no water/air IC. I think high intake temp might have been the pre-det culprit, and a water/meth system would be a great mod to your setup. Not harping, and I'm sure you probably already know, just my .02. Otherwise, love the tutorials, you've more than answered a few of my questions with your videos. Thought maybe I'd try to return the favor. Again.....love that Mini.
Hello boss. I am having an issue with my car and no one (including the mechanics I am bringing the car to) seems to be able to figure out what's wrong with the car. I am getting codes P0303 & P0303 PD (misfire cylinder 3) and P0313 & P0313 PD (lean cylinder 3). I have replaced the plugs, wires, and coil pack but I am still having an issue. I am thinking it might be a vacuum leak, a fuel injector, or perhaps something wrong with the valves. What is your professional recommendation or suggestion on what is wrong with the car?
Your videos are top notch. Seriously great work. I have my r53 in pieces in the garage at the moment. I "melted" a hole in piston head 3. Since i am this deep in the car i am looking for a cylinder head, cam, fuel injector combination. I have a 17% and a cold air intake. Any suggestions? Cheers.
I always look at ebay first for used stuff. I have a used head off a 2005 JCW and a stock cam, probably have some 340cc fuel injectors if I look. Private message me if you're interested.
Hey Mod Mini, Im currently rebuilding the engine on my r52 s and I noticed some scuff marks on the crank for piston 1. Should I hunt down a new crank or machine it?
***** in a lot of ways running it till it stops can help with the rebuild process. Your absolutely right, the damage is done within in a matter of seconds, but by running it till it stops any parts that may have been slightly damaged but maybe arent all that visibly bad, quickly become very clearly faulty. If you understand what I mean.
Thanks for great videos. We have an 03 S with the same parts from Jan including ported intake manifold. I do track days and found you searching for the fuel filter change. That & a plug check & change is next prior to a track day at Laguna Sept 11. A question . Can you remove spark plugs without removing the GP intercooler? Thanks again
it looks like you know what u r doing , i have done work like that before and in the end it seems like less work to just pull the engine , dont u think
Hello my name is Juan and I driving my mini cooper s 2006 r53 on the highway 70 miles and my oil light come on and the Oil Presion go to 0 I stop the car to check the Oil and is fine I tow to my place and when I turn again when is cold the Presion go to 70psi and the lamp was off what do you think was the problem Thank you so much
I have a question for you. my 06 mini cooper s has been suffering from RPM hunting, when I drive it for a 20-30 mins and get to a traffic light I fell it that it goes to turn off with a lot of shaking, that happens if i had the AC on if not on, The RPM dance between 700 to 900. What is your recommendation to fix it? Thanks
Hi MODMINI, my r53 blew the piston rings Thinking of going in your route to rebuild with reinforced connecting rods and piston. How much you think it will cost to have someone rebuild just like you did ? Thanks
I have mini cooper s we had the engine rebuild . I keep getting engine code p1497. Check all my hoses clamps. Turbo lines it runs fine ones cel comes on it shuts down. Any help would appreciate thanks again.
Hey modmini, I have a 2004 mini Cooper s supercharged manual. And I recently blew the head gasket. It has 187k miles and I'm thinking of either rebuilding my engine with the intent to make it faster or just buying a new motor. What do you suppose I should do? And if you suggest rebuild then what parts did you use to build yours. @modmini
The GP1 has more soul but it's not as fast as the GP2. GP2 is a better car for the street, easy to drive in traffic, builds decent amount of torque, fast in the corners and stops way, way better.
I just got a R53 75k on the clock 1500 pounds few things wrong exhaust has a small gap right at the back that is blowing. what should i do about that just clamp it closed? and fan belt that's minor its in British racing green and full leather am really happy with it.
hey, i Installed my engine and I am trying to get all the wires connected. I have all the wires connected except for two. I know one of the two goes to the power stearing fan. The second looks or is similar size to the one that connects to the fan but is a shorter wire would you know where that connects to?
I Just finished taking the oil pan off my r53. I found that one of the pistons was raddling around the crankshaft so i unbolted where the Piston connects to the crankshaft and found that the bearing was torn to shreds on each end. Would that be causing it to raddle, and is there bearings on the other side?
This from a spun rod bearing. The bearings are gone. If you want to save this engine you'll need to replace the rod bearing, crankshaft and a connecting rod at the least. These are strong engines but every once in a while they spin rods like this, usually due to oil starvation.Usually it happens to just one of the connecting rods, as long as the other ones weren't knocking the other connecting rods might be reusable.
I would have done that if I had known what it was. I thought it was just a silly check engine light limp mode thing, and I would get it slowly back to the paddock and clear the code. (That has happened before, more than once.) Immediately stopping driving would have made no difference, actually - the block, piston and head were all destroyed within the first milliseconds after the valve broke off.
***** thats true, i came across your videos when looking for r53 exhaust sounds, looking to buy a r53, but wanted to see what they sounded like with a decent exhaust, does that 4 branch come that way? or i that aftermarket? i presume your cat is a free flow 200 cell? also you could almost use your vids as a diy engine removal guide. good work tho, shame you lost your job at a time when you made your car better. good luck for the future
***** yes after looking, quickly found that what you have is aftermarket. just looking in to them at the moment, stuck over this and another car! does sound nice tho. and the the final build sounds even better, any ideas on power? or have you not had chance to find out what with obvious circumstances?
mat k Power is probably within 5-10HP of previous. I didn't really change anything, just put it back to the previous configuration but with stronger internal components and it's a brand new engine as well of course. Any power gain would be from higher compression (since everything is new), the shape of the new pistons. No, I haven't had a chance to put on the dyno or even have it properly tuned since the job loss.
I have a question please let me know I have been looking at videos online and people are saying signs of a engine almost being worn out is if you start the car take the oil cap off it big pulses of air are coming out it could be piston rings worn and the coolant if it's brown could indicate a leek is this true for the r53 cooper s
Pulse in the crankcase is normal even on a normal engine. Only way to know for sure is compression test. Some MINIs (especially the 2002-2003) are known to get rust in the coolant. That's not an issue of worn engine, more an issue of the coolant needing to be flushed.
If it was pre-ignition failure or an overheat from lean condition, you would’ve had smoke first before failure. Instead, you had failure and smoke after. you had a valve break, that killed your engine, I’m about 90% sure you had a valve break due to an issue with valve lash slamming the valves into the seats, allowing one valve to break loose, which then started beating up the piston and broke more valves off which then punched the hole through the piston and finally causing it to puff smoke. All of your piston damage is from the valve breaking off. If you had a lien scenario, it was probably only in the one cylinder due to a bad injector, but I don’t see any evidence of lean what I see is failed valve that completely destroyed your engine. I would contest that this should be covered by the entity that built your head you’re connecting rod and pistons that you currently have or sufficient enough. With the amount of damage, your piston sustained from the broke off valves that would explain the loose wrist pin because your piston was completely hammered to death. The piston had to give out first because that was the only place those valves could go they can’t exit through the top of the head so they have to exit the piston Valve dropped into pan. It bounced around inside your motor and took out the oiler. If you were running lean, you would be able to see heat damage on the valve stem component that was still remaining in the head. I do believe you’re being Upsal for pistons and connecting rods really isn’t a bad idea. Also same with the bearings. I believe it was a craftsmanship issue with the headwork that caused your problem. Very likely a defective valve was installed. I could hear your engine starting to sound a little off just before it dropped a valve then I could hear the valve train failure and then I could hear it punch through the piston and let the oil through. It’s very clear on the video so I would contest their suggested failure reason.
I would not have wasted time trying to work on the engine in the car.It was time to put the motor on a stand .Much easier.2 exhaust valves broke then got beat around.Unless you want a custom performance engine built sometimes it’s cheaper to get a complete used engine and do a bearing,ring,valve job.
Thanks! I rented 3 different tools from auto parts stores when I rebuilt my top end. It will be nice to have one tool that I know can fit every spring!
How many miles did you have on engine when this happened? I'm nearing 140k miles on my 2006 motor, and it's feeling slow and not as responsive as when I first got the car with 12 miles on it. Debating on if an engine rebuild is worth it.
Not very high, the failure was not due to mileage. it was due to performance modifications. 140K is not very high mileage, although performance loss may or may not be due to worn rings. Have you changed plugs? Those go bad after about 100k.
Ahhh, I have changed out the spark plugs, spark plug wires, and injectors (3 out of 4 failed, so all 4 got changed out at the same time with OEM replacements). My car feels way slow, even though I've got CAI, and a 15% pulley. I was thinking that may be it's too early for worn down rings, but since you've suggested it...
I doubt its worn rings if you've been taking care of it. But possible. You may have a burned valve or something, I've seen that. Probably best to have someone put it on the computer to diagnose. One other thing that causes bad performance is a bad fuel pressure regulator or the vacuum line fell off. Check that and possibly replace. If still doesn't improve, get a decent diagnosis.
I know your busy probably but I changed the pipe that feeds power steering fluid to the pump because I was told that it had a leek the pump was charged very recently the mechanic that fitted it said to bring it back and he would fit the pipe as it was old i changed it today left the car in the garage looked under the car it's leaking how when the pump and pipe are both brand new
DiscoR53 Sorry to hear that. Sometimes they go early, usually due to factory defect, maintenance or hard driving. Rebuilding is risky (requires more advance skill) but changing out a motor is not that hard if you are careful.
Damn dude awwww shit that was no fun I’m sitting here watching that now and I’m like holy fuck what the he’ll I’m genuinely concerned about all this oil burning just as much as he is 😂
I love my R53, I get sad when I see another one get hurt :) What RON fuel do you use for races? I remember our Trip to California form the UK they only had 89-91 (I think) which my mini would knock like mad if it tried to run it on either.
I don't race, I just drive fast on the track - so far I've just been using 91 or 92 octane (US R+M/2 calculation method). 91 octane US is actually the same as 99 in europe. Do you have an aggressive tune?
***** ***** are you sure you get a jump of 7 points? I just had a look around and you're right you get a bit of a jump, I didn't realise that. But it looks like us90 is about UK95 and us94 is uk98 . My r53 is just a stock one, I love the sound of it as it is but I notice it made a lot of difference moving from 95uk to 99uk. The engine was sharper and the idle was smoother. Just thinking your engines going to be running at a higher compression than mine it might be the fuel that killed your engine there. Just a thought, but I figured it worth mentioning if it saves you another rebuild. Beautiful Car though man!
magicalrobster That's what came up when I googled it. My compression is the same as stock and there is no rash of blown engines due to the fuel here. I tracked down that the reason for the blown engine was a bent valve stem. It was only slightly bent, so every time the valve closed it flexed back into place and the valve closed correctly, but over time and with the high heat of sustained wide open throttle, it finally fatigued to the point of breaking off.
***** its funny the r53 is a wonderful car to drive and the best looking of the bmw minis but man does it go wrong. I'm currently trying to work out why the rear right wheel sings like a canary in the winter intermittently on the motorway. I'm guessing it's salt in the suspension or something but it's hard to work it out. Also why the exhaust sounds louder and more raspy now. I wonder if it's got a small crack in it but I can't locate it. It's annoying but I wouldn't give the little thing up for the world it's awesome.
magicalrobster That's probably a wheel bearing. Something is probably rusted out inside the exhaust. I have a broken baffle inside the resonator (the small can behind the catalytic converter) and it is more raspy from that.
Mistake #1 was going with RMW.....and calling him back...my 2 pence wouldn't ever use a tune from him.... Sorry this happen. ( BTW - wouldn't ever use Brisk plugs in a MINI Cooper due to a well deserved history of their backing out, something about their washer ring composition that doesn't crush/seat well at MINI Torque specs..
Looking the video, I may say the isssue is not the piston, No way this failure is related to the piston head.... the explanation they provide you is just a simple excuse to not asume the failure root cause.
I noted in later video the failure was due to undetected valve impact with piston head and becoming very slightly bent due to a skipped timing chain from a few years prior.
+Leon Springs Boys TV Different strokes. I like 4 cylinder, lighter cars that turn well. I would like a RWD 4 cylinder but this car really fits my needs as a daily driver that I can also flog at the track. I respect the V8 crowd but I'm not in to it. Cheers
Gay ye right try get a posv8 to keep up with a light weight mini nota chance quicker. The straight on a track good luck with that v8when it guzzling juice and costing u a fortune because you oblivious ly know nothing about racing
