Daughters MINI died yesterday. Apparently, the cam broke between cylinders 1 &2. This after the head has been off twice since June. Last time was 8 new valves. It all started with low compression in #2. And I thought my 07's issues were enough to drive the crazy! Don't think I've heard of many cams breaking. By the way it's an automatic and she really doesn't dog the MINI much. Me....maybe, but I don't get to drive it much.
Yep, stock cam, work done at the dealer. I could see it in my MINI ore maybe even the wifes Clubman. I run those pretty hard. But the daughters Cabrio really doesn't get run hard at all. Getting kinda over this little car to be honest. I'm sure the warranty company is tired of it as well.
I bet the cam was the problem the hole time. I don't care how hard you run a car you can't break a cam. I have seen cams go bad because of wear for different reasons but not break! This should be a free fix warranty or not!
Only time I personally heard of a cam snapping in two for no good reason was a friend with a Renault LeCar - about 35 years ago. Renault denied it was a manufacturing fault even though the car was completely stock and had only easy daily driver use and the head had never been worked on. On the other hand, not a car known for good quality control and reliability.
I have actually seen a few cam's break on the gen 2 motors. It always comes back to lack of oil and the extended oil changes that MINI recommends.
Saving a few buck on an oil change can get quite expensive me thinks. :eek6: My guess is the oil galleys are getting plugged up with sludge fudge. Fudge is tasty, but a poor lubricant.
If things don't have lubrication, they get hot and the ends of the cam can break off due to the end being hollow for the bolt as well as the weight and tension on the end due the timing chain.
Is it at WMW now? Saw on FB he posted a picture off a broken cam and said it was a auto with low mileage.