Engine Drivetrain 1st Gen Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Intermittent Clunking?

Are your motor mounts OK?

 

Sounds like a motor mount to me, also...

Visually inspect the mount - is it leaking?
Also - open bonnet, have someone stand beside the car and watch the engine as you let the clutch out and start rolling - see if they can hear it, and watch how much the engine shifts fore/aft.

 

I had this symptom, and it turned out to be the front control arm bushings. Have also had the hydraulic motor mount fail twice.

For the motor mount failure, look for seepage of dirty, sticky crud from the top of the hydraulic mount, and on nearby frame, etc.

_Dave_

Edit: with all your mods, you should also consider drivetrain issues. In addition to the control arm bushings and motor mount, I also had to have a wheel bearing and a stub axle replaced while this sound was being diagnosed. I only mentioned the bushings above because that's what finally made the noise go away.

 

Yep - on a 2004 control arm bushings are also a likely culprit.

 

Stock hydraulic unit is about $100, lasts about 40k, and rides smooth till you drive it hard again. TSW makes a polyurethane damper for about twice the price, lasts till the polyurethane wears out (150k? 200k?), and holds the engine in place when you're trying to heel-toe from 4th to 3rd, get right back on the gas, and not let that Elise scamper away from you on the back straight. If you enjoy the subtle vibrations of the classical masters as you cruise around smooth suburban streets at a medium pace, you might not enjoy the extra stiffness of TSW's damper.

For what it's worth, I hate the way the engine flops around when the OEM damper fails, even around town, so I bolted on the TSW unit and love it.

 

Hey Ben,
In my hot rod days we wanted solid mounts to keep the engine tied to the frame to help with throttle/car response.. Any adverse side effects other then vibrations ( loved that part in my '68 SCJ Mustang Fastback) to fab-ing up a solid bracket on the cheap to replace the OEM mount..

 

One thing I'd start worrying about with solid steel engine mounts (other than NVH) would be safety... the OEM mounts are engineered to fail in a predictable manner in a catastrophic collision to let the engine drop...

 

Well as far as safety's concerned, the critical connection is the bolt connecting the bottom of the engine mount to the frame. It's an E12 female torx M10 bolt, and it's not very thick (part # 22116766753 on RealOEM). But the vibration from the 4 cylinder would be crazy.

 

That bolt would probably fail "even better" with a solid mount. :devil:

 

Yep, and it would probably fail at a most inopportune time as well (not when it was supposed to fail).:nonod:

 

Assuming this 2004 model was built after January and has the metal encased damper, replace with another OEM. The parts warranty only applies if installed in a MINI service department.

The swap is not a difficult task. Be sure to use the correct frame bolt for that model damper; the later version bolt is longer than the earlier one.

 

Not entirely true. Independent shops get the same deal. When my 2nd mount failed, the shop just had to take the busted part and a receipt from when they installed it and the dealer gave them a new one.

I'm not sure how they would deal with someone doing their own work, but do know that other shops get the parts warranty, not just the dealer.

 

Build date is on the driver door jamb and the later model engine mount is a metal looking "can" instead of the rubber "ball" that the earlier cars had.

You should also consider getting the powerflex engine bushings.
MINI Cooper Powerflex Motor Mount Kit

 

Worse.

The Powerflex kit is for the lower engine mount. There's three dampened connections between the engine and the body: upper engine mount, lower engine mount, and transmission mount. Silver can (04+) is the upper engine mount. The other two are under the car.