1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: My MINI sounds like a Subaru!!!

  1. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    #6 MCS02, Aug 23, 2013
    It could be something getting loose inside of the exhaust system. This happened to me on a different type of car. It sounded odd then returned to normal for a little while. Then my exhaust system got clogged up. What hat happened is a small peace broke free first and made its way out, then more let go and clogged the system.

    Or maybe your MINI is about to turn in to a sandal wearing granola eating Subaru. Have you seen it looking at tents lately? :biggrin5: :biggrin5:
     
  2. Dave.0

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    #2 Dave.0, Aug 22, 2013
    Check everything including your oil.
     
  3. panaphobic

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    #3 panaphobic, Aug 22, 2013
  4. DneprDave

    DneprDave Well-Known Member
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    #4 DneprDave, Aug 22, 2013
    Exhaust leak?

    Dave
     
  5. CamtheWookie

    CamtheWookie New Member

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    #5 CamtheWookie, Aug 23, 2013
    My first thought would have been that it's missing on a cylinder but I would imagine that would be very noticeable and probably cause a CEL. I don't think an exhaust leak would come and go like that, but I suppose anything is possible. An exhaust leak at the exhaust manifold would sound like that.
     
  6. quikmni

    quikmni Moderator

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    #7 quikmni, Aug 23, 2013
    Tough to guess but I it could have been the exhaust getting clogged up. Maybe the Cat plugged and then unplugged. However, it the Cat plugged you should have noticed a decrease in engine performance.
     
  7. ScottinBend

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    #8 ScottinBend, Aug 23, 2013
    It wouldn't have taken much debris to affect the sound and not performance.

    Do you have a center resonator......this may be coming apart.
     
  8. panaphobic

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    #9 panaphobic, Aug 23, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2013
    I have a cat back Group 4 Autosports exhaust. No muffler, no resonator. It's basically a straight pipe with an inline "bafflepack" and "glasspack" and it's been on my car for about 5 months (6k miles) or so. I swapped it out just before MOTD.

    It had the same problem this morning when I started it up. Sounded just like a Subie again. This time I could hear a light tapping from the motor. Popped the hood and I could hear it. Sounded like a valve tapping the piston. Still ran fine performance-wise and after giving it a couple decent revs, the taping stopped along with the Subaru sound. I'm thinking one of the exhaust valves might be sticking and not closing all the way, hence the tap and possibly the Subie tone from the exhaust. If a valve isn't closing all the way, but still closing most of the way, I would expect this could cause the sound without a noticeable amount of power loss. What do you guys think?

    I will see if it sounds like that again when I start my car later today and I will try to get a video of it so you can hear it as well.

    For the most part, I don't beat on my MINI. I do rev it out every once in a while but for the most part, I keep it under 4k rpm's on most days


    The other idea I had was the upper cat is starting to fall apart and little bits were getting stuck in the lower cat, but with hearing the valve tap this morning, I'm guessing a valve job is in the near future....
     
  9. Dave.0

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    #10 Dave.0, Aug 23, 2013
    Try changing your oil and remember it takes a few seconds for the oil to get from the pan to the valves at start up.

    What oil are you running? (Weight)

    How often do you change it?