Welcome to MA! I would go back through every thing you took off and make sure you did not miss anything or have something out of place. If I had a dime for every time something like this has happened to me just to find I put something together wrong of something got caught in the wrong place when I put it back together I would be rich.
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DneprDave Well-Known MemberSupporting Member
Do a smoke test. If you do a search for "Smoke test car" on YouTube, you will see a few videos on how to build a cheap smoke tester to find vacuum leaks.
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Redbeard JCW: because fast is fun!Supporting Member
MAF sensor connected? The symptoms you're describing match what will happen with an unplugged MAF. Ask me how I know...
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Downstream air leak means air loss someplace between turbo and throttle body. Since you've been playing with the manifold, it's likely a bad connection or defective hose --- the elbow at the manifold. The hose clamp needs to be mounted squarely with respect to the manifold. Could also be a cracked manifold --- they're not the best material. Best bet has already been suggested --- smoke test.
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So, cleaned the maf, that didn't do anything. Sprayed a whole can of brake cleaner, that didn't do anything. Tried the smoke test, that didn't do anything, no leaks at all.
My friend works at a dealership and put a scanner on the car and this is the only thing that pops up.
http://imgur.com/a/qUHkX
Any ideas? -
Yes - I'm somewhat new to MINIs but that error code after you did a smoke test tells me the sensor maybe bad. Do you have someone close that you can pull their maf and put it on yours to test?
What did your dealer tech buddy say? -
That sucks, I can say recently I would building a turbo car and could not get the thing to idle or run well. After banging my head for hours looking for vacuum leaks etc.. changed that out and bam worked fine. Not 100% sure that is your issue but sure does sound like it if smoke test didn't show anything. Where are you located?
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Little update on another thing I have tried, I pulled the rubber hose off the OUTLET ( pressure side ) of the turbo, and built an adapter out of PVC with a pressure gauge to allow me to add air with a compressor. I only took the system up to 15 PSI but I could not hear any leaking throughout the whole system, I put my ear up to every corner of the valve cover, nothing! This is so confusing and irritating all at the same time, im running out of options here.
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Pulled the valve cover off today to inspect once again, nothing wrong with it, no cracks no oil leaks nothing. I sprayed a whole can of brake cleaner on the outside and will drive it for a few days to see if any oil spots show up, but I doubt it. This is so frustrating.
I should note - before when this first started happening i would just get a check engine light and it would give me the 1497 code, now the car goes into limp mode about 1-3 minutes after i clear the codes, and then about 5 minutes after that the check engine light finally comes on. -
DneprDave Well-Known MemberSupporting Member
The vacuum pump is on the end of the camshaft on the head.
You are probably hearing the turbocharger cooling pump, it is under the turbocharger on the side of the engine on the front side of the car.
It is normal to hear it after the engine is shut down. -
Well still no luck, I really really do not want to take the car to Mini, mainly because its a 2 hour drive and id have to wait there while they would fix it, so id have to drive the car in limp mode 2 hours and HOPE they can fix it the same day. Really sucks! -
DneprDave Well-Known MemberSupporting Member
Could you get it towed to the dealer? You could even ride in the tow truck and then get a loaner at the dealer.
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It would cost an arm and leg to tow it there.
So here's something interesting, I took the car on the highway for the first time, I went about 10 miles, I cleared the codes before getting on the highway, I never once got the code or limp mode light, but the car still didn't have full power. It seems that the car only throws the 1497 code at idle and low speeds.
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