2nd Gen R55 Clubman Most liked posts in thread: Sudden limp mode under acceleration, but no code.

Thanks! I had heard of this, but I didn't think to take it to them for it. I figured I was out of luck to even try to get it warrantied. It is a real interesting thought that it COULD be the HPFP.

 

OK, well, so the saga continues! SO FRUSTRATING!

I drove the car all over all weekend. ANY little excuse to go out in it and I used the boost a LOT, shifting at 5K-6K range instead of going pretty easy on it, as is my usual driving mode. SO nothing but pure smooth driving the whole way all weekend. Rain and cold, daylight and dry... and I went through the end of my tank of gas too, so this morning, I start it up. No issues... I go to a Valero and fill it with "Top Tier" brand Super Unleaded and drive a fairly mild 7 miles to the highway and JUST BEFORE I get on as I'm accelerating up to ramp speed, "DOO, DOO, DOOT!" Check Engine light is on AGAIN with the half-engine graphic. ARRRRUGH!

SO I pull over and shut the engine off to see if I can clear the light and I call my Mech to report the situation. I start it back up and there's the CEL on again, right from the get-go! The engine is still running smoothly (smoother than it has in the whole 4-1/2 months I've owned it) and has no particularly odd rattle. My Mech shop's front desk gal says she'll convey the message to their Mini Technician who re-timed my engine. And off I go again. Jump up on the highway for a bit, back onto the streets to get to work and VIOLA! THe CEL goes off. No announcement, no little message warning triangle in the readouts, no other error lights at all (Even the the intermittent Tire TPMS light is off and no longer claiming "inactive."). I get to work and no other issues. Unfortunately I had too much traffic to get on the boost again and check it out.

So my Mech shop owner calls me back and says his Mini Tech thinks it MUST be the timing chain, tensioner or maybe guides, but mostly the chain. So of course THAT's going to cost a fortune, but he says he won't know until they look at it again. SO now I don't know WHAT to do. This thing is killing me! Its like a bipolar mate. Giving you a thrill and then dropping into a depression and leaving you questioning what to do with it next then getting better then failing again! AAAAAAAH!

Any more thoughts folks?

 

A ghost in the machine...

So, I've decided there's a ghost in my machine. The check engine light didn't come back on yesterday, but instead I started the engine to go home from work and remembered I'd wanted to check the oil first, so I immediately shut it off and went to pull the dipstick. It was full and looked a good color, but then I noticed it smelled of raw gasoline! I've owned a LOT of cars over the past few decades and even worked designing them for years and I'd never yet run into oil that smelled of gas! Well, what could I do? I started it back up and it ran perfectly. Smooth as it has ever been and it ran totally like you'd expect it to right out of a dealership. I called my Mech again and told them about it and they just said that was weird, but bring it by in the morning.

So, now I'm just PISSED at the car. I'm not as much of a praying man as I probably ought to be, but I had a discussion... OK, I YELLED at whatever Mini spirit is haunting this R55 and reminded it that I wasn't the same, rat-bag previous owner who was out to do the car in through abuse. That I'd already spent thousands on making it a happier, healthier car and that it wouldn't get to go on a fun country-twisty drive if it was going to act like it would strand me. So I offered the spirit a deal (but didn't roast a chicken on the turbo, although maybe that would have been tasty and smelled better than gasoline...), the car has to stay cool, not go all CEL crazy anymore and get me to and from work reliably and in return I will make sure it has lots of proper fluids in a timely manner, that I'd finish fixing up its interior and exterior and shine it back up and take it on a fun country drive to go get BBQ once in awhile... Otherwise I could just turn it over to a pick your part yard and let the vultures have it.

This morning I ran it the 17 miles up to my Mech's place. On the way there, I asked The Lord to PLEASE let the soul of this car settle down and allow me to focus on my family and work instead of the car's obsessive problems. I arrived and they looked at it, checked the oil, smelled it, looked into the injectors to see if something was off... Nothing. No problems at all. So, the owner said, "Well, it seems all good and healthy now. No Check Engine light, no problem. It is running smooth like when we timed it, so it must have been a fluke or weird gas or something. As for the gasoline smell, maybe you caught a whiff of some fuel that leaked down on the rich startup when you shut it off so suddenly, but there doesn't seem anything wrong. Go drive it and have fun and don't let it make you paranoid."

So there you go dear readers. That's my latest chapter in the saga of this Cantankerous Clubman. Maybe I'll name it Jacob Marley and see if it can come to atone for its past sins! :biggrin5::lol::crazy:

 

Who tests oil? Is there some kind of mail in service for this? How would I even get it out of the engine? Sounds like I'd have to pull the drain plug which would guarantee I'd then be in the middle of an oil change...

 

Good point indeed. I've always checked my oil cold. I would assume this was still true of a Mini, yet I recall reading that it's good to run a Mini motor awhile and THEN check it. Now maybe I'm just remembering it wrong, but this seems like it WOULDN'T return an accurate reading unless the article was referencing something IN the oil and I just missed that part of the discussion.

 

Thanks!