Engine Drivetrain 2nd Gen S Most liked posts in thread: Turbo Failure???

For the carbon build-up, you have to clean it manually. Most typical way to do it is with a walnut media blasting. Expect to pay $300+ at an independent mech that can do it, more with the dealer. There are instructions floating out there on how to build your own blaster and DIY it if so inclined.

I think you probably need to focus on fixing the rough idle before tackling the turbo. If you get that fixed, the turbo may return to normal operation. There are lots of other things that could cause turbo issues short of the turbo itself being trashed.

 

He was incorrect.

 

You know why a Turbo? go "Psssst"

It's because they are saying you should have a Super Charger. :lol: ostcount

 

If you can swing it, get new not rebuilt...

There have been sketchy successes with rebuilt turbo's...

OEM.... Do it once and do it right...

It's a pain to deal with a failed rebuilt turbo.... You can figure 2x labor if you need to return a rebuilt.... They won't pay any of your install costs....

 

It's easy enough to check if your turbocharger bearing is alright. Just take the inlet hose off of the turbocharger inlet and try to wiggle the compressor turbine, it shouldn't be at all loose, it should also spin freely.

At 85,000 miles, it is due for a decarboning of the intake ports.

 

^^ I'd be looking for new mechanic... yesterday.

 

Well, Your tag says you are in FL. Google says you are less than 250 miles from Way Motor works in Atlanta GA.

The mileage will be worth the savings over the dealer price. www.waymotororks.com

 

It is likely that your turbocharger is just fine and your problem is with the intake ports on the engine being clogged with carbon buildup. The problems is not just on MINI Cooper S models, it is a common problem with direct injected engines in general. The oil vapor from the PCV system isn't washed off of the backs of the intake valves, like it is on port injected engines. You should get the intake ports and valves media blasted with crushed walnut shell about every fifty thousand miles, give or take depending on your driving habits.

They made some changes to the MINI engine in 2011 to help reduce the carbon build up problem and call it the N18 engine.

 

There's not a lot you can do about it, an occasional Italian tune up can't hurt. It's part of owning a direct injected car. Expect to clean the valves about every 50 K miles. Short trips in which the engine doesn't get up to temperature will make it happen sooner rather than later.

The type of gas or additives makes no difference, as the gasoline never sees the back of the intake valves, where the problem is.

The computer does not need to be reset after cleaning, if it hasn't thrown a code.

 

At this point I think you are still somewhat shooting in the dark.

You know the engine light came on and the car went into limp mode. But do you have a boost gauge on the car? If not and you are judging by feel it may not be the turbo.

If you have an android device you can get an app call torque pro ad a $10-$20 Bluetooth adapter for the obdII and then you get a digital boost gauge and code reader. With this you can see the boost in real time and you can get the codes.

When my turbo failed the symptom wasn't running rough but rather when running wide open you could watch the boost gauge get to a point and then the needle would drop to 0 and limp mode. If I drove easy for several cycles the limp would go away. Mine was the waste gate that broke inside the exhaust side of the turbo. You can test the waste gate with a hand vacuum pump on the waste gate actuator. If you can't hold boost with the pump then your waste gate is leaking.

The turbo repair is more costly than carbon buildup and with your miles and rough engine that may be a better bet.

If you don't have an Indy MINI shop in your area, check for an Indy BMW shop and see if they will walnut blast for you. They do walnut blasting on BMW so they have done it on some cars.

 

I can tell you how mine felt when the turbo went in my 08. In my case it was the waste-gate that failed.

I got the half-engine yellow check light in the customizable display in the Tachometer (where I keep the digital speedometer readout). The car felt very under-powered, and sounded dull. I took it to AutoZone and had them pull the codes, which came up empty: The reader didn't say anything was wrong.

Ultimately I had to get the thing rebuilt which cost a pretty penny, though if it were to happen now, I'd get a new turbo instead.

Now, just recently I had the check engine light come on in the center Speedometer, not the Tach, so I went to AutoZone and had them pull the code, and they were able to tell me that it was a cylinder 3 misfire. One new set of sparks, and a walnut blast, and all was good again.

Even though there's a 50/50 chance that the AutoZone reader will find anything, it's a good place to start.

Hope that helps!

 

fwiw, the systems that throw a CEL and the system that puts the car in limp mode are different systems. If the car goes into limp mode (the half engine light in the tach), a normal code reader will not pick up any codes because it is not something reported through the OBD system. That's why you can be in limp mode, but the Autozones of the world will tell you there is no code.

I'm not sure what you need to read those codes - there is a procedure to grab the CCID from the system yourself, but I have found that information to be nearly useless as there are too many possible problems for any single code. Probably some MINI specific tool can provide the proper, detailed diagnostic information, but I have not run across any DIY options.