Soldato
It might have actually been a blessing in disguise for you there! 
Really poor by Javelin there though.
Really poor by Javelin there though.
Who here owns a Mini?
- Thread starter ScoobyDoo69
- Start date
Soldato
Well, as stated in my last post, the timing chain tensioner was suspected of being goosed. On the Mini, this really isn't a bad job to do, a bit fiddly and with such a little amount of space to get your spanner in, but it took me 30 minutes a quite a lot of swearing to get it done.
The symptoms of a failed timing chain tensioner are that the car will sound like a diesel, will rattle lots from the left side of the engine (as you look in the engine bay) and will quieten down if you rev the car to 2500rpm-ish. If you have this do not drive the car, as if can destroy the plastic chain guide and it turns a job that costs £25 in parts and takes 30mins into a job that costs £120 in parts and takes several hours. If you ignore it, the first thing to go will be the chain guide which will shatter into many different pieces and most of them will end up in the sump - which will mean you need to drain the sump, and remove it. Then you need to get the cam cover off and start replacing the guide and tensioner. Worst case scenario is that the chain jumps a cog and your timing goes out of whack.
Anyway, to do this job you need a decent wobble bar - approx 15cm in length and a 3/8 drive 19mm socket. The best way to access it is to take the front drivers wheel off. The trick to removing the bolt is by not engaging the wobble bar all that way into the 19mm socket as you won't be able to get the angle. Just place the end of the wobble bar into the socket and get a breaker bar. It should just suddenly go and then it's just a case of undoing the bolt and pulling out the old tensioner. Swap them over, and put the bolt back in and tighten up as much as you can. There is no need to lubricate or do anything at all to the new one, just stick it in the hole, and tighten the bolt.
Old on left, new on right. This seemed to fix my issue and the engine was quiet once again. There has been several people reporting that a few weeks after they have done this, it has returned so I'll be keeping an ear out. I've got another day at Snetterton booked for the 20th Jan so hopefully it doesn't rear it's head before/during the day!
The symptoms of a failed timing chain tensioner are that the car will sound like a diesel, will rattle lots from the left side of the engine (as you look in the engine bay) and will quieten down if you rev the car to 2500rpm-ish. If you have this do not drive the car, as if can destroy the plastic chain guide and it turns a job that costs £25 in parts and takes 30mins into a job that costs £120 in parts and takes several hours. If you ignore it, the first thing to go will be the chain guide which will shatter into many different pieces and most of them will end up in the sump - which will mean you need to drain the sump, and remove it. Then you need to get the cam cover off and start replacing the guide and tensioner. Worst case scenario is that the chain jumps a cog and your timing goes out of whack.
Anyway, to do this job you need a decent wobble bar - approx 15cm in length and a 3/8 drive 19mm socket. The best way to access it is to take the front drivers wheel off. The trick to removing the bolt is by not engaging the wobble bar all that way into the 19mm socket as you won't be able to get the angle. Just place the end of the wobble bar into the socket and get a breaker bar. It should just suddenly go and then it's just a case of undoing the bolt and pulling out the old tensioner. Swap them over, and put the bolt back in and tighten up as much as you can. There is no need to lubricate or do anything at all to the new one, just stick it in the hole, and tighten the bolt.
Old on left, new on right. This seemed to fix my issue and the engine was quiet once again. There has been several people reporting that a few weeks after they have done this, it has returned so I'll be keeping an ear out. I've got another day at Snetterton booked for the 20th Jan so hopefully it doesn't rear it's head before/during the day!
Think I`m not alone in that my wifes 2013 mini cooper has a thirst for Castrol 5-30w. This car is lucky if it covers 5k a year but still goes through approx 1-2 litres a year?? Quite normal according to Mini when asked at last service.
Which also begs the question what does the inclusive Mini Service 5yr cover take care off ? Had to buy my own oil to top up as it was chargeable at my last service ? ( not an oil service ) .
Which also begs the question what does the inclusive Mini Service 5yr cover take care off ? Had to buy my own oil to top up as it was chargeable at my last service ? ( not an oil service ) .
Soldato
I have seen reports where people have had to replace the replacement after a short amount of time, but its probably a rarity. As with all problems, 99% of those who have one will make noise about it, but also best to keep a check.
My R56 used a litre of 5W-30 Castrol over its last 5K, so I'd say its nothing to worry about. For measure, I do a mixture of A and B roads and very little start/stop driving, with an occasional empty B-road antics.
If the things used more oil, they probably wouldn't need intervals as it'll be replaced by the time servicing came.
My R56 used a litre of 5W-30 Castrol over its last 5K, so I'd say its nothing to worry about. For measure, I do a mixture of A and B roads and very little start/stop driving, with an occasional empty B-road antics.
If the things used more oil, they probably wouldn't need intervals as it'll be replaced by the time servicing came.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Mini TLC does cover topups between services, dealer understanding of this seems quite variable.
I have never needed to top up our 2012 Cooper in almost 4 years and 41k miles.
Anyone?
Is Brodit my only/best option? The girlfriend isn't keen on windscreen mounts, and besides, the windscreen in the F5x is pretty far away from the driver.
Last edited:
Soldato
Oh dear! Was their much damage? Hopefully if it was a single cog, it might not be so out of timing that valves and pistons come together
Remember my Rover Metro GTI ( yes that long ago ) bent all the valves after the timing belt lost a few teeth ! Not best pleased and wasn`t particularly high mileage nor age reached for timing belt change. Fixed it all up myself and got rid toot sweet !
How can you struggle to see the value?! It was about 300 quid for 5 years servicing!
They've ruined it for cars registered from 2017 onwards but frankly anyone who didn't take advantage of it before then is nuts. It was a stunning deal.
Soldato
- Joined
- 10 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 3,615
Eastern tried to charge me for the brake fluid change during a TLC service, they were quick to remove it once I showed them the terms and conditions. I can only assume they were trying it on as I would have expected someone else to complain for being charge for the brake fluid as the TLC servicing has been running for years.
No idea yet, still waiting for the garage to get back to me. Fingers crossed it's not too bad...
Where do you find the terms & conditions for the TLC pack? Got one on ours abs various emails to Mini / dealer and no one can give a straight answer!
Mini even told me over email that if I drive the car over the service schedule they would no longer back the car warranty but wouldn't let me bring the car in for service until I had less than 500 miles on the clock so I had to be very careful about driving it within 1k if it's first service (also bearing in mind 3 weeks to book the car in for the service). Both the dealer and Mini were shocking about it!!
It's a September 2015 registered F56 Mini Cooper if that makes any difference.
Mini even told me over email that if I drive the car over the service schedule they would no longer back the car warranty but wouldn't let me bring the car in for service until I had less than 500 miles on the clock so I had to be very careful about driving it within 1k if it's first service (also bearing in mind 3 weeks to book the car in for the service). Both the dealer and Mini were shocking about it!!
It's a September 2015 registered F56 Mini Cooper if that makes any difference.
Soldato
Another absolutely glorious, if not frosty, day at Snetterton today, and once again the Mini behaved impeccably doing everything I asked of it and more for the entire day. I continue to be staggered at the ability of this car and how it can easily out perform much more powerful and/or fully track cars. And all the while whilst I've got my panaramic sunroof open, my climate control set, Spotify playing on the stereo and my heated seat on.
The new AD08R tyres were spectacular on the Mini and they really, really enabled me to get the most out of the car when they warmed up. I did start playing around with tyre pressures today, which I didn't do last time, and this will have helped a lot with the stability. The Mintex M1144 brakes pads are also incredible and took an absolute battering for 10-15 laps at a time, and didn't so much as show a hint of fade. It makes it all the more impressive considering I am running bog standard R56 cast iron brake calipers up front, with no brake cooling ducts or any other mods apart from slightly bigger discs, and completely standard rear discs and pads.
The first session out was very slippery and the track was pretty much white when we arrived. Up until about 11am it was difficult to go all out, but after lunch the track was completely dry, the crowd had thinned out a bit and it was all go, go, go. There was a nice variation of cars there, from the usual E36s, M3's, old stripped hot hatches, MX-5's to Ferraris, Ginettas and Caterhams. I was following an relatively standard looking E46 M3 (had CSL alloys and yellow 4 pot calipers) for several laps, and as I also have one of these I was interested to see what it could do compared to the Mini. Straight away I could see the strengths and weaknesses of it. On the mile straight he was slowly creeping away, pulling out about 6-7 car lengths on me, but come the end of it, I was all over him for the entire rest of the lap but couldn't overtake as it was too fast on the straights. I could tell the driver was pushing it as much as he could, from the noise and the odd flick of his rear end, but it got annoying after the third lap of just being nose to tail with him, with him finally relenting, letting me past and then within half a lap, he had disappeared into the traffic. The only place that the E46 M3 was faster was on the straights.
I had several people come over to find out about the Mini and what had been done to it etc with nice comments about how well it was going out on track against the other cars. So all in all, a wonderful day made better by the clean blue skies and sun all day long.
The new AD08R tyres were spectacular on the Mini and they really, really enabled me to get the most out of the car when they warmed up. I did start playing around with tyre pressures today, which I didn't do last time, and this will have helped a lot with the stability. The Mintex M1144 brakes pads are also incredible and took an absolute battering for 10-15 laps at a time, and didn't so much as show a hint of fade. It makes it all the more impressive considering I am running bog standard R56 cast iron brake calipers up front, with no brake cooling ducts or any other mods apart from slightly bigger discs, and completely standard rear discs and pads.
The first session out was very slippery and the track was pretty much white when we arrived. Up until about 11am it was difficult to go all out, but after lunch the track was completely dry, the crowd had thinned out a bit and it was all go, go, go. There was a nice variation of cars there, from the usual E36s, M3's, old stripped hot hatches, MX-5's to Ferraris, Ginettas and Caterhams. I was following an relatively standard looking E46 M3 (had CSL alloys and yellow 4 pot calipers) for several laps, and as I also have one of these I was interested to see what it could do compared to the Mini. Straight away I could see the strengths and weaknesses of it. On the mile straight he was slowly creeping away, pulling out about 6-7 car lengths on me, but come the end of it, I was all over him for the entire rest of the lap but couldn't overtake as it was too fast on the straights. I could tell the driver was pushing it as much as he could, from the noise and the odd flick of his rear end, but it got annoying after the third lap of just being nose to tail with him, with him finally relenting, letting me past and then within half a lap, he had disappeared into the traffic. The only place that the E46 M3 was faster was on the straights.
I had several people come over to find out about the Mini and what had been done to it etc with nice comments about how well it was going out on track against the other cars. So all in all, a wonderful day made better by the clean blue skies and sun all day long.
Last edited:
Soldato
The part is probably about £120, and labour a couple of hours?