2009 MINI Clubman S

[Willie_B]

Well, there goes the gas mileage now that it is really fun to drive again.

[MiniDave]

Pretty much, the dealer had told me the turbo was probably bad but I thought better......

And yes WillieB, I'll bet it drops like a rock, cause I'm on the loud pedal a lot more! Before I was hypermiling it in essesnce so it wouldn't throw the code.

We'll see what it does when I tow the classic, I don't think it made a big difference on Bruce's '02 when we towed his classic to Sandy Ego last summer......

[MiniDave]

I didn't update this thread after our Texas trip, but my average MPG for that trip was about 27.5, not bad IMHO!

The blue Clubby still runs perfectly tho now that I'm not dragging a Mini behind it the fuel mileage has gone back to what it used to be, right around 30-31 average. EPA says 34 hiway 28 city, but the only time I can get 34 is driving 65, anything above it drops back to around 30. On a run to Colorado one time before, at 80+ it drops back even more.......

The next run I make will be to Elkhart lake next month for the Vintage car races, then in the fall I may drag the RG down behind it on our run to Cuba......I may just drive the RG too, dunno right now.

[MiniDave]

Getting ready for the upcoming CMU 59 event next week, I dug out the trailer lights and hooked them up to the Clubby - those on our Texas trip know that I had issues with them on that trip too, and I thought the problem was just with the connector, but now I'm convinced it's something to do with the PWM converter box. I hooked the light bar up to the Audi and it works perfectly, on the Clubby the left side works fine while the right tail light comes on all the time and the stop and turn don't work at all.

Since time is short for this event before I tore into it I decided to just buy a new box, this one is made by Hopkins rather than the last one I installed by Curt, I had ordered that one when I bought the hitch from Curt. This difference in quality is apparent, especially on the end the trailer lights hook into where it has an led to show if the box is operating correctly. I always thought the one by Curt was really cheesy cheap at the end connection - it looked more Harbor Freight than proud American company The rest is in a sealed box, so no way to tell but this one is advertised as "professional grade" for whatever that's worth - they still send scotchlocks to wire it to the car (which I don't use - I solder or use sealed crimp on connectors on all my connections).

One thing I'm curious about, they don't list the input amperage tho they do limit the output to 8 amps per circuit - since I'm using LEDs I don't have to worry about that....but they supply a 20 amp fused circuit and a long #10 wire that they want you to hook to the battery. I'm not keen on running a wire all thru the car so on Mike Playle's suggestion, I took power from the cigarette lighter socket near where I mounted the box - the question is, does it need this heavy power supply from the battery? They claim it's to separate the box from the vehicle's power supply, but I figure as long as it's 12V and enough amps (cig lighters are usually fused 30A) it shouldn't matter?

[MPlayle]

Several years ago when I had a 2008 Clubman S and put a hitch and lighting kit on it, I had a similar issue with the PWM lighting module.  Mine was also from Curt.  It bulged and split from internal heat expansion.  They provided a free replacement module.

The replacement was still working fine when I traded that car in on something else.

I never had any issues with powering the module from the back of the rear power outlet.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's going to turn out to be the box....I probably shouldn't have waited so long as it quit working on the way down to Texas.....I probably could have gotten them to replace mine rather than spending money for another.

[BruceK]

On the trailer lights module wiring on my MINI I used a power line directly to the battery - an advantage of the battery location of an R53 - but I used only a 10A fuse.   Works great.   So I think you should be fine.

[MiniDave]

Well, I figured out what's wrong with the my tow lights, I either misunderstood the wiring instructions that came with the Curt module, or I'm just a dunce, but one wire was installed wrong, it's a wonder they worked at all! At any rate, I'll be installing the new one since I have it and the old one is out already and to be sure they are working correctly this time - but I wouldn't be surprised but that the old one will still work fine....so I'll have a spare I guess.

One thing I've noticed, the Blue Clubby is starting to go thru some oil, I'm going to have to keep a weather eye on it in the future. It's not leaked a drop since I bought it, but at 76K even tho I don't see any blue smoke, I think it's using about a quart every 1000 now.......

80* when I went to bed last night 36* this am, and it's still dropping.....

[MiniDave]

All righty then, fresh oil and filter, new plugs and air filter - need a new cabin filter tho. Got the slow leak in the left front tire fixed, and now the trailer lights work correctly too. I think the Clubby is ready for the trip, now to just tidy up a few last things on the green Mini and I'm ready for the road.

The problem with the trailer lights was the instructions said on PWM cars do not attach the brown wire to the taillights - so I didn't. However, further down in small print it said to be sure to hook the brown wire to the side marker or license plate lights on PWM cars......oops, missed that before.  :-[

[MiniDave]

Well, I did close to 2000 miles towing the Classic Mini to Tennessee and back with absolutely no issues.......gotta love a new MINI.

Averaged 27.1 mpg, not bad. Average speed for the whole trip was 61.9 mph.

[MiniDave]

Took the Clubman S down to the dealer last night so they could do a cold start up, awaiting the call back to see what they think is wrong. I changed the coolant and flushed the brakes to get ready for my Colorado trip this weekend, and when I started the engine - well it sounded nasty. I'm thinking timing chain - again.

This will be it's third one, and I thought the replacement kit they came up with (and put in my car) was the end of t-chain problems in the N14 engines...apparently it isn't. Of course, it could be something else - something even MORE expensive!

If it is the timing chain I'll have them go ahead and replace it as I don't have the time or inclination to DIY it with the trip only a couple days away, then I'll argue about paying for it. My understanding is it's a $2K job, but I don't know that I can expect a freebie at 10 years old and 85K miles....even tho they replaced it at 50K. Seems like it ought to last longer than 35K!

[MiniDave]

Well, $800 later, turns out it wasn't the timing chain, but the water pump. Better to get it fixed now than on the road to Colorado across a steaming hot Kansas. The real pisser (besides the $437 pump) was I just changed the coolant the night before, and they charged me $24 for new juice!

At least they wash and vac it out - it needed it badly!

[Willie_B]

Your luck on less expensive repairs continues.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, lucky me........lucky, lucky, lucky.


;D

[MiniDave]

Yeah, I'm not worried.....this has been a great car in spite of my grousing!

So far in 10 years and 86K miles.....1 new timing chain (under warranty), 1 new thermostat (under warranty) 1 valve cleaning (done by me), 1 set of brake pads and rotors, 3 sets of tires and a bunch of oil and filter changes. 1 new battery, a couple of air filters and cabin filters. Now add one water pump.....that's been it.

See you all in just a few days now.   77.gif

[MiniDave]

This car has been so reliable that when it does have a problem it's always a surprise.....bad water pump last month not withstanding.

So today I was coming back from Vicky Brits and took my favorite roundabout onramp and gave it the beans - immediately felt it drop a cylinder. I limped it home about another 4 miles and pulled into the drive and opened the hood to let it cool off. Went in and got my code reader and found a misfire on cylinder 4. Dug around for a while and found the old set of plugs I had changed around 60K and swapped one into cyl 4 - no joy. So I knew either a bad coil pack or something REALLY expensive.

The last check I could do in the drive was to swap coil packs from #3 to #4, it still had the miss of course so I drove it around the block to make sure it would set the code, which it did. Problem moved to cylinder 3. So, good news of a sort - failed coil pack. I checked online and can get them 4 for about $100, but I'll call the dealer and see if they have a recall on these, and if not what they'll charge for one (I'm betting about $100 for one!)

The reason I mention recall is that VW-Audi had a massive recall on their Bosch coil packs, but a little research shows these were supplied by Delphi, so maybe not.

Edit: Real Oem says $57 each from dealer. We'll see.

[MPlayle]

I would recommend going ahead and replacing all 4 coil-packs.  If one has finally aged enough to go, the other three may not be far behind.

[MiniDave]

Called the dealer this AM, as expected they want $85 plus tax for one. Amazon has the OEM Delphi ones for $25 ea, delivery today on Prime, so I ordered two - one for a spare.....we'll see when it gets here.

Edit: I didn't get my parts ordered thru Prime, so normal free shipping means I won't see it till Sat. Weird that if I were on Prime I could have had it today.....not really a problem as I have other cars I can drive.

[jeff10049]

you'll be good no need to replace them all as my experience is there is no age, mileage, or other reason they fail you may never replace another one.  I maintain a number of these cars for customers and have only replaced two on different cars. Neither car has lost another one both replacements are now over two years old.

[MiniDave]

That was pretty much my thinking too, but when it happens it's a little disconcerting and definitely not good on the cats, so having my little cheap code reader and a spare in the car seems like just good prep for a higher mileage car - plus I like to go to the far away Mini events - the next one is in Virginia, about 14 hours drive from here. I don't want to get way-laid while towing, although I guess if my classic is behind me I always have a "spare" - car!   ;D

[MiniDave]

All righty then, the new coil pack came in, installation took less time than to open the hood, and of course it runs smooth as buttah now. I'm glad when it's an easy fix like this, and not too spendy.

I'll put the spare in the boot under the floor where the tool kit, extra quart of oil and flashlight live.

[MiniDave]

I noticed a noise in the left front that kept getting worse and worse as I drove, I was sure it was the left front wheel bearing so  I ordered a set of them off Amazon. I normally only use OEM factory parts on this car, but the dealer wanted $200 for one bearing/hub and I got two complete ones off amazon for $91 shipped, plus no sales tax!

Today I organized some room in the shop and Don and I got the car in and got ready to rear it down......ruhroh.

Turns out my bad bearing was a loose left front wheel.

The last time I messed with the wheels and tires was when I rotated them for the trip in early October to Virginia and North Carolina.....all the others were torqued properly, so all I can think is that I snugged them up and got distracted and didn't torque that one.

A 5 minute fix and I can send the bearings back at no shipping cost by dropping them off at Kohls.

I also went over to the BatCave and picked up the Racing Green classic, so when the Audi comes back on Tues from the shop ($1500 lighter in the wallet) we'll be back to full strength again car wise.

[jeff10049]

just did the plugs on the countryman S hard to believe we already have almost 100k on that car. One coil didn't want to budge and when it did half the coil boot stayed on the plug. No one seems to list a boot but local parts store had OEM coil in stock for about $40.00 so I took that I now have a spare provided I can salvage a boot if/when needed.

I'm thinking I should pull the intake and check out the intake valve build up next I have the stuff to walnut blast for customer cars but I've never seen one that we maintain be bad enough to need it. 

Cars that go 10k or even longer on oil changes and/or go to the quick lube and get shit quality oil is another story.

Using Mobile one in these cars regardless of change interval seems to clog up the intake valves quickly from what we have seen. Not saying its bad oil just might not be a good choice for direct-injected minis. Makes more oil Vapor maybe? I ran it once in ours when I couldn't get the Castrol and I sure could smell it (oil vapor smell) when hot thought I spilled some on the exhaust or something but didn't go away until I changed it back to Castrol.

[MiniDave]

I run Mobil 1, what Castrol do you run?

[jeff10049]

I use the full synthetic 5/30w. If I recall you cleaned your valves once and they were not too bad so the Mobil 1 might be doing fine for you. There does seem to be a correlation between intake deposits and Mobil 1 with our customers but local climate/fuel combined with Mobil 1 might also play a role it's just something I have noticed.
Do you smell hot oil smells or if you think you are getting more intake deposits than normal. If so you might try Castrol or another quality brand like royal purple, red line, schaffers, etc.

I have other reasons to question Mobil 1 quality but not conclusive enough to really post about but I'll put my 2 cents in. I think it's a fair quality oil marketed as great quality oil. I don't think it's bad just not great I just recently took apart an engine in a customers mini that runs Mobil 1 because he buys it at Costco and brings it in for us to put in his car changed every 5k it was more sludged up than it should be I'll take a few pictures of the rockers Monday.   

Per the recommendation of the manufacturer we were running Mobil 1 in our shop air compressors, we had issues with air tools not working the air motor vanes were stuck in the rotor with a very sticky thick layer of what I'm going to compare to a polymerized oil film (similar to whats on the intake valves) maybe it is I'm not a chemist.  we cleaned them they were fine for a while and happened again. keep i mind the compressors don't go through abnormal amounts of oil we get a little out of the tank when draining water but the same as any compressor.
After the second round of sticking tools I changed the compressors to royal purple and the problem went away. But it's an air compressor, not a car engine so maybe that's not relevant but I think it has to do with how well it handles heat. Our compressors sometimes run really hot for extended periods that was the original reason for the manufacture telling us to switch to Mobil 1. The Dinosaur oil was burning the burning smell went away with mobil 1 but the sticky residue started. royal purple seems to have stopped all the issues I might try Castrol at the next change.