2008 MINI One no compression cylinder 1
Discussion
Morning, so my daughter’s MINI One broke down at the weekend got towed and has been diagnosed as having only 15psi in cylinder one.
Garage suggesting not financially viable and I think I agree, however thought I’d check for any wisdom here.
It’s a 2008 car with 97,000 miles on it. We bought it 4 months ago and it’s been great until last weekend. It was just over a grand and I’ve spent nothing on it. I’m not capable of anything that complicated as a DIY job and not sure I want to spend at least that much again.
So, what’s the view - scrap it? Think would get £3-350 for it. Don’t want to strip for parts as a yellow mini in bits on the drive isn’t a look my wife would go for.
Clearly, not ideal losing several hundred quid right now but that’s the risk of cheap old cars I guess?
Garage suggesting not financially viable and I think I agree, however thought I’d check for any wisdom here.
It’s a 2008 car with 97,000 miles on it. We bought it 4 months ago and it’s been great until last weekend. It was just over a grand and I’ve spent nothing on it. I’m not capable of anything that complicated as a DIY job and not sure I want to spend at least that much again.
So, what’s the view - scrap it? Think would get £3-350 for it. Don’t want to strip for parts as a yellow mini in bits on the drive isn’t a look my wife would go for.
Clearly, not ideal losing several hundred quid right now but that’s the risk of cheap old cars I guess?
Harleyboy said:
Morning, so my daughter’s MINI One broke down at the weekend got towed and has been diagnosed as having only 15psi in cylinder one.
Garage suggesting not financially viable and I think I agree, however thought I’d check for any wisdom here.
It’s a 2008 car with 97,000 miles on it. We bought it 4 months ago and it’s been great until last weekend. It was just over a grand and I’ve spent nothing on it. I’m not capable of anything that complicated as a DIY job and not sure I want to spend at least that much again.
So, what’s the view - scrap it? Think would get £3-350 for it. Don’t want to strip for parts as a yellow mini in bits on the drive isn’t a look my wife would go for.
Clearly, not ideal losing several hundred quid right now but that’s the risk of cheap old cars I guess?
Has any diagnosis been done ? what are common failures ?Garage suggesting not financially viable and I think I agree, however thought I’d check for any wisdom here.
It’s a 2008 car with 97,000 miles on it. We bought it 4 months ago and it’s been great until last weekend. It was just over a grand and I’ve spent nothing on it. I’m not capable of anything that complicated as a DIY job and not sure I want to spend at least that much again.
So, what’s the view - scrap it? Think would get £3-350 for it. Don’t want to strip for parts as a yellow mini in bits on the drive isn’t a look my wife would go for.
Clearly, not ideal losing several hundred quid right now but that’s the risk of cheap old cars I guess?
Given what you paid for it though, might just be as handy to cut your losses, sell it for what you can and aim for something a bit more reliable
Rather than scrap, maybe advertise first as parts or repair ? instead of just seeking basic scrap value ?
I'd have thought a few minutes doing a leakdown test and sticking an endoscope into the bore would be worth while just to give you a sense of what type of problem you've got.
But given the value of the car it probably doesn't owe you anything and you could expect to replace it with a similar-but-unbroken car for less than the cost of repairing it.
But given the value of the car it probably doesn't owe you anything and you could expect to replace it with a similar-but-unbroken car for less than the cost of repairing it.
Thanks all, it’s that age old quandary, do I spend to fix this old cheap car or spend a couple of grand on another old cheap car that might be equally likely to go wrong.
I might look at an engine change; my garage suggested around £500 to swap it and I’m guessing a few hundred for a used (and risky) engine. (Thanks for the link)
Could be worth an ad as spares/repair and see whether I could get back £5-600.
More weekend pondering required.
Cheers
I might look at an engine change; my garage suggested around £500 to swap it and I’m guessing a few hundred for a used (and risky) engine. (Thanks for the link)
Could be worth an ad as spares/repair and see whether I could get back £5-600.
More weekend pondering required.
Cheers
I’d check used prices for these. We are just looking to move a 2008 Cooper on and Autotrader and Gumtree indicate £2k + as the going rate. I’m not sure it’s achievable but the market is a bit stupid at the moment so there might be value in fixing it if the suspension and gearbox are ok?
So, engine prices are higher than I was expecting with used ones selling for £7-900 and some EBay sellers offering a recon engine fitted for £1500. So it could stand me in at about £2500 if I went this route.
These cars seem to be worth a couple of grand. Ours was cheap because ‘lost’ service history (good MOT history tho) and poorly repaired drivers door.
I think I’ll get the garage to look it over (was
Booked for MOT and service yesterday!) to see if the rest of the car is decent before I decide what to do. Also, as suggested, it seems some sold spares/repair can go for £500+.
My daughter is really attached to it and because I’m a soft Dad, I’m wondering if I fix it.
These cars seem to be worth a couple of grand. Ours was cheap because ‘lost’ service history (good MOT history tho) and poorly repaired drivers door.
I think I’ll get the garage to look it over (was
Booked for MOT and service yesterday!) to see if the rest of the car is decent before I decide what to do. Also, as suggested, it seems some sold spares/repair can go for £500+.
My daughter is really attached to it and because I’m a soft Dad, I’m wondering if I fix it.
SystemOfAFrown said:
Burnt valves are pretty common on these due to carbon build up.
Possible. Generally burnt valves tend to give no compression, but 15psi is within the realms of possible.A running compression test with a pulse sensor in the intake manifold would confirm 100% if the leak is past one of the intake valves ( or test with pulse sensor in exhaust for exhaust side )
Or even a smoke test pumping smoke into the cylinders with valves shut, should highlight any escape routes when there should not be
Cheers guys, appreciate the input. I guess that regardless of what might be wrong the costs involved to strip the engine and repair it might add up to cost of a replacement engine. I’ll talk to the garage again - I’m not in a massive rush as my daughter is using her sister’s Polo.
I can’t now not see MINI’s for sale as spares/repair that don’t have a lack of compression on one cylinder! But, MINI sold thousands and there are plenty still going strong with 150k on them.
We could be £2500 into a car that if we replaced it, might only cost £2000. But that is into another unknown car...
I can’t now not see MINI’s for sale as spares/repair that don’t have a lack of compression on one cylinder! But, MINI sold thousands and there are plenty still going strong with 150k on them.
We could be £2500 into a car that if we replaced it, might only cost £2000. But that is into another unknown car...
Again, pretty much anything is fixable. But it will boil down to you finding a competent and reliable garage to diagnose and repair. That by far will be the hardest part.
It should be very easy to get a better diagnosis as to exactly where the problem lies/compression is lost. If indeed it is a burnt valve, then it should be a relatively easy case of pull the head off and fix/repair as necessary and job should be a good one.
Including establishing the reason for the failure and any remedial action required there.
If as so many tales here go, you go to a garage and they're incompetent scammers......often the OP ends up with no car, no engine, and a huge bill.
It should be very easy to get a better diagnosis as to exactly where the problem lies/compression is lost. If indeed it is a burnt valve, then it should be a relatively easy case of pull the head off and fix/repair as necessary and job should be a good one.
Including establishing the reason for the failure and any remedial action required there.
If as so many tales here go, you go to a garage and they're incompetent scammers......often the OP ends up with no car, no engine, and a huge bill.
stevieturbo said:
SystemOfAFrown said:
Burnt valves are pretty common on these due to carbon build up.
Possible. Generally burnt valves tend to give no compression, but 15psi is within the realms of possible.A running compression test with a pulse sensor in the intake manifold would confirm 100% if the leak is past one of the intake valves ( or test with pulse sensor in exhaust for exhaust side )
Or even a smoke test pumping smoke into the cylinders with valves shut, should highlight any escape routes when there should not be
putting a random used motor in it can lead to further misery, those can still be junk, a 30day guarantee won't help you much when you still have to argue it and pay to take the thing back out again, plus fitting an alternative, so it's a bad option when relying on garages to do the work,
imo repair yours, rebuild theirs, or scrap it
quite common for valve seats to come loose, so it can be a head repair, but if it were that it'd depend on whether the seat had broken up, as some damage can be done,
imo repair yours, rebuild theirs, or scrap it
quite common for valve seats to come loose, so it can be a head repair, but if it were that it'd depend on whether the seat had broken up, as some damage can be done,
Its not the removal and reftitting, its the swapping everything over that takes the time, then buying new gaskets and still having to hope it runs ok, I think the last Mini engine we did took 2 days from start to finish, so your in for 16 hours plus the cost of the engine, then while its out it makes sense to swap the clutch over, replace lower arms and bushes while the subframe is off, then wheel alignment when its all back together, then we ask they come back in a few weeks to check everything over.
Its just not worth it.
Its just not worth it.
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