Engine Died on Highway

[minidiver]

The engine in TAZ died Sunday on the highway and would not even crank. After Wanda had it towed to a dealer in North Carolina, they found it had broken the cam gear. The service writer told me on the phone that this was probably related to the cold start noisy clatter problem some R56 Minis have. They have to order a new engine for TAZ. They will ship the car back to us after the repair.

Has anyone heard about this happening to other cars?

[kylej]

Yes, this isn't the first time I've heard about cam and cam chain tensioner issues associated with the multiple versions of "fixes" for the cold start chatter issue. Makes me a bit worried now that mine is making the sounds every now and then since my last oil change recently.

Sorry that happened to you, especially while out of town.

[justaz]

I am home now, but my TAZ is at Flow Mini in Winston Salem, NC It was really hard to find a car rental place that would allow me to rent 1 way to get home. I have to say that MINI Road Side service has been wonderful. They did all the work for me. I had to go to another city to an airport to pick up the car and Flow Mini drove myself and my friend to pick up the car. I had never had to use them, and did not know exactly what they would offer me. It is: $1000.00 toward your trip home if it is a trip interruption. That included my food, lodging, and car rental. Of course, Taz is still under warranty. Now I am arguing with them about a loaner car. They only want to get me a loaner for 5 days and only pay $35.00 per day. But my car will be gone for almost 2 weeks. I will continue the phone calls tomorrow to see if I can get transportation.
There was no warning, I was on a off ramp from highway to another highway. If it had not been downhill, I might not have had time to get it pulled over. I did call 911 to get a policeman to stay behind me as I was on a very busy exit ramp.
The blessing in all this was that I was on highway 40 and only about 5 miles from the dealership. North Carolina only has 2 dealerships, and one was right there. I could have been anywhere else and right on the highway when it stopped. I feel truly lucky about the whole thing. I will keep you all posted on the saga of Taz's stay in North Carolina.
Wanda

[minidiver]

Taz talked to the dealership, Flow Mini, Friday morning and was told they were waiting for the Mini rep to get back to them on if they should repair or replace the engine and they had not even started any repair.

Late Friday afternoon the dealership called Taz and told her they had a new engine come in for her car and they thought it would be done the first of next week.

Hopefully this is good news.

[MINI Fireman]

If you need any help I have a friend who works at at Flow MINI.

[justaz]

I am going to call them tomorrow. I would love to have my car back before the weekend. I don't see any reason why not, but you never know. Thanks for the offer. If you have any way to get the engine install people to work faster I would appreciate it. Wanda

[justaz]

Hopefully this will be the last post in the saga of the engine that died on the highway. My Mini should be on the road now, and will arrive at my house in the morning. It will seem like a new Mini, as I will have the break in period that I did not have when I bought it because it was driven by John Collins first. i will leave here on Sunday with my Mini for a week in Alabama if all checks out after Mike gives it a once over.
Wanda

[glmini]

Good to hear that soon you will no longer be MINIless, that is a hard thing to take.

[justaz]

Taz is home and all well. Now, if I could only get over this virus. I still do not have a voice, but Taz is purring fine. I will get well myself. Wanda