r/MINI • u/mvdorssen • 18h ago

Metal rattle on cold starts

My Mini Clubman 1.5 makes a metal rattling sound on cold starts (only when cranking, sounds and runs great after). The starts after the first cold start are normal. The car also shakes/vibrates when cranking. Could it be the engine mounts?

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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3

u/Jdanois 18h ago

Take a look at your engine mount to see if it has collapsed. Then, take a look at those A/C lines to make sure the white plastic retaining clips haven't broken off. If they have, your A/C lines will rattle against that top metal cross bar.

0

u/MrJimBusiness- 14h ago edited 10h ago

While I agree those AC lines could be loose, they only vibrate with compressor operation as they are rubber hoses between the hard lines and the compressor / engine. Plus this noise is way too loud and I believe it's coming from the other side actually. VANOS actuators. You can find similar videos on YouTube. There's a DME flash that can fix the extra noise after start up.

Hilarious to get downvoted for literally the correct fix for this noise. This subreddit is so fkn stupid sometimes. Go do a simple YouTube search and you'll find many videos of this exact noise on the B38 coming from the VANOS actuators. The fix is a DME flash from the dealer.

Examples, see comments or descriptions talking about the fix:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ty8r7EPXqxc?si=kDJ8ESsnZdVla2jG

https://youtu.be/1DSivpwUNLg?si=glQ7g1mUpxfmGkDB

The TSB cited mentions wastegate noise but there's no way that's this noise. Way too loud and it's the wrong pitch.

1

u/MrJimBusiness- 14h ago edited 10h ago

There's a DME flash from the dealer that can fix some of this VANOS actuator noise. It won't affect the one right on firing up but it'll apparently get rid of the extra knocking once the engine is running. This is for the B38 like you have.

Examples, see comments or descriptions talking about the fix:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ty8r7EPXqxc?si=kDJ8ESsnZdVla2jG

https://youtu.be/1DSivpwUNLg?si=glQ7g1mUpxfmGkDB

The TSB cited mentions wastegate noise but there’s no way that’s this noise. Way too loud and it’s the wrong pitch. Either way, the dealer flash should fix this.

1

u/MrJimBusiness- 14h ago

Also the notorious engine mount looks fine from your video but I can't tell for sure without a direct side shot of it. It's easy to tell if it's sagging and if it's lost fluid down the side of the mount. Just look at it right behind the headlight from the side of the car.

-1

u/Fit_Refrigerator_504 11h ago

Turbo.

2

u/MrJimBusiness- 10h ago

Wastegate rattle is not this loud. It's more of a ringing noise not a loud rattle or tapping.