Upside down on a 2005 Cooper S

George Bright · **Posted:** Tue May 10, 2011 9:12 pm

A neighbor of mine had one of her friends call me to ask what she could do about her 2005 Cooper S. She aparently did not know about timing belt maintenance. Some mechanic has pronounced the motor dead and I assume from what I can get from her the belt broke. She still owes $13K on the car and does not have the scratch to buy a used motor. The car has been sitting for about 2 months. I suggested that she work out some way to get a used motor in the car because a blown up Cooper S has not much resale value. Suggestions?

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Tue May 10, 2011 10:41 pm

i would rebuild the head and put it back together if it were my car.

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Tue May 10, 2011 11:13 pm

Don't they have a timing chain? If it's a non interference engine might not be too bad.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 6:39 am

It's a chain, but apparently the hydraulic tensioners sometimes go bad.... and it is a interference engine. - AB

Marty Howard · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 8:20 am

replacing the engine is a lot cheaper than buying a new car...

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

I'd be really surprised if there was bottom end damage significant enough to require replacement of the block. Usually you'll just get some marks/scoring on the pistons from valve contact unless the chain jumped at significant engine speed.

I'd suggest finding a good indie mechanic who is willing to do some more diagnostics than "needs new engine". Have someone scope the tops of the pistons. Unless there are valve chunks inside the combustion chamber, I bet the car just needs a new head. It's an old car at this point and will work fine with superficial damage on the tops of the pistons. If the valves broke and damaged the cylinder walls, then it's toast.

Best case scenario is $250-500 for a used head on car-part.com, and about $500 in labor to swap. Again it's all about finding a decent indie mechanic.

Just letting the car sit for months is the worst thing to do as it's depreciating as it rots away.

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 9:23 am

George Bright wrote:

A neighbor of mine had one of her friends call me to ask what she could do about her 2005 Cooper S. She aparently did not know about timing belt maintenance. Some mechanic has pronounced the motor dead and I assume from what I can get from her the belt broke. She still owes $13K on the car and does not have the scratch to buy a used motor. The car has been sitting for about 2 months. I suggested that she work out some way to get a used motor in the car because a blown up Cooper S has not much resale value. Suggestions?

What others said. Fix it. She can't sell the car for $13K in good working order, so she loses less money fixing it than she does selling it.

Alternatively, mail the keys to the bank, and call it a day. The next car should be one that she can afford.

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 4:13 pm

give her this guys info:

http://grassrootsgarage.com/

He usually has lots of used stuff sitting around from people putting on polished heads and such.

TomFreeman · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 4:28 pm

scottjohnson wrote:

Alternatively, mail the keys to the bank, and call it a day. The next car should be one that she can afford.

And the "Sensitive to the plight of others" award goes to...

George Bright · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2011 6:58 pm

This lady has found an used engine as cheap as $1500. She wants a mechanic that will let her pay on the installment plan. She thought could walk a way from it and let the car get repo'd. I told her she better check with her lender because she probably would still owe on the car after it was wholsaled. Not to mention the damage to her credit.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Thu May 12, 2011 7:43 am

George, when the timing belt broke on my old Mitsubishi (interference engine) the only damage wasmto the valves. Find someone to replace the head for her. Or pull the head and have the bent valves replaced.

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Tue May 17, 2011 11:47 pm

The first step needs to be to pull the head off to find the extent of the damage

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

How many miles on the car? Is she the original owner? Does the owner's manual call for servicing the timing chain or tensioners? If the mileage isn't too high and servicing the tensioners or timing chains isn't called for at the car's current mileage, then I think it's worth contacting the manufacturer for some help - perhaps there's an unpublished tsb or assistance program for this problem.

George Bright · **Posted:** Fri May 20, 2011 5:25 pm

The car has about 70k on it. There are 2 problems with the owner. She is a flake and has no money.

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Upside down on a 2005 Cooper S

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