Also known as: ep6, 1.6 thp, 1.6 vti, ep6dt, ep6cdt, ep6fdt, ep6cdtr, ep6fdtm, n12b16, n13b16, n14b16, n16b16, n18b16, n13, n18, prince engine, ep3, n18xfh, n14b16a, n18b16a, thp156, thp163, n12b14
A 1.4–1.6 litre all-aluminium four developed jointly by BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën, and the clearest case in the catalogue of one engine with two identities: PSA sells it as the EP6 in its THP and VTi forms, BMW as the N14, N18 and N13 in the MINI and 1 Series. A MINI Cooper S and a Peugeot 207 GTi share an engine, and a fault documented under one designation applies directly to the other. This entry carries no single designer for that reason.
The timing chain is the defining failure. Chain and tensioner wear produce a cold-start rattle and, left alone, jumped timing; the same engine's variable valve lift hardware on the naturally aspirated variants adds a second mechanism with overlapping symptoms, so a rough-running VTi is worth distinguishing from a rough-running THP before parts are ordered.
Carbon on the intake valves is heavy on the direct-injected turbo variants, and high-pressure fuel pump wear is common. Oil consumption is expected rather than exceptional — check level before diagnosing anything else, since low oil accelerates the chain problem that ends the engine.
Cars fitted with this engine
30 generations, across 8 makes. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.
Citroën
DS Automobiles
Fiat
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Posted about this engine
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about Prince (EP6 / N13).