1st Gen R53 Cooper S Engine overheating, spewing coolant

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by Gizmo, Mar 2, 2013.

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  1. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #61 Gizmo, Mar 16, 2013
    Have some updates for you all.

    Gizmo is running but still in diagnostic/recovery stage.

    Got the new camshaft gear this morning at 9am, came home and reinstalled the camshaft, rockers, gear, etc. Did a compression test and it all looked good. After some misc. headaches I went to Autozone and they loaned me an OBDII reader (good to know people) because Gizmo was throwing four codes. I charge the battery, restart the engine and all but P1498 go away. My PCV valve is damaged, it arrives Monday, I think there is a leak between the valve and the hose.

    The engine runs smoothly and I sat in the car for a few minutes, then the aux cooling fan kicks in and the temp doesn't rise, a minute later is slowly starts rising and I shut off the engine. So after bleeding air and filling with more coolant earlier in the day, I did it one more time and there still seemed to be some air in the coolant.

    I stopped working for the day, need to make sure I get out all of the air. I bled from the upper radiator hose and the bleed valve by the thermostat.

    Making progress.
     
  2. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #62 Gizmo, Mar 17, 2013
    I'm heading absolutely no heat with the temp on HI and full blast. Coolant gets to 235F then the aux cooling fan kicks on, same thing as last night, takes a minute or two then the temp slowly rises. I shut off the engine at 240F

    I drove it to try to push any more air in the system but I don't thing that did anything.

    Any suggestions? I'm letting the engine cool down now.
     
  3. Jason Montague

    Jason Montague New Member
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    #63 Jason Montague, Mar 17, 2013
    :cornut: My Margi,08 R56 BRG MCS/JCWm, when she had this happen, they replaced one of the engine computers(there are several on the R56),a blown head gasket , the thermostat,and the water pump. Then asked me whether I wanted to complain to MINIUSA. Heck no, I don't want to complain. She's fixed, right?:Thumbsup:

    Jason
     
  4. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #64 Gizmo, Mar 17, 2013
    I'm going to drop the car off at the mechanic tonight, I've tried everything I can.
     
  5. jhiggs26

    jhiggs26 New Member

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    #65 jhiggs26, Mar 18, 2013
    Heater core plugged up now? Did you have head pressure tested while it was off?

    Jeremy
     
  6. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #66 Gizmo, Mar 22, 2013
    Car has been in the shop and the water pump has failed as well as the drive on the supercharger. So the knocking I heard originally was the drive failing, it stopped (drive failed), then a few minutes later the engine overheated because the pump wasn't working.

    So last April I brought it to Helix and I paid over $2,000 to have a new water pump and supercharger installed. Only for it all the fail a year later, needless to say I am not happy at all. After not even 10K miles, both should not fail.
     
  7. Thumper460

    Thumper460 Active Member

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    #67 Thumper460, Mar 22, 2013
    Sorry for your pain!! I run the crap out of my 06 and , knock on wood, all is still right in the world. I also think there might be other issues to have a blower and water pump fail AGAIN!!

    Bummer.......................

    Thumper
     
  8. Jason Montague

    Jason Montague New Member
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    #68 Jason Montague, Mar 22, 2013
    :cornut: You're under a year so hopefully the manufactorer's warranty should cover the parts(I hope).:Thumbsup:

    Jason
     
  9. 1momini

    1momini New Member

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    #69 1momini, Mar 22, 2013
    What's failing in the supers? Bearings? Some kind of tension problem maybe?
     
  10. debscooper

    debscooper New Member

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    #70 debscooper, Mar 22, 2013
    Oh CRAP . . . It's even painful to read. :cryin:
     
  11. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #71 Gizmo, Mar 22, 2013
    Here's a picture of my supercharger gears. There was NO oil inside the gear chamber. After 17,000 miles, it should not be bone dry. So either the bolts were bolted down properly or they didn't fill it with oil.

    I am NOT happy.

    Here is the link for the company: Supercharger Technologies - Supercharger Rebuilder

    And this is the warranty... So even though they will send another rebuilt one they won't pay for labor on the repair. Which at this point could be $700+ for their issue.

    I wonder if they will pay for my brand new water pump that I bought for $126 from Way that is not faulty also.

    [​IMG]
     

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  12. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #72 Gizmo, Mar 22, 2013
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2013
    I just want my car backkkkk :cryin:
     
  13. 1momini

    1momini New Member

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    #73 1momini, Mar 22, 2013
    I don't think there was ever any oil in that. I would think the shavings would be gummy with oil. It looks dry as a bone.
    When I replaced my oil pan I check the oil in the sc it wasnt full but it didn't look that bad.
    I topped it off. Can't figure where it leaks to. no sign of a leak around it.
     
  14. jhiggs26

    jhiggs26 New Member

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    #74 jhiggs26, Mar 22, 2013
    Ouch sorry to see the damage. Your drive gear was not pressed on all the way either! It might have walked a bit back as the ball bearing in the end plate went dry but it looks like it started to wear not even pressed far enough on rotor shaft.

    Get that rebuild company to send you another one and make sure it's ass end is in mint shape with new oil seals/oil level up! Good luck.

    Jeremy
     
  15. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

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    #75 ZippyNH, Mar 25, 2013
    Yup..spotty reputaion, but cheap prices.
    Several different places have tried to use them....but the number of units that fail are high.....so they are pretty much relegated to direct to customer sales, and e-bay.
    There was a thread ...i think here and on NAM about this company...they take some shortcuts to save $$ and speed rebuilds...things like gluing in the water-pump PTO seals....rather than a full dissambly....
    Good Luck.....
    I can't blame you for being frustrated by this point.....
     
  16. eMINIparts

    eMINIparts Well-Known Member
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    #76 eMINIparts, Mar 25, 2013
    We will send good thoughts and well wishes your way John, Hope that Gizmo is back on the road tearing it up real soon!....
     
  17. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #77 Gizmo, Mar 25, 2013
    They are going to be sending a new one up my way soon (I frankly don't want another one of their products, but then I need to pay for yet another SC). The guy who called me pretty much didn't answer my questions about all the labor and now the broken water pump that their faulty product has caused me. At this point I'm just saying ****** it, I'll pay for it and just get over it. I just want my car back.
     
  18. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    #78 Metalman, Mar 25, 2013
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2013
    Have you considered just selling the replacement on Ebay and get a rebuilt from another source......
    If you need to go through this a third time with labor.... You aren't going to be a happy camper...
     
  19. Gizmo

    Gizmo New Member

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    #79 Gizmo, Mar 25, 2013
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2013
    I need to think about all this, I'll post updates when I have them.


    I just emailed Eric at Helix, expressing my frustration but there's nothing else anyone can really do. Why would he be obligated to help since this is the rebuilding companies fault so I have no grudge against Helix (have brought my car there many times with only one issue that was fixed at no charge). I mainly want to make sure no one else has to go through what I am going through with this as it is completely unacceptable.
     
  20. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

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    #80 BThayer23, Mar 26, 2013
    Sell the rebuilt unit on eBay and buy yourself a reman unit from MINI. I went through the exact same process last summer and ended up blowing up two rebuilt superchargers after driving around for a week each time. Finally I sucked it up and bought a remanufactured unit (for 4x the price of a rebuild!) and haven't had a problem since.

    MINI sells brand new superchargers and factory remanufactured units; you can get a good price on a factory reman unit (and a real warranty!) from some of the vendors online. Talk to Eric, see what his price he can get, and check IMBMParts.com. Jan from RMW found me a good price on my unit. You'll pay way more than the Supercharger Technologies rebuild price, but it won't fail.

    The reason the rebuilt units fail is tolerance stacking. To get it right, you have to assemble all the parts of the supercharger and measure the tolerances. Then you have to take it apart and swap in some parts that fit better, put it all back together again, and measure the ultimate tolerance again. Rinse and repeat till everything fits perfectly. The non-factory rebuilders just don't have enough parts available - many use used components from old superchargers. The factory reman units have huge parts bins to choose from, and it makes a difference. They also have the factory jigs to assemble everything properly. See discussion here: Tolerance analysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
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