Engine Drivetrain 1st Gen Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Machined a low cost bolt on kit to refill the supercharger oil w/o removal or mods

  1. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

    May 29, 2009
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    Welcome to M/A! :Thumbsup:

    Nice, informative post! :cornut: We Gen 1 MCS owners appreciate these things!
     
  2. drabdub

    drabdub Well-Known Member

    Oct 22, 2009
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    interesting. do you have the link to get one?
     
  3. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    I don't have a R53, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn once....:beer


    "If your interested in trying out the kit its for sale at
    MBKperformance.com"
     
  4. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad Club Coordinator

    May 19, 2009
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    Seems like something that should have been thought of long ago...
     
  5. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Welcome to a new forum sponsor. :)
     
  6. drabdub

    drabdub Well-Known Member

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    i know it was a hard day at work yesterday but i cant believe i missed that :mad2:
     
  7. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    No problem.... We're here for you....:Thumbsup:
     
  8. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    This is not needed just like a belt tensioner stop.

    The bearings and gears either fail or they don't. No amount of changing the oil in the SC will help if they are set incorrectly which is what causes them to fail in the end.

    I am still on the same 12 year old SC and Oil for 100K now with no issues with a 15% pulley. Also have a new SC on the shelf for when the Original fails.
     
  9. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Oh no Dave, you have jinxed yourself.
     
  10. The_R1_Kid

    The_R1_Kid New Member
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    I wont argue but this is what happens when the PTO goes dry. with that kit you can keep the supercharger oil at the correct level and prevent the PTO and nose from going dry. Negating the need for an extra supercharger or a rebuild.. or a breakdown in the first place. I'd say the kit is a lot cheaper than all of those scenarios
    broken small_zpsa1zplshk.jpg
     
  11. Canusrufis

    Canusrufis RMW Powered R53
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    Nov 27, 2013
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    NICE! And encouraging given the HP you have on the mistress Dave. I'm hoping to keep mine going, saving $$$ for RMW kit w/ TVS.
     
  12. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Yeah the gear and bearings failed and lost all the fluid. So adding or changing the oil would have done no good at all. It would be like putting oil is a car without putting the drain plug back in the pan. Your kit does nothing to prevent the leak from happening which is how you get the above picture.

    Like I said, this product is worthless just like a belt tensioner stop.
     
  13. The_R1_Kid

    The_R1_Kid New Member
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    What caused the gear and or bearing to fail?
    Where does the fluid go?
    Does the fluid the fluid drain out quickly, or is it a slow loss?
     
  14. BlwnAway

    BlwnAway Well-Known Member

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    Sorry Dave but this is backwards, the gears and bearings fail because of loss of oil, the oil seeps through rotor shaft seals of the S/C, as they wear with millage, into the rotor pack itself and is simply burned off through the intake system.
    So keeping the W/P gear housing level full, will prolong the life of those gears and bearings. But only until the seals are so bad that they aren't working at all, so us, this is a life extender not a fix, but the extension should be comfortable enough to warrant the cost of the kit.
    Honestly my only concern would be the hoses coming off.
     
  15. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Look either way you say it the bearings and seals are not life time parts. They all fail in time. This is a mod for a 13 year old supercharger at best and is a waste of money. If this was out when the car came out it would be a great idea but now, not so much.

    Almost all of us have a pulley on our SC's which causes the heat in the Eaton to degrade everything faster even with a 15% pulley. Not to mention a 17% or silly 19% pulley. Things fail on a 13 year old SC it just part of owning a modified car.
     
  16. jeffster06

    jeffster06 Active Member

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    I'll one up you mine is 11 years old almost 170k and have had a 15% pulley on it since 65k. I checked the fluid while doing my water pump around 90k and it was still full on the PTO side. added a splash of oil for what dribbled out.

    I'm with you Dave if its gonna fail it will fail and no amount of changing the oil will stop it.
     
  17. clifforddward

    clifforddward Active Member

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    I'm with Dave.O on this one.

    I recently swapped out the S/C on my 120k mile R53....the seals were still good with plenty of oil at both ends but the nose bearing was shot. Factory installed bearings...they had simply worn out. I had installed a "Recharger" adapter on my S/C which allows for drain and refill of S/C oil but my failure mode had nothing to do with oil so that device proved a non-starter for me. I did not re-install it when I swapped out my SuperCharger.

    Mine is a street driven car so I'm not at high RPM for extended periods....therefore I run a 17% pulley. I am not trying to kid myself, however, I'm constantly running the S/C at higher RPM than designed for...therefore I anticipate less S/C life than a factory built car. But swapping out the unit is not that difficult, and is easily accomplished during a weekend for anyone who works on their Mini.

    I won't fault anyone who decides to use this mod, its just not for me...I worry a bit about those soft filler and drain lines in the engine compartment (The "Recharger" was a hard line device), and how to keep them from being damaged and sealed....Hopefully the creator has addressed that and provides good instructions for routing of lines and sealing off of the tubing ends.
     
  18. BlwnAway

    BlwnAway Well-Known Member

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    I'm actually in partial agreement, if the seal failure was quick or immediate, then yes it really wouldn't be worth having, but since it takes time for the oil to seep out (I think I got 30k from the time mine started making noise until I was worried about driving it) this just may help extend the life of some gear sets, or at least give someone extra time to determine if they should fix or sell the car.
    Honestly, if the kit is inexpensive enough and/or you're going to have the car apart to that extent, it really wouldn't be that bad of an idea.
    Hell once you install it, the actual maintenance part would only take a few min and not really cost much considering how little oil is actually used.
    At least this is something that is available for people who may want it, and yes it would have been nice if someone would have done this 5 or 6 years ago, it would have been much more viable then.
     
  19. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    #20 Crashton, Mar 7, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2017
    Duplicate post. Doh!
     
  20. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Could this kit be used to inject sea-foam into a turbo?

    hot_turbo_zpsadd4tl8z.jpg