1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Oil Leaks, Superchargers, etc.

  1. bee1000

    bee1000 New Member

    Dec 23, 2009
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    Wow!
     
  2. Nitrominis

    Nitrominis Banned

    May 9, 2009
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    Santa Cruz, CA
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    Nice write up! :Thumbsup:

    I like the last picture with semi clean toes! :lol:
     
  3. imspencerwithanr53

    imspencerwithanr53 New Member

    May 27, 2009
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    Portland, OR
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    Props to working shoeless. I bet it's nice being in warm weather :lol:
     
  4. Boxcars

    Boxcars New Member

    May 27, 2009
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    WOW
    very nice write up, thank you.
    is there a symptom to listen for? (for the supercharger, that is)
    or is this regular maintenance and at what interval?
    thanks
    boxcars
     
  5. istara

    istara New Member

    May 21, 2009
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    Supercharger oil comes from any GM dealership. Part Number: 12345982

    I also followed much of the advice here: North American Motoring - View Single Post - Rattle : Supercharger / water pump
    as far as quantities, etc. (Link to complete thread)

    As far as robust, I wouldn't be able to compare that to anything off hand. My car is considerably low to the ground and I haven't managed to crack it yet despite my best efforts, so it must not be too bad!

    As for symptoms.. I just did this as regular maintenance. 83k or so on the car, I figured I might as well take a look while I had the front end off anyway. I will probably change it again in another 20-30k or so. Rumor has it, there is a wonderful grinding/rattle sound that you'll hear by the time it's too late.

    Sorry about the toes :eek:
     
  6. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
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    Durham, NC
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    Thanks again istara for posting this online. I did similar work to my car over the past few weeks, and this how-to was a great supplement to the Bentley manual. Whenever I got stuck, I'd fire up the computer and sure enough, the photos in this thread illuminated the problem.

    One supplement: I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the crank sensor, so I unscrewed the sensor from the block and took the whole thing out. I've never seen this kind of electrical connector before. There's a red plastic insert in the connector with a small arm. You have to use a small pick to push a small arm over and slide the insert perpendicular to the connector about 1/8". I took the insert all the way out, but it doesn't have to. To reassemble, push the insert in to the slot on the female end of the connector only one click. Connect the harness to the sensor, and slide the insert the rest of the way in. I took a picture of the male end of the connector (sensor side) and the plastic insert from the female side; light gray female side not shown.

    [​IMG]

    Also note the squared-off bluish o-ring that was leaking.
     
  7. Dr Obnxs

    Dr Obnxs New Member

    Jun 11, 2009
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    A Man of Wit and Charm! (Just ask my wife!)
    Woodside, CA, up in the hills and trees.
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    Cool info...

    FWIW, the coil connector has the same locking mechanism.

    For the SC, the grinding sound is the gears for the water pump drive self-destructing. While filling may prolong the life of the gears, the root cause is the seal to the SC is failing, and it's sucking the lube into the intake when under vacuum. fixing that will require a rebuild.

    Matt
     
  8. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
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    Very impressive and instructive. Where did you source the supercharger oil? Is there a way to check the water pump while you're at it? And how robust does that oil pan look? I'm considering an oil temp gauge.