Oh yeah... I almost forgot. I found the broken bits of the timing chain guide rails in the oil pan! There was very little grit in there, especially given that the oil was at ambient temp and had been settling for a few weeks while the car was in service mode. EDIT: I couldn't resist and took Rufus out for a 20 minute drive at lunch. First 10 minutes were around the neighborhood... gentle throttle to get warmed up. After a minute or so I got the generic warning (exclamation point wrapped in a triangle wrapped in a circle)... this sometimes means a bulb is out, so perhaps I missed a connection when putting the bumper back on. It came up to temp and then held steady. I ran it down an industrial street at 40-50 MPH, letting the revs climb next. When I started this section of the drive, I lost power twice... both times when I would shift from first to second gear. It hit twice in quick succession then stopped. Felt a lot like the DSC kicking in when I was on the track and would forget to disable it. I'm wondering if it was just bubbles in the coolant lines throwing off a sensor. I bled a lot of air out and I'm sure there is a lot more to go. Good news was that there wasn't anything dripping madly from under the car and it didn't sound like I had any pressure leaks, so that's always good!
Possible Bypass Valve? After doing a major overhaul on my 2003 R53 back in 2009 I had this same issue. Loss of power and warning light. Seems it gummed up after sitting a while when I had the engine out. Any codes?
Possible. I had the BPV in my hands while I was doing the supercharger oil change. Maybe I did something to it. It might be a fuel supply issue as well, as I replaced both the filter and fuel pump. I took Rufus out for a drive and had the exact same issue... When the engine was cold, I'd shift into 2nd gear and would lose power. Twice the engine stalled out and I had to clutch in, start the engine and keep moving forward. Once things warmed up it was OK and I didn't have the issue. I need to go out and put the code reader on the car to see what it has to say. EDIT: Error code P0442 - Evaporative Emission System Leak Detected (small leak) Looks like I have a small vapor leak in the fuel system (this is the code you throw when your gas cap isn't holding pressure). I replaced the fuel filter and the fuel pump, so maybe I screwed up one of the o-rings or gaskets at the top of the access points for those items. I'll tighten the gas cap too, just in case! I also had the under-hood fuel vent in my hands (it's right under the fuel rail), so perhaps I forgot to make that connection or it got pulled loose. I cleared the code and it went away... will have to see if it comes back. I think this is a separate issue from my cold stalling/loss of power issue.
Well... With only 1 real engine/drivetrain maintenance task left on the list (gearbox oil), I'm thinking forward into the next task... Suspension and brakes. I've got a BBK from Wilwood (front and back w/ new rotors/hats, pads, lines, calipers and fluid), so that's pretty straight-forward. I've got a new rear swaybar, adjustable drop-links, coil-overs, inner and outer balljoints, lower rear control arms and front LCA bushings to do. I haven't replaced MINI ball-joints before, so I started watching some YouTube videos. Watching mechanics on-line always leads to new tool purchases: A ball joint separator: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YVWHOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 A set of pickle-forks, incase I need to go old-school on these things. The air hammer adapter was a nice touch! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZ8A63R/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have a set of Powerflex LCA bushings and a set of LCA brackets (they came w/ the Powerflex bushing purchase I made on NAM and the combo purchase was cheaper than bushings alone, so why not) but the bushings haven't been pressed into the brackets (how I usually order 'em when I get parts from Way). I was going to have 'em pressed in at a local shop w/ a large hydraulic press, but I poked around on Amazon and found one of those screw-drive kits that says it has a new/improved hardened screw for only $40 (My local club in Dallas bought a couple kits a few years back and they both broke), so I'm going to try the leave-the-brackets-on-the-car approach and see how it goes. LCA service tool - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MTN9ERH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I don't know if this helps. I quit using pickle-forks and now use these. they work much better. For the Mini I use the one at the bottom the most.
That bottom one in your photo works a lot like the the first tool in my list, but my new one has a lever action, just in case you don't have clearance right under the joint. The pickle forks are merely for backup (they tend to tear the rubber boot, I've heard). I've got all new ball-joints, so I can do my bull-in-a-china-shop impersonation, but I'm all about the right tool for the right job.
I'm really surprised at how good this kit feels for $40. It's much nicer than the usual Harbor Fright tool you get in that price range. I'll let you know how it holds up on LCA removal and replacement. It didn't come with instructions, of course, but I'm sure I can figure it out... And here's the pickle fork set and ball joint removal tool from yesterday (finally got around to uploading the image) Also: Why don't more tool sets come w/ these great blow-molded cases? I'm sick of buying tools at my local auto parts store that come loose inside of clear plastic sales wraps that you have to decimate to open. Oh yeah... I almost forgot. I kept thinking about some of the odd behavior of the car (cold stalling and maybe a bit of throttle surging) lately and I got to wondering if it was the by-pass valve acting up (or just acting as the stock BPV does on many R53s). I got on Detroit Tuned and I've got one of Chad's new massaged valves here on my desk. Shouldn't be too awful of an install. Add that to the list for this weekend!
That was a rough day out in the garage. I got the Detroit Tuned bypass valve installed. I think it fixed the throttle surging, but had no effect on the cold engine stalling. I put on the new valve and went out for a test drive, but the car stalled and, unfortunately, the battery was still a bit flat and it didn't have enough juice to restart! I pushed the car into a spot, got the windows up and locked the doors. I was about to pull out my phone and call for an Uber when I looked up and saw a yellow cab making a u-turn about 20 yards from me! I ran over and he had time to run me the couple of miles back to the house. I took my daily driver out, jumped the MINI and drove it home w/ no issue. I changed the gearbox oil and wrapped up my maintenance plan. I decided to get a start on the suspension, so I cleaned up the garage, sorted through all of the parts, got organized and started stripping down the front right wheel. Almost every bolt is a struggle... I doubt much of anything has been done to the suspension in the past 12 years. I stripped the head off of one bolt already (I can drill it out and replace it with a thru-bolt) and the inner ball joint is seriously frozen onto the control arm (the outer joint came apart with a crack that sounded like a gun shot). I was hoping to avoid it, but I think I'm going to have to drop the subframe to get that inner balljoint loose. I bought myself a new breaker bar a few months back and I'm very glad I had it. I needed it for 1/2 of the bolts I removed. I hosed everything down with penetrating oil and called it a day. I did put these stickers on, which are cool:
Mine disintegrated on first use. That's when my subframe was dropped and a 12 ton shop press somehow became part of my tool collection. The shaft on my tool just bent and tore out of the other side. Absolutely not adequate for the force needed to extract that bushing. My shop press using the fittings that came with this tool for perfect fit on the bushing was bending and aching until the old bushing finally popped loose and started moving out of the housing. The car was never in the snow or salt, so corrosion was not a factor. If you are removing the subframe, just do the job while everything is off the car.
Yeah... the Amazon reviews mentioned that the shaft was breaking after a use or two. The seller posted that a new, more hardened screw was being shipped with the kit and indeed... there was a second screw in the box and it appears to be made of a different material. I marked it so I could keep the 2 of 'em separate and will report back on progress. Given my luck with siezed bolts breaking, I'll probably try to use the puller to remove / replace the OEM bushings, even if the subframe is down. If I break the hardened shaft on removal of the old bushings, I'll save the softer, original version to help me get the new ones in to a spare set of bushing brackets I've got on-hand and I'll try my luck removing the bracket bolts from the subframe.
Getting new bushings in is easy (especially with the big old press I used, but likely even with that tool). The part that for me was not possible with the tool was to get the old bushing to even begin moving in the bracket. It deformed on the first try to put some torque into that tool. The rear plate went sideways. I backed off, tried the other side and the tool shaft tore out of the rear plate. I then just removed the whole subframe and did it with the brackets removed in the press. I actually felt the press I bought wasn't strong enough. All the plates in that tool kit do come in handy when you rig the bushings up for the press to do its thing. Looking back at it, I think the ModMini SawsAll cutoff method is the best way to do this, even when removed from the car. What I will be doing on my Electric Blue daily driver this year is remove the subframe and then just replace the entire assembly, not even going to bother with the bushing removal. As I see no reason to put poly bushings into a stock suspension, that'll be the least headaches. The full assembly with rubber bushings already inside costs little more than just the bushings, and a lot less than poly bushings. I honestly don't feel the poly bushings in my other car at all - guess i am not driving it hard enough.
I have had no problems with my Polly bushings and they have been in for over 10 years. OEM rubber ones will fail again in a year if they last that long. Polly is the way to go. I think Way of Walmart Motor Works Sells the pre pressed so all you need to do is take yours off and install the new ones. I hate Way but here is a link for you. https://www.waymotorworks.com/powerflex-front-control-arm-polyurethane-bushing-and-brackets-new.html
I have always bought mine pre-pressed from Way, but this time I found a deal over on the NAM forums... the poly bushings and brackets for less than the price of the poly bushings alone (separate... unpressed).
Ugh. The inner ball joints are siezed into the control arms. I used a puller until I saw a he metal bend and every pickle fork with no luck. I beat on em for almost an hour. A pair is $100 so a new set is on the way. The new LCA bushing puller was a gem! I sprayed the old bushings with penetrating oil and one came out smoothly. The new bushing went right in. The other side had an issue... as I was prying the control arm out of the bushing, the ear on the bushing bracket snapp d right off! Luckily I had a set laying around and the subframe down, so I put on a spare. I had several false starts installing the new poly bushing, but I finally learned that a dot of grease makes it much easier to do. I'm going to get out there tomorrow to try and get the front coil overs mounted and the front brakes on. The new control arms will be here in a week so hopefully I'll reassemble next weekend.
Ive had an issue.. the heads of the wheel carrier bolts that secure the shock body to the carrier have snapped. I've posted the story behind n a separate thread for better exposure: https://www.motoringalliance.com/threads/front-wheel-carrier-bolt-snapped.30435/
It's a duplicate post, but for the sake of completeness on this thread, I'm gonna do it... ---------------- Success! Well... 1/2 success! I was able to drill through one of the carriers... it's tough work for an old man who makes his living sitting on his fat ass in an office all day. I got out there this evening and it took me 20 minutes of drilling spread out over an hour or so to cut a hole clean through. A few whacks w/ a 6-pound hammer and the carrier was free! Now I just need to drill out the other side... I was, however, able to fit one of the coil overs, just to raise my spirits a bit! (the new bolt to tighten the carrier to the strut body is on the way... should be here w/ my new control arms by Friday, so maybe I'll get the front end assembled this weekend.