1st Gen R53 Cooper S Today's Job

Thank you for the kind words Kevin.

Interesting use of "penultimate", I think of Italian pronunciations (accent on the next to last syllable) as associated with that word.

This car continues to have diverter valve failures. The diaphragm over the solenoid tears and boost is lost as a result.

 

Today's Job #4

Back to the R53. Today's job came in for an oil change only, but a few other things revealed themselves. The air filter was long past due changing. Below is the customer's on the left, and a low mileage used one of mine on the right.




Another aftermarket oil filter that is too short and too loose fitting.





The common coolant leak from around the thermostat housing.




I created a how-to for replacing the thermostat you can view rather than putting it all on this thread.


Many other issues need to be addressed as can be fit into the customer's budget.

 

Not My Job Today

These MINI carnage images are courtesy of MA member from up North, Jeremy. The rear weep hole leaking too much; hmmm, seen that before.




Rotor lobe damage; when the bearing wears, the lobes go cattywampus. Should have seen what Alan's looked like a few months back.:eek6:




Gear dust; self explanatory.



A video of the water pump drive gear damage assessment. If you have a high mileage MCS, check your supercharger fluid, or pay to fix it later.

 

It depends on the driving environment, frequent low water crossings and dirt roads would mean 1 to 2 years or 20 to 40k miles, dry & clean conditions longer. The first time you re-lube you will know if that interval is appropriate. I removed mine at around 30k miles, the original anti-seize lube was spent, and the poly surface had become tacky. Energy Suspension grease, Super Lube, and Poly Ease, are very water resistant and long lived over anti-seize or chassis lubes. If the copper anti-seize that PF once supplied with their bushings was used at installation, I recommend shortening the first interval just to remove the petroleum distillate based product.

 

Today's Job #5

Installing Madness poly front control arm bushings in a Cabrio was the main purpose of today's job. Along the way a few other things needing attention came to light. The power steering hoses were leaking quite a bit, the reservoir could be turned easily in either direction because the clamps weren't secure. The quick & easy fix is to tweak the crimp a little more.





The Cabrio owner stopped by to drop off a new lower engine mount and noticed the left front strut body had oil on it. Instead of oil weeping above the spring perch it was coming out the bottom.





After removing the strut and disassembling, there was no damping remaining, pulling and pushing the shaft created sounds like a washing machine. Now we know the cause of the clunk he was experiencing on turns to the left.



A reminder that the bolt securing the control arm bushing bracket to the body is torque to yield, 42 lb-ft + 90 degrees torque angle. It should be replaced with new rather than reused.

 

Another one bites the dust.

I installed one, but if wouldn't function correctly; the BPV piston would stick preventing boost from building.

A few tips for you when you get around to installing yours. A T-25 and 3mm Allen will also be needed, plus a short M6 bolt to mount the relay bracket. The instructions illustrate positioning the BPV when used in conjunction with their optional spacer with vent, without the spacer the vacuum nipple has to be placed just right to avoid contact with a coolant tube on one side, or the turbo inlet duct (not shown in the photo below) on the other, it also must be out of the way of the Allen bolt to allow assess with an Allen wrench.




Also, if the directions are followed to the letter, a relay mount bolt will press against the turbo inlet duct.




It's not enough to only shim the bolt, the bracket needs to be bent downward to both provide clearance for the bracket, and prevent the horizontal vacuum hose from becoming pinched against the inlet duct.

 

Today's Job #6

This MINI is going to be a source for many posts over the next week. The poor thing was screeching and rattling as it drove in.

I've seen hydraulic engine mounts collapsed further than this one at much fewer miles. The first example is at 158,000 miles, the more normal mount below it has 60,000 miles of use, and a perky new one at the bottom.







Note the dust cap is peaking above the tower opening in the first photo. The strut guide bushing is extremely stretched, it's surprising there is no cracking up top also. Below it is the other side at normal height.

 

There was less than half the normal amount of coolant I usually collect from a first generation drain. In this case it no longer resembled coolant.





The expansion tank is split, and the hoses are wasted. Evidence of overheating is present, but the owner has never seen a dash lamp. Amazingly the water pump is just fine. There was no loss of fluid in the supercharger's gear cases either, and the lobes have most of their coating remaining.

I know where some of the screeching came from, the idler pulley bearing is bone dry. I told the owner his crankshaft vibration damper was failing about 50,000 miles ago, it somehow made it this far without tearing, it's much too wobbly, but no separation externally.

 

The radiator was clogged with mineral scale, it took a very long flush before flow was strong, clear, and flake free.