Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

Drove Dark Silver for the first time since November. I forgot how great that DDMWorks intake sounds.

 

Did a quickie detail on the MINI today. I'm going to an all British car show in the morning. I entered just to hang out with some friends. I don't expect to win anything. Hagerty is a sponsor, and we go way back. I don't know if I will know any of the Hagerty people there -- it's been a while. But, I am going to wear one of my Hagerty Dawn Patrol hats. I'm betting I'll be the only person there who has one, let alone three.

I am going to be a little dorky, and bring my matching race suit and helmet. I bought the suit when I had a red track car, so when I bought the MINI, it was pure coincidence that the suit matched the car. And, a white helmet was the cheapest helmet that met track standards. A white helmet also makes sense in a convertible in Texas.



CD

 

Started clear bra removal from bumper of the dark silver car.

If you have that stuff on the car, don't wait 13 years to replace it like I did.

 

Took my MINI down to the shop this morning and I replaced the timing chain tensioner... Took 3 hours to finish...
Engine runs smoother... Other than a tough nut to get to, fairly easy to change out..... Unscrew the old tensioner and screw in the new tensioner.... Torque to spec.... Done...
No extra leftover parts.....

Last week I replaced the MINI OEM battery.... With another MINI OEM battery..... Got 9 years out of it... Not too shabby IMO....

 

Our local MINI club (Queen City Coopers) drove in a small Memorial Day parade. Throwing candy and the whole nine yards. We all went out to lunch after the parade. Loads of fun...

 

Finally figured out the whole NCS Expert stuff. Deactivated the DRL setting, and programmed the remote to open only door windows with unlock button, and close windows with the lock button on the remote.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

I changed the oil yesterday and while I had it up on the lift, I saw that I had an oil leak on the right side back of the engine. It appeared to be coming from the timing chain tensioner. Not a bad leak, just 1/2 quart in 5000 miles.

When I got the car, I remember reading that some 2010 MINIs came from the factory with the timing chain tensioner not torqued, some people had catastrophic engine failure when the timing chain tensioner backed all the way out. I asked the dealer to check the tensioner eight years ago, while I still had free service on it, they said that they checked it. It appears that they did not.

I had to take the hoses and plumbing from the turbocharger off to get a 27 mm socket onto the the tensioner, it was loose. I torqued it to 48 ft/lbs as per specifications. If I had a 27 mm crowfoot or an open end wrench, I think I could have reached it without taking all the plumbing out. My local tool store didn't have any 27mm open end wrenches in stock. I'm sure the dealer had the proper size wrench to check it with out taking things apart, they just didn't check.

After eight years, the rubber hoses were stuck to the plastic fittings pretty well, it took me all afternoon to get things apart, wedging screwdrivers and squirting WD-40 alongside the inside of the hose. Anyway, it is all back together and cleaned up, Whew!

 

Curbside alignment from hell today.
I had a rear sway bar install and inspection done the week before last while I was on vacation as well as front control arm bushings.
They said they did an alignment, but ...
I noticed the rear toe-in on the right rear wheel was off (too much toe in) when I got it back and got around to fixing it today.
First, it took me about an hour to find my eccentric socket tool for adjusting the rear toe.
Then, I kept shifting the trailing arm with the MINI tool and kept getting either not enough or too much correction over and over.
I tried to make sure the road was level and that I was always parked in the same spot and took a little drive around the block to
settle the suspension after each trial, but still kept getting wonky readings. Checked the rear trailing arm bushings and control arms
for slop, etc, but they were all ok. Front alignment was fine after the control arm bushings install, same as before.
After about 4-5 hours, I finally spun that wheel and noticed quite a bit of wobble (other 3 wheels were fine).
Took the wheel off and noticed that the circlip for the hubcentric ring was not seated properly, and the ring was sticking out on one side,
giving the wheel about a 1 degree angle, hence the wobble and inconsistent alignment readings for camber and toe on that wheel.
Probably happened when the pulled the wheel for inspection.
Pulled the centering ring out (with some difficulty), got the wire ring in its groove, and tapped the centering ring it in flush and correct - no more wobble.
After that, it only took an hour or so to get things pretty close to goal.
Plus, I was on call today and had to stop to answer a couple pages, and had to stop another time for a half an hour for brief rain.
I'm glad that ordeal is over.

 

I cleaned my windows today.

Oh and I picked up a set of Brembo front brake calibers. Bigger brakes for the Dragon next year. yippie !

 

My MINI sat outside all week so I could detail this nice ride.

 

I spent the day at the British Car Show. There were a whole lot of nice cars and, of course, I forgot my camera. Peppurr came in 1st. in her class and got a trophy...not really a big deal as there were only 4 cars in her class...but still...

 

I got a little curb rash on one of my wheels and I took it in to be repaired. While I was there, I saw that they were 'pinstriping ' a solid line on the wheel. I thought it looked good so...

 

Justa bought some new brake pads for Babs justa clubster. They are the Dave O highly recommended EBC Red-Stuff pads.

Two thumbs up for Aaron at Outmotoring.

 

Installed my new Cravenspeed shift well cover today.

 

Oil and filter change (Amsoil 0W40 Euro and oem filter), and put in Powerflex large lower yellow engine mount bushing inserts yesterday.
Slightly increased vibration only when letting out the clutch gingerly (at about 800-1200 rpm), don't even notice it if I let it out with a little throttle,
otherwise no noticeable increased NVH, even with the ac compressor running.

Brake fluid flush today including cycling the ABS pump with Pentosin DOT 4 LV fluid, and cleaned the wheels well while I was at it.
Pedal was firm before, but even firmer now.

Waiting on a lower center trim piece for the front aero bumper to replace the one that's not there - something must have happened
to it with the previous owner.

Would like to do a good wash, clay, and wax, but the weather looks bad for that for the next two weeks straight.

 

Wash then clay bar’d yesterday.
Quick wipe then waxed this am with P21S.
Also put the missing bottom center front trim
piece under the bumper on.

 

I bought my MINI on a whim. I had the cash, and found a nice one, and bought it. I honestly expected it to be a maintenance nightmare, and at first, it was a bit of a nightmare, but I bought it with an extended warranty, so it wasn't a big deal.

Once I got the car sorted out, it became a pretty reliable car. At first, it leaked every fluid it had in it. I got the leaks fixed with the extended warranty, and it hasn't been an issue, knock on wood.

My MINI is 11-years-old now, and is as reliable as any other car I'd want to own. Could it implode tomorrow? Sure, but so could an 11-year-old Honda Civic -- the king of reliability, from what people say. At least I can enjoy driving a fun car, and not suffer the embarrassment of driving a Honda Civic.

CD

 

Changed the oem hood scoop grill to the MINI FINI one for a little more flow through the scoop.
Got a WMW turbo wrap but haven't put it in yet.
Got a transmission Dimple magnetic plug but haven't put it in yet (put their oil plug in a few weeks ago with the last oil/filter change).

 

Crossed another mileage milestone