Wow, I had no idea that was going to be so damned hard. First it took over an hour to get the wheel off because MAG over torqued one of the lug bolts. Had to be over 300 pounds because we rounded out my lug wrench from the back of the car, busted a breaker bar and broke a socket in our efforts to get it off. After finally getting it off we discovered that the nut on the hub assemble cannot be taken off without ruining it and I need to get another one before we can finish the job. Does anyone know the part Im talking about? Its the nut on the very fron of the whole assembly, its a 32 mm nut with a crimp on the side to keep it from backing off. I need to get another one of these before next weekend. On the bright side, we should be able to get it done much faster next weekend.
That nut has a thin rim that lets you "notch" the material into the slot with a chisel... Keeps it from backing off after this nut is properly torqued.... You should be able to take a drift and bend the depression back out so the nut can be removed... Your choice if you want to reuse it..... MINI recommends replacing with new as they consider this nut a "one time" use nut....
No reason you can't reuse that nut, just take a small cold chisel and knock that tab back out of the slot, then remove the nut as normal. When you put the nut back on, re-torque it properly, then just tap another tab back into place in the slot. I'd be somewhat concerned about that wheel bolt and the threads in the hub, look at them carefully and make sure they're not stretched or damaged from over tightening. Edit: Metalman beat me to it, he must be a fast typist! However, I hear this a lot from non-mechanics.....they didn't realize a job would be so hard or take so long. Remember this the next time the dealer or independent quotes you on a job and you think it's too high.
They actually broke it when they notched it, so I'm not comfortable reusing it. Any idea of the part number so I can order from eminiparts?
We did take a good look at it, and everything looked good surprisingly. We were a little worried about that before we got the bolt out. We were counting on a good two to three hour job, we just didnt count on it taking almost 90 mins to get the wheel off! :mad2: On the bright side, I have a former F-18 and F-14 mechanic working with me, lol.
Ok, got the new hub/bearing in. Job wasnt too bad. However, it still makes the same noise between 53 to 64. It's kind of a droning woont accompanied by a vibration at the same frequency. And only between those speeds. Above and below there is no noise or vibration.
We are thinking it could maybe be the axel or the lower motor mount. Any thoughts from the experts? I was thinking about going back to MAG to see if they can do anything, but I'm thinking they will just tell me they won't fix it due to "user abuse" like they did with the hub/bearing. But that clearly was t what was wrong.
Maybe an axle / CV. Here is the option I and others have used. They are better and cheaper than OEM. The Driveshaft Shop | Search results for: 'Mini'
Well, looks like I'll go see MAG again and see what they say. Maybe if its the axel, they will cover it. Fingers crossed.
I'm still under warranty. So if they will cover it, then great. If not, Ill just have to do it myself.
I don't understand why MAG would not cover your wheel bearing under warranty or why there'd be a question about fixing a driveshaft under warranty??? My MINI is no longer under warranty, but boy MAG treated me well when it was.
The initially told me it was the wheel hub/bearing and refused to fix it citing "user abuse". I have replaced the part with a band new one from eminiparts, and that did not fix the issue. Therefor, their diagnosis was wrong. The bearing may have been going out and they saw that, but they didnt look any further than that. There is also a possibility it could be that lower engine mount going bad as well as it doesn't look all that great, but I cant tell if its failing. Not sure that would cause the noise. That really only leaves the driveshaft/axel. Can't hurt to get their opinion, though after my last dealing with them, I'm still not happy with how they handled it.