At 60,000 miles I am ready to service my 2004 Cooper S's supercharger.
I have searched the forum endlessly to prepare myself and although I have a ton of great info on getting to it, there isn't much on the parts I will need. So, NAM can you help me make a list of everything I need and what I should do while I have the front of my car ripped apart?

Here is an overview of what I plan to do:
-remove everything including the radiator: I will need coolant (how much and what kind?)
-Removing the intercooler cooler and supercharger: I will need to replace gaskets and I am not sure what else perhaps new intercooler boots?
-Taking apart the supercharger to check the condition of the gears (any gasket there?) Also are there and gaskets on the super charger horns?

I came across this: Rebuild Kit Any thoughts?

I feel like I am missing a bunch of things. I am away at work for the next two weeks and want to start ordering everything so I can jump into it when I get home. So lets do this!

 

Here's two threads that might help:

- https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ight=m45+snout
- https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ight=m45+snout

If you change your mind and decide to pay for the rebuild, I recommend Stiegemeyer (http://www.stiegemeier.com/pricing.html). His prices are reasonable, as he has several rebuild options for MINIs (at the bottom of the page). Only thing not mentioned is a price on getting the rotors re-teflon-coated. You can always contact them to find out.

 

Thanks for the reply. I saw those post but I am thinking of more of a step by step and a grocery list of the parts you should and the parts you must replace during the job. Also, what are the least technical things you can do to your super charger at home (is that kit I posted any good / doable)

 

From your post it does not seem that your SC failing or making the death rattle. At 60k i feel like pulling your supercharger apart and replacing everything is premature. Most SCs fail around 100k mark and this is due to the fluid in the SC dissapearing from leakage and what not. I myself had a shop drain and replace the fluid in my SC. This is where you could look for metal shavings which would show wear on the SC gears. My MCS has 120k on it now and my SC is running strong as when i got the car. It seems to me you would be not gaining much here.

Good luck with your MCS!

 

I've noticed a slight rattle at start up that remains for a few minutes at idle. I just feel insecure having not check the supercharger myself and hey! it would be nice to know when I am rolling around at 120k miles!

 

well my advice would be to start by changing the fluid and checking the old fluid out of the sc for metal shavings/pieces. there's a DIY here on nam. again good luck!

 

Since you will need parts....
Call waymotorworks
I bet when you tell him what you have planed, he can put togeather a kit withvthe new gaskets you need, and a few things "you might as wells".
All the info is around...itvhas been done befoe as diy's.....
if you are going to do it...might as well "freshen up" a few things....
But as previously, the rate of return if you have no issues is pretty low, and the risk of a newbie having issues after said job is kinda high unless you have some mechanical skills...a "how to" is useful, but is only the basics...many folks get stuck...and end up with issues. You must know your limits, and go from there...
PS if you wait for the sc to fail, they can be had for $550 ish.and($1000 for a nice rebuild) then add a waterpump and seals/gaskets..you are doing all the work....and spending a weekend...if the car is broke, trying to fix it is not taking much of a chance, but when things are fine, any issue can be an unessary risk...just my opinion.
Either way, good luck, and enjoy.

 

Some gaskets can be reused (the metal ones) if you apply a thin layer of RTV silicone gasket sealant to them. If you want to replace then you'll need:

Inlet manifold to SC output gasket (metal) 17511524319 $1.98

SC Output gasket (metal) 17511520044 $5.68

SC Input gasket from throttle body duct (green rubber) 11610020836 $18.02

Throttle body o-ring (orange rubber) 13547509045 $13.04

Water pump to block O-ring (black rubber) - only need one but come in pack of two 11517509186 $2.54

Anti freeze 1-4 litres depending on how cold it gets where you are, same colour as that that came out blue or red.

De-ionised water (for cooling) usually in 5 litre bottles here in the UK

Super charger oil (can use GM or Ford Motorcraft XL-4, respective dealers in the US, Mountune for the XL in the UK) any good EP90 gear oil will also work - Magnusson in Australia use Castrol Syntrans truck gear oil as do Walkinshaw performance here in the UK (Official Monaro tuner [read Pontiac GTO]). Need about 250ml to do both sides of the sc, about 50ml for just the water pump size (Eaton say use a little less about 43ml or 1.4 US fl oz).

Gasket sealant - now some debate here, the real deal is some anaerobic such as Permatex anearobic sealant (try MSC industrial in the US, MSC JL Industrial here in the UK), I bought this but didn't like the idea of having to heat it up if I wanted to take the SC apart again, so I used Blue RTV silicone sealant - be careful with the application is you want to avoid it spilling into the SC gear chamber. The same silicone can be applied to the metal gaskets above - again use a small amount.

Degreaser to clean gasket surfaces and to clean out the intercooler and inlet tracts (might aswell seeiing it's all apart) I used Swarfega Jizer water washable degreaser (UK only I believe).

I think that is it.
Also do not take apart the SC rotors etc - just change the oil.
As for not having enough mileage on your car - ignore it, mine had 10k miles and had about half the required amount of oil in it, there are no set guides on when they run dry it's down to how much sealant Eaton used - or didn't as the case may be.
Enjoy,
Tim.

 

I keep getting blindsided by great posts from folks in neutral - why do I correlate Forum garrulousness with expertise? Lord knows I am old enough to know better.

If you use google, and add site:northamericanmotoring.com to your other search words, you'll find a few threads containing the phrase "girl's guide" - one of which IIRC describes pulling the front end. They're damned good guides and I recommend them highly.

If I was doing the blower, I'd pull the front end - but take me with a grain of salt please, as my hands are not dirty...

Kind regards,

Charliee

 

Just found this and remembered this thread...
https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/d...er+Oil+Service