I used the pulley tensioner shown in you picture. I think its a min mania. And my puller was a mini mania. A couple of shops will loan you the tools if you buy their kit

 

Sprint booster too.

 

^^^!!!^^^

Just what I was looking for, just didn't know what it was called. This is one of my - and others, obviously - big peeves with my MINI S. Nothing happens after 50% of the pedal travel and to bring the revs up for down shifting and rev matching I have to anticipate by pushing the pedal down "early" enough to get the engine to respond.

And since this is DIY it may be the first thing I do, with the CAI being 2nd. I do want the 15 or 16% pulley, but until I can find a mechanic who won't rip me, or the tools to DIM, I'll put it lower on the list.

 

You will get better bang for your buck out of the pulley and CAI. The sprint booster doesn't make your car faster just changes throttle response. After you do CAI and pulley get a tune and the can change your throttle response during the tune. IMHO sprint booster is a waste of time if you plan to do more mods and eventually do a tune on your car

 

Thanks C-lop. After I looked a bit farther into the Sprint Boost I saw that it would not really cure my throttle "issue" which is that there's nothing going on after about 50% of pedal travel - all the oomph is already in the first 25%.

 

Sounds like you may have what's referred to as the "yo-yo" problem. I think it's caused by a bad spring in the bypass valve. I hear the Detroit Tuned Bypass Valve is a good upgrade too, and it will solve this problem if you do have it...

 

^^^ LOL!

I already have the DT Bypass Valve installed. No, I don't think it's the yo yo, just typical poor mapping of the throttle. Thanks!

 

^^^lol!

 

I was in Albuquerque today and talked with the service mgr. He insists the SC pulley replacement is 4 hrs @ $110hr.

Also, found out there is NO dyno shop in Santa Fe and the dyno shop in Albuquerque is absurdly expensive and 2500 ft lower in altitude than Santa Fe...

So if anyone has a recommendation for a good mech in southern Colorado or Denver area, please let me know.

 

Thanks to all who've replied. I have found a mech in Santa Fe who is reasonable, so I've ordered some go faster sh*t from Detroit Tuned:
15% Pulley kit w/NGK Iridium Plugs and a DDM Cold Air Intake.
It all came in at about $500 with tool rental and shipping.

I also got a cool book: "Motoring: Getting the Maximum from Your New MINI". Has great info on mods. I think one of the authors is the MINIMania guy, so lots of plugs for ULTRIK. But solid info in any case.

One thing mentioned in the book that no one has recommended is plug wires and Plasma Boost. Seems like these are a good idea and easy to install. Purportedly better mileage and some HP gain.

I'm also doing the Belt Line Blackout mod, which I have no doubt will contribute vastly to overall better functioning of my MINI.

 

Hi Egg-man! Installed my DDM CAI today. Cool sound - no diff in performance that I can tell. Dunno, maybe there will be once the ECU understands there's something different under the hood.

I'm having the 15% Pulley installed this coming week. This mechanic's never done one before, so I'm expecting it'll take him a few hours. That's fine as long as he doesn't break anything!

Should really make quite a racket under the bonnet once that's done.

 

Congrats on getting the "Mods" started!
I did my CAI and pulley at the same time, so,
noted quite a change in my butt dyno.

Just a suggestion, get your mechanic to watch
a pulley switch 0n-line or check out the install
info. here at NAM. If he takes a few hours to do the job,
it means your paying for his lunch hour and some or
a lot of unnecessary head scratching!

Some oem pulleys are very easy to remove, others, not
so much. Hope you get through it all with the least agro.

Noise under the hood shouldn't be an issue, unless you have
your head in there while @ 4k+ rpm. With a wot you should
get a good supercharger whine in the passenger cabin above
3k. rpm.
Enjoy!

 

Didn't find a vid online. If have a link, please send it on.

Yes, there'll be some head scratchin'. Yes, I'll be paying for it. He's worked on MINI's but never done the pulley. All I'm asking for is a good job at a fair price and he has the rep of being both good and fair.

With the CAI the throttle seems very even. The whine is a surprise. Do you know what accounts for that? I didn't expect to hear anything different 'til the pulley was in.

 

Hey Funky, How is your mini running with the new pulley? I am very grateful for this thread as it gives me ideas for working on my mini. Have you done a one-ball exhaust or any other exhaust mod? If you do that, I bet you'd get an even better result from you CAI.

 

Hello Friends,
Yes, I found someone - a mechanic - recommended by others on this forum, to put in the pulley. He did get the pulley in but managed to ruin the rental puller in the process. Bummer and not cheap to replace. And he gives it back to me without telling me he's ruined it. *R-sole*. It's a good thing Chad Miller of Detroit Tuned is a very fine fellow. Not that I won't have to pay for it, but he's is very nice about it.

At 7,000 ft above sea level, the pulley, CAI and plugs don't do much, really. Probably have to go the whole 9 with new head, bigger injectors, cat-back, Plasma booster, Nology wires, custom tune. Oh well, there goes the retirement account!

 

Sorry to hear your funky results and surprised too!

The damaged pulley tool is not uncommon as those
pulleys can be a devil to remove. I've heard about
pullers going south with the OEM pulley hanging in there!!!

I am surprised that you don't feel any more power even at
7000 ft. I'm not an engineer but I thought even if the air
is thin, increase the charge/increase the power!

It would be nice to see if your boost numbers at wot are
consistent with a 15% pulley. If you put off retirement to
lets say 85, a Scangauge II ( or similar product) could
verify that you are getting all that's there!

I suggest you post a question to other Namers at altitude and see
if their results are the same, better or worse!

 

Hi Egg,
The car is more powerful, but still has pretty crappy throttle response and oddly the additional boost is felt more in the higher RPM range where I don't drive much. Interesting how the SC works with lower atmospheric pressure.

The other funny, funky thing is that I took off the "remote control car" antenna and put on a stubby, but now in the cabin the car sounds almost exactly like a remote control car when it revs.

I had done the VGS routing mod and I think that is not helping, maybe hindering, so I'll remove it and see the result.

The mechanic who did the work says it gonna at least take bigger injectors and new exhaust to get something visceral out of her.

I was already figuring on retiring about 85, now I'll have to push it back 5 or ten years. I notice you have a ton of stuff on your car. Must be very quick.

BTW, the pulley puller thing is resolved: the mech copped to stripping the threads and will cover the cost. At least he has some integrity - after the fact.

I'll see if any high altitude NAMers will chime in.

 

^^^ check out this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...altitudes.html

 

go do a dealer and have them put a pulley on. I sat there and watched them do mine. it takes 5 hours almost. They have to halfway lift the engine, tear off the stock pulley (it usually gets destroyed), and line everything back up.

Let them do it. if anything goes awry after install, its on them, and totally worth the money IMO.

then, spend the rest of your $$ on an Amsoil Nano-Filter and plugs (if theres any $$ left over) and youll be set!

 

Thanks for writing. ^^

Please read the posts more carefully: I 've already had the work done: took the guy about 2 hours; car runs beautifully. Just added Stratmosphere Catback. PDQ MINI now!

 

I just did one. I'm fair with a wrench and had all of the tools. I'd say 5-6 hours is a good way to budget for this job if you are doing it yourself for the first time. You don't want to have to be somewhere in 2, especially in the Mini you are working on. If it doesn't go smoothly (it didn't for me) you could be up a creek. My biggest problem was raising the engine. It looks like everyone else was getting it up higher than I was. I found that depending where you put the jack on the oil pan made a difference in how the engine went up. The crank pulley kept hitting the frame limiting the height I could get on the motor. That made getting the pulley puller on the stock pulley difficult and getting the new pulley on almost as hard. Also, watch the coil wire contacting the coolant tank. That seemed to be the place you could get into trouble. If you have time, reach out to the local Mini club. Chances are there's someone who has done it that can either offer advice or might even come over and help.

 

K&N Typhoon Series Short Ram Intake is what I'm getting, and it's around $250-300.

 

i'm new here and in need for advice.
last week my 2005 MCS killed it's crank pulley (rubber smell, light smoke, P1688 on the tester, EML+TC lights on, and going to limp mode every now and then)
so i have to change the crank pulley and i'm considering the alta lightened pulley plus the 15% supercharger pulley pack (pulley+belt+tensioner)
my car is nearly 45.000 miles. i have second thoughts on the crank pulley, will it last long? what can i expect with this combination?
also, as the clutch is on it's final days, i'll have it replaced too. i'm not into racing so i don't need a super clutch. I was considering de Spec Performance 1 clutch...what do you think?
thanks,

Francisco

 

17% pulley from ALTA - ~$200
One-ball mod - ~$50
Custom CA Intake - ~$50

This gave me 184 hp, though it was not dyno'd after the one-ball or the CAI.

 

Hey man I'm with you on second thoughts about the crack pulley...there is mixed reviews on non-dampening pulleys (lighter ones) given that supposedly they yield more vibration that could damage the oil pump or alternator...Others thinks a little more vibration but no damage, just better throttle response. The dampening cranks are over $250 including OEM. So you might have to do some more research.

I had my clutch put in at about 35K miles...my throw out bearing mas making a lot of noice, and while everything was taken out, they replaced the clutch. OEM clutch straight from the dealer was about $550. They did not charge for install as they were already charging fro the throw out bearing install.

I'm on the fence about doing the crank....SC pulley is coming off in the next couple of weeks though...