"rebuilding" the engine
 

Hey all

So recently my 2005 R53 badly overheated and now it wont start. We checked the oil and there seemed to be water in the oil. So my guess was that my head gasket ahd cracked/failed.

Now since i am planning on changing the gasket and having the engine completely apart i was thinking of changing other parts for preventive/performance measures

Here are the parts

• Head gasket
• New head bolts
• Water pump + oring
• Intake manifold gasket
• Oil filter Housing to Block Gasket
• Timing chain guides
• Timing chain tensioner
• Valve seals
• Silicone radiator houses
• new supercharger oil
• RMW street camshaft

Was also thinking of having my head ported/polished a bit.


So my question was ... am i missing anything ?

Also would i need to buy larger injectors or am i still ok with the stock 340cc ?

thx in advance

unless you do an ECU custom tune, yes you are fine. IF you are planning a tune then get 380cc injectors. Do you have a smaller pulley? 1 step colder plugs? Thermostat?

Just curious.....are JCW plugs a step colder than regular S plugs?

Yes.

Thanks! 'Makes sense with more heat being generated in the combustion chambers.

yeah should be good to go just like that
find out why you over heated it and fix that as well.

Stay away from the silicone radiator hoses, there has been issues with degridation & collapse.

And you really won't "need" the intake gasket, (unless it shows signs of problems from the overheating) copper spray gasket works just fine in most instances.

???? I have had my Samco hoses installed for 2 years with no issues.

To save couple bucks, just replace it IMO.

I can't find it now but I remember a thread involving some people that were having troubles with silicone hoses weakening , don't remember if it was from heat or the chemical compound of the antifreeze, but it was coolant hoses.

Same thing with the metal gaskets, just thinking about saving the OP a couple bucks, I've only ever sprayed my metal gaskets & have had "0" leaks.

I think the money would be better spent on injectors, esp. if you're going to do a port-n-polish, don't forget, that's all a JCW setup is, as far as the head goes, mildly ported & slightly more open exhaust, and only a -13% pulley for boost.

copper spray ??? never heard of it

BTW i currently have a CAI, exhaust and 17% pulley

Was planning on doing injectors and tune but that will be a bit later down the road (probably sometime this summer)

Also will I need to resurface both the head and the block to assure a proper fit ?

Yup, use it on all my metal gaskets, except exhaust, makes a really good seal and holds up to the heat, as long as the gasket itself is in good shape of course. I've even seen it used on new head gaskets in racing applications.

im guessing spraying a new gasket would help it with high temp even when its not for racing

will give it a try for sure.
Could probably save me the time to have the block and head resurfaced since it would seal all the imperfections

If you overheated as bad as you say, still have it checked, on a head gasket the spray only really works as an extra seal for something that is already 100%, not as a fix, it will "help" on the lesser sensitive items though.

I have my mini apart right now to change pistons and do head touch up. I didnt have to take the engine completely out which was nice but the gaskets all come in a set so you will get all the gaskets anyways. Check out thumper heads and revolution heads. Thumper has a few options to look at. Maybe you can work out a deal on a good core w the vender if yours is cracked... The rocker assembly is touchy on these heads so you want a mini experienced machinist to do it. Trust me I have had my head off 4 times. Also get ARP head bolts in case you have to take it off again! it will pay off since you can use them multiple times.

Why would you recommend a thumper head?
and whats difficult about the rocker arms.
Why all this work if your just going to sell it.

You have many choices for heads and I would say research and make your own decisions.

Wow Collin, your tough. :) I have talked to people who build the heads. I recommend that you talk to them also. I remember myself, the plastic little rocker end cap retainers are ready to fall out when you disassemble and I know that the valve hight is important when doing the install cause the rocker arms will destroy the tops of the valves or you could have a loud cold starter if the valves are set too low. I have seen both. I just think one should trust a mini machinist, especially talk to one :)

RMW - biggest valves
Thumper- offers stock size valves if thats your budget. Also makes a large valve head (havent seen it)

This next post looks like a good option

looks good! \/

Lets add another
http://www.dprracing.com/hmini.html

Clint, its Colin, and why am I tough? Don't know, could just be my personality.

You had your head ported by a local guy right? what happened with that.
I don't see the point in putting a head on with stock valves i guess is my point.
If you were going to do it, i would go full tilt and not have to decide to go back in there and do it again.
Also i feel like you could say I am a mini specialist.
Anyway the Rocker caps should not fall off at all under any circumstance if they are falling off you need new ones.
You know when they are new they are a bright yellow/green.
Personally i have not seen one with a valve height too low but like anything wonders will never cease.

am i missing something here? OP says he found water/antifreeze in the oil ...

i see no mention of at least looking at the rod big end and crank main bearings?

and what about checking the piston to cylinder fit, ring fit in the piston lands, the ring end gap, wrist pin to rod and wrist pin to piston?

no sense at all putting a new head on a bottom end ready to grenade

scott

Historicly with the motors in the R53's unless it was driven for a long time with the coolant in the oil, the bottom ends have been just fine, (of course "if" the original problem wasn't in the bottom end) and it has been OK to just rebuild everything up top.
Plus most if not all of the average "needed" bottom end repairs from something like this, can be done from the bottom, without taking the top apart again, if the lack of lubrication from the contaminated oil, did do some lower end damage.

One of the great things about full synthetic oils is that they hold there properties far better than natural oils in these situations.

thanks for the reply and clarification

if it was my car, i would have to look at a minimum of 1 piston

i have seen what happens to the piston ring lands when coolant gets in the oil and is subjected to the environment of the piston ring land

also, removing a piston would allow looking at a rod big end bearing

maybe i am being too old school

scott

Not really, but the real difference here is the synthetic motor oils and how much better protection they offer.

Basicly with the head off you can do a general "look see" of the condition of the cylinders anyway, and since everything else can be done from underneath, after the fact, as long as there wasn't an evident problem in the bottom, you're not out that much to give it a try, as long as you pay close attention to things once it's back running again.

Collin, I had issues with the mini mania oversized valves. Checked out everything and ended up using valve lash caps and setting the hight lower on the intake and a little higher on the exhaust. I wish I had 2 grand for a good head plus my head is ported pretty good so I doubt it would make it as a core. I replaced the plastic valve lash caps on the rocker.
With 2 guys we had the head off in an evening and the oil pan off the next evening.
Installing the wiseco 8.5 tonight. Im going to keep the car.

I will have the head ported by a professional here. Mostly just a port matching job and a quick polish for now ... I dont have 2K to drop on a hean right now

Also thx i will go with the APR studs since i plan on maybe opening up the head in the future again

What should i be llooking for in the rocker assembly ?

Like mentionned before ... blown head gasket is the modt obvious choice ... but when everything will be opened (since i plan on upgrading everything at the same time) I will have a look at the piston rings for signs of degradation



Lastly i do not plan on touching the valve openings/sizes for now just to avoid any further problems ... but maybe in the future ... one never knows

The only thing you have to worry about with the rocker arms is when you set them back in place. The little plastic retainer rings can get pinched. Have your head guy check to see if the cam rocks back n fourth when its dry and all apart. Or clamp down the cam with the cam bearing caps only without rocker arm shafts and see if the cam gets tight. It needs to spin freely. And get a "newman cam" in there!

Again its Colin, but anyway.
Sounds like if you had a really high quality head it would be sorted
Sad to see mini mania could not cover that.
good luck with the rebuild

One question....ever find the cause of the water in the oil? Or WHY it would not start/run?
You have lots of good preventive MX stuff listed, but did you actually fix anything or just take it apart, the reassemble it? I understand you just hoping the bottom end is OK, but if it is all apart, did you check the pistons/rings? block for SQUARE and the head? YOU know it was overheated badly..and would not run...find out WHY it would not run...the head gasket can be CAUSE or EFFECT....
Sounds like you have lots of good parts and a decent plan, hopefully it will be running soon!
My gut says if you have a CAM, you will want bigger injectors and a tune when you can scrape up the cash!!

I found my old shrick cam if youre interested- i wish i could erase. I guess both my cams in my garage are stock. I though one was a shrick. Not sure if they are worth anything. -sorry

Thx but i think im going to leave the head/cam as is for now and wait for the summer and more cash flow in order to change the head/cam/injectors and a tune all at once ... dunnno

Would it be ok to just change the camshaft for now eventhough the car has about 140000km (87.5k miles) ... could putting a new camshaft with old valves and seals cause a problem ???

car wasnt starting since the gasket broke between cylinder 1 and 2 (checked the spark plugs and they were really wet). Car could start with only one cylinder not working although it would really not work well. But since i had water in two cylinders it was impossilbe for the car to start


Now i just need to wait for the parts to arrive ... hope its soon

lots of water in cylinders 1 and 2 was found


At least now car is reassembled but when we came to start it up we found a fuel leak
Now we just have to find that LEAK

Fuel Leak, Just check the barb fitting on the fuel rail. I have had them not seat all the way before.
its pretty uncommon to have a bad fuel leak on these cars.

perfect ll check that very soon and report back ... im sure its not a big problem

That water falls into the cylinder when removing the head, not when the car is running (or it would stop running in a great hurry). Good luck with your fuel leak.

^that.

so the fuel leak headed up being a worn out gasket on injector 1. the gasket in question is the one between the fuel rail and the injector ... parts should arrive sometime tmrw morning

Now a quick question regarding injectors. When i took the fuel rail out i had to leave the injectors in the intake manifold since i could not get them out. Unfortunatly when doing so i removed the retaining clips on the injectors.
Now when comes time to put everything back together I was wondering where in which groove of the injectors did the clip go into. Is it the one closest to the fuel rail (goes completement around the injector) or is it the lower one (groove on either side) ???

Also are there any tips for installing the fuel rail with the injectors already in the manifold ?

Thx in advance

'Can't help you with your question, but if one gasket is worn out, the others are likely mostly worn as well. I'd replace all four.

I am only replacing the worn out gasket since i plan on moving to bigger injectors this summer anyways

As for my problem i was able to figure it out ... the clips go on the lower groove and can be snap in place when the fuel rail is pushed down hence i dont need to remove the injectors as of yet

Well after 2 months of not having a car and having to run around to gather parts. Multiple nights of dispair thinking to myself that i would never finish.

THE JOB IS COMPLETED !

Now i cant wait to go for a long drive