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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
G Plus intercooler showed up 3:50 pm, by 4:45 pm had everything put away and out on the road. She’s coming back together piece by piece. Found a core support on Craigslist just waiting to hear back from seller. Get to bleed the coolant again if I score.
If that doesn't work out for you, I bought a core support off Carparts.com for like $160ish. Fit was perfect.
If that doesn't work out for you, I bought a core support off Carparts.com for like $160ish. Fit was perfect.
thanks I passed on one in a pull and pay for $50, had the wife sitting on my shoulder saying don’t buy it, and there just so happens to be 3 others in another yard, but thank you, that’s my worse case scenario.
email returned and I’m picking the core support with fan for $35 huge score
Last edited by Jason Cornelius; May 20, 2021 at 06:13 PM.
thanks I passed on one in a pull and pay for $50, had the wife sitting on my shoulder saying don’t buy it, and there just so happens to be 3 others in another yard, but thank you, that’s my worse case scenario.
10-4 just thought I'd mention it. Mine was an insurance claim. Some Jackhole decided to tag the front of my car in a parking lot.
10-4 just thought I'd mention it. Mine was an insurance claim. Some Jackhole decided to tag the front of my car in a parking lot.
Dragon accident day before MOTD here
Gplus intercooler took most of the hit, but the radiator punctured on the fan and somehow I broke off the 2 plastic nipples on the aux water pump. Also found out later there was a tear in the rubber boot from intercooler to plastic hard pipe passenger side. Before anyone says anything the hood is popped in the last 3 pics, was getting ready to check oil before heading home 3 days early from MOTD. Yes I got her back together, thanks again Aaron from outmotoring and mike, and drove back to Cincinnati.
Im thinking about keeping the bumper and wearing the “battle scars.” And yes that’s mine mini on the side of the dragon at about 2 pm.
Today, I'm planning to clean up and re-seat the supercharger input tube. Now that I have it in service mode, I got a closer look and it appears that the vacuum line to the MAP sensor is not securely connected. I hope this explains the intermittent P1498. So, I'll clean everything and reinstall, making sure everything is tight and seated properly. I really hope this is it as it beats throwing expensive parts at a problem.
I charged the ac in my mother in law’s Toyota rampvan, she’s in a wheelchair with MS, and got the AC ice cold in prep of our trip tomorrow. While I was out there went ahead and put my DDM Street intake back on, so the mini is back to all performance mods pre MOTD 😁 Just need to take her out for a drive to make sure everything is good.
Trust me I know. These mini’s have been picked pretty clean, lucky for me I have found the parts I need, minus a bumper but that can wait till I find the right one.
Wires - mmmmmm, mmmmm good! I know the brown wires in the R53 have soy-based insulation, maybe those black spark wires did too? I though those were all silicone insulated though. I have a bottle of liquid wire insulation and every time I have something open and find another chomped on wire, it gets a blob of insulation. Mice are no laughing matter. Might be good to check some of the other bare wires under the hood for little teeth marks.
After my mouse incident I keep one of these loaded with tasty peanut butter in the garage and check it every day. Haven't had to release one for quite some time, luckily.
The critter(s) mostly ate the rubber seal part that presses against the valve cover. Did that on 2 or 3 of them. Only one wire was nibbled. Not sure where this happened. When the car is being used it is outside. Other times it is in the garage. Neither seems to be a good place. Last year they got in under the engine cover on the JCW when it was in the garage and chewed a bunch of stuff. They really liked the foam on the underside of that cover.
Still, I think the wires needed replacing anyway... Now that I think about it, maybe I should have checked the spark plugs when I was in there...
Today I did a very unscientific check of gas mileage after replacing the spark plug wires. I think these needed to be replaced a long time ago and not because of critter damage. The critter damage occurred not too long ago, since I last checked the oil, which was about a month ago. In the past my highway mpg on the instantaneous reading hasn’t been as high as I thought it should be, but I didn’t think too much about it. The engine ran fine. Since replacing the wires it has jumped up noticeably.
The other thing I noticed today is that the AC doesn’t sap engine power like it used to. MINI claims these things like spark plug wires, spark plug, oil changes, etc. can go a really long time between changes. That is just not true. I did spark plugs at about 30k miles and there was a difference. They need to be done again.
Today I did a very unscientific check of gas mileage after replacing the spark plug wires. I think these needed to be replaced a long time ago and not because of critter damage. The critter damage occurred not too long ago, since I last checked the oil, which was about a month ago. In the past my highway mpg on the instantaneous reading hasn’t been as high as I thought it should be, but I didn’t think too much about it. The engine ran fine. Since replacing the wires it has jumped up noticeably.
The other thing I noticed today is that the AC doesn’t sap engine power like it used to. MINI claims these things like spark plug wires, spark plug, oil changes, etc. can go a really long time between changes. That is just not true. I did spark plugs at about 30k miles and there was a difference. They need to be done again.
Agreed. When I bought my Mini back in 2004, they were spewing all sorts of nonsense on plug longevity, filter filter longevity, oil change ranges and transmission fluid changes. Even the default timer on the oil change was like 15k miles. I do not know of anyone that follows that...
After reading on this for about 6 months... finally took the plunge and cleaned out the N18's intake. Overall took about 3 hrs with 30 minutes worth of rigging an alternate aluminum tube to the end of the HF media blaster.
before and after....clean, not as bad as others I've seen here. But the finished product does produce a much smoother idle and take off from 1st and 2nd gear with no hesitation at all!
the images above are representative of the condition of all the valves...before and after.
Also did the oils change...0w40 Liquimoly.
Next up....fuel filter and a fresh set of spark plugs...and am done with all fluids and maintenance for the season.
Then yesterday wife and I took the Mini out for a bit of a drive. 5 hours on the road and no issues, it’s so nice to have her sorted out and everything working the way it should.
Today cleaned off all the carnage of slaying bugs for hours.
Every time I see a DIY walnut blast, makes me want to take the plunge... Especially reading your "After" comments on the improvements.
Originally Posted by wtorres141
Not today...but over the long weekend.
After reading on this for about 6 months... finally took the plunge and cleaned out the N18's intake. Overall took about 3 hrs with 30 minutes worth of rigging an alternate aluminum tube to the end of the HF media blaster.
before and after....clean, not as bad as others I've seen here. But the finished product does produce a much smoother idle and take off from 1st and 2nd gear with no hesitation at all!
the images above are representative of the condition of all the valves...before and after.
Also did the oils change...0w40 Liquimoly.
Next up....fuel filter and a fresh set of spark plugs...and am done with all fluids and maintenance for the season.
Today, well yesterday technically since it's after midnight.... I replaced the A/C Compressor Clutch and coil. I will try to update with pictures soon, but the power wire (which activates the AC), had lost all of it's insulation. Once I removed the old coil - it looked like crap! So, I installed a new set.
The day before, I installed a BUNCH of new stuff...
supercharger intake tube
MAP sensor hose
Brake booster vacuum hose (with non-return valve)
gaskets for all above
I was hoping to be farther along by now, but I discovered one of the radiator hoses had a little tear in it, so a new one should arrive on Friday. Of course, tomorrow, I plan to rinse the new radiator and also clean the A/C condenser. I'd hate to put that dirty old thing back onto a brand new radiator! So, Friday, when the hose gets here, I can finally reassemble the front end... AND... give B.A. a start! I wouldn't be surprised if he needs a jump since he hasn't run for a few weeks!
(yesterday) - *FNALLY* had my open power steering recall done at the MINI dealer in Minneapolis. Was very quiet there - almost no new vehicles, very few customers. My service appt was for 7am. I was on the road by 9:30am. Really good job on the service. New PS pump, new fan. The new PS pumps don't make the whining noise anymore, huh? Super quiet - can't hear any noise from it at all.
Have heard from some folks that they had been reimbursed for all of the old pumps and fans they'd had to replace, but nothing doing. At least for me. I know I have had to have at least one pump installed and at least 2 fans. Was a bit disappointed about that. I also had them adjust my lights - relocating the rear level sensor because of the adjustable control arm install had my lights really low. $90 for them to do that, but don't have to worry about trying to do it myself.
Thanks for that info, @jcolletteiii . I really should schedule my appointment; the part took over a month to arrive from Germany. Is this recall something that gets done no matter what, or do they test your power steering pump to determine if it needs to be replaced?
Thanks for that info, @jcolletteiii . I really should schedule my appointment; the part took over a month to arrive from Germany. Is this recall something that gets done no matter what, or do they test your power steering pump to determine if it needs to be replaced?
They will look at the part number on your pump and determine if it is on the list of 'affected' part numbers. If so, they will replace. If not, I assume they won't. I am not sure whether the part number is easily accessible, but had I known this in advance (they told me when I showed up!), I would have t least attempted to crawl around under there and find the part number.
