Yeah a bad alignment would have the steering wheel angle sensor showing a turn while everything else says straight which obviously means the car is either in a massive slide which the gyro rules out, or some thing is wrong with the dsc system.

Parts car car was doing that crap amd I decided not to bother with it since it was getting sold for $300 once I was done with it.

 

Makes me kind of glad I don’t have a steering angle sensor to deal with.

 

2009 R55 JCW
Slow leak of coolant onto the back
half of the transmission housing.
About 1-2 oz per day (20 miles).
Took the 2 intake hoses off to
see the thermostat and hoses
better, pumped a pressure tester
up to 20 psi and still couldn’t identify
a source, although the crossover
water pipe is a little wet next to
the thermostat.
The hoses on the thermostat, radiator,
oil filter/cooler housing, etc. and
water pump all look dry and fine.
Ordered the ECS upgraded metal
crossover pipe (WHY is the oem
part plastic!!), and the 2 gaskets,
but I really don’t feel like tearing
down and replacing that myself,
especially since I’m not certain
that’s the definite source, so
will have my MINI friendly shop
do it in a week or two.

 

My Mini's interior windows have been fogging up for no apparent reason lately after a couple of rainy but unseasonably warm days. As I see no indication of water intrusion, I performed a routine scan which revealed that my IHKA interior fan temperature sensor has failed. It may be something you might want to check as well?

 

Oh, Ziggy is getting water in the boot, no doubt. Just need the time to deal with it.

 

I wouldn't even consider that job without having a new thermostat on hand. The only way to replace the crossover pipe is by removing the t-stat, which is also plastic. Why plastic? Cost. Curious to hear your thoughts on the metal pipe and how it works. The other thing to check over there is the tee on the hose to the expansion tank. I've had those disintegrate when you move the tank to access the oil filter.

 

Yep! - similar situation as yours...
I found the culprit - A wet t-shirt I had haphazardly thrown in the boot after wiping down the rear trunk & bumper in the rain a couple of days ago. It's been steaming up my windows over night and afternoon. I started to smell it this evening on the way home from work.
I still need to replace the inside temperature sensor regardless

Hope you figure out where the water is coming from.

 

Hose to the expansion tank
and connector are good
(replaced when I did the oil
filter/cooler gaskets a year or
two ago.
The shop can get a thermostat and its gasket and any other
hoses (they all look good to
me) on short notice
if needed.
Also going to have them replace
the timing chain/guides as the
car has never had that done and
is 15.5 years old now (but only
61K miles).

 

Swapped out oil filter housing gaskets! Pretty stoked that I managed it without service position!

 

I looked at a couple of issues on our 2006 R52S yesterday.

First, I have a creaking in the steering - looks like it is the upper strut mounts. This is surprising, as they only have about 6k miles on them since I refreshed the front suspension with Bilstein B6 struts, and new bushings and balljoints where I could. The new strut bearings I iunstalled were Lemfoerder units, so I expected a longer life from them. More details here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-bearings.html

And then I looked at trying to get the front edge of the top to seal completely - it's leaking when driving in the rain, as the front right edge is not sitting tight, I made a first attempt at a fix by removing the sunroof-portion motor and repositioning the top, but I still have the issue. It seems like the mechanism on the front right is not rotating completely forward. More details here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/r52-cabrio-talk-2005-2008/367642-front-edge-of-top-not-seated-evenly-r52s.html

 

Got the windows tinted, 5% on the back and hatch glass, 25% on the front and passenger windows.

 

Past couple of weekends consisted of Poor man JCW upgrade on the brakes, thanks MiniManAdam for the calipers, new r56s rotors and yellow stuff pads. Replaced passenger side axle as well. Leaks fixed again, for now. Once temps warm up, those brembo stickers are coming off and repainting all calipers so they match.

 

 

My rear subframe was really bad, i tore that out and replaced it with some of the rear end parts. The body was good but that rear sub was shot, i thought about sand blasting and repaint but it looked like it sat in the ocean.

 

I just got my Mini this past week and adjusted the wastegate actuator as it was 3mm out of adjustment. Been working great so far, though this is my first new german car and I understand why mechanics are paid a premium for these vehicles

 

I thought I'd written something, but I guess it got deleted after putting the photos. Currently prepping the GP for the trip down to MOTD 2024 and things got deeper than intially planned. Was going to just change out the trailing arm bushings, but thought I'd get a new rear subframe, all new exhaust shields, wheel bearings, rotors and pads, rebuilt calipers, clean up the aluminium, and coat the surface rust on the body with some rust converter and Por13.

And random question: Is there a post for people joining MOTD 2024 on here? I've looked but havent seen any threads. I'll be driving down from NJ and hope to put some faces to screen names!

 

Usually someone has to start the MOTD thread. I might be able to pull a weekend trip that weekend. If so, ill let you know for sure.

 

Late fall I put the snow tires on Blue.

Today, I changed out the snow tires for the fantastic 3 season tires I have for it.

Done with winter!

 

What “summer” tires are you running now?

 

Continental True Contact Tour 185-65x15. These are on our R50, so ride quality, noise, wet and dry handling are priorities, and not in that order. For what is listed as “standard all season” I am amazed by them. Wet performance is excellent. Dry - these are not a “cornering” tire as sidewalls are soft, but braking is up there in confidence. Cornering matches the R50 base Cooper really well, which means the car will corner faster than what I generally want to go. Top marks for ride and noise. Conti did really well with these; much better than the old school AS Continentals that came on the car. Wear - not a concern for me as the car only goes a few K miles in a year.

 

Got my mini back from coolant
leak repair ($) (water pump,
crossover pipe, and thermostat
gasket replaced) and timing
chain and guide replacement
($$$) (was doing ok but was
15.5 yrs old).
They put down on the invoice
that my oil level was very low
but I know it wasn’t since I
checked it just before it went in
and it usually takes about 1500
miles to consume 1 quart.
All set for lots more miles and smiles.

 

After hand washing and polishing my Mini this morning; I couldn't help but being reminded of a 15 year old water stain that I could never resolve/remove using a multitude of automotive paint correction products and methods.





Albeit, since I had sold practically all of my industrial equipment when I moved 10 years ago, including my orbital polisher, I've been maintaining and detailing my car by hand.
In the last 5years I had tried, de-ironizer/de-contaminant, clay bar, rubbing compound and a few other polishing products meant to work by mechanical means.

Well in the absence of cash and and a mechanical polisher; I thought I'd try something rather unconventional using 2wo basic non toxic/non solvent household products (a mild abrasive powder and a first aide product) mixed together,
a lot of elbow grease and no Photoshop...






I worked diligently for about 3 hours, rubbing out that old stubborn water stain as well as 2wo other measurably bad (4" diam) oxidized paint blemishes on the upper hood (no before pic), on each side of the
double stripes (above where the PCV and the air box reside); subsequently finishing off with 3M rubbing compound and a final coat of NuFinish. It's all I had on hand without spending any (more) money.

My hood and bumper could still stand a coat of fresh paint due to more than a few 100k rock chips but...
While I am aware, there is a proper professional approach to doing it the right way - but I still can't hep but find the results of my novice efforts amazing.

A few hours well spent today - imo

 

Today I replaced the in tank fuel pump and the fuel filter housing assembly. Had a small leak on the passenger side, it appeared that it was coming from the fuel filter top when I removed the access panel to look. I had seen somewhere that others had a leak from the gasket, I decided to replace everything since the filter was original, and had to remove the pump anyways to disconnect the filter housing.

Hardest part of the job was trying to get the rings on, I had tried to install the pump with the gasket on the pump. After struggling for awhile I moved the gasket and placed it on the gas tank opening, I was able to install the pump correctly and the ring was easily tightened over it. Repeat the other side, was a breeze.

 

I applaud your success by replacing your fuel pump and filter. Not a job many of us enjoy doing.
I've heard many accounts by contributors having difficulties getting the large O-ring to seat properly which resulted in a leak or the car not priming/starting afterwards.

When I had replaced my filter, I was fortunate to not have encountered that particular issue as reassembly went without a hitch. I didn't even spill a drop of fuel throughout the whole process.
However, I did manage to split the little tiny 3/16" diam O-ring, inside, where the fuel line connects to the top of the filter canister.
I caught it quickly when testing but not before it sprayed about a 1/4 cup of fuel onto a rag.
I'd thought for sure I wouldn't be able source such a tiny O-ring at a local auto parts store. But I took a chance and walked a mile to a nearby Advance auto parts and to my surprise they had a variety packet of fuel rated O-rings hanging right there on the rack with the exact size I needed. After replacing that little O-ring I was back up and running and without any leaks in no time.

As a side note:
Growing up as a child; I always loved the smell of a rich running New York city bus.
I didn't mind the smell of gasoline driving around in my Mini for a couple of days.

 

Today I changed out my (long overdue) leaky, crank shaft positioning O-ring.
I was also replacing my lower engine mount so I didn't bother going 'full monty' (FESM) and just used a ratchet strap to pull the motor back enough to wedge my hand in there to do the swap.
Lemme tell ya - This CPS 0-ring has been leaking since before I can even remember. One could hardly fathom how much oil and caked on crud had accumulated over the last 10years(??).
So much so; I couldn't even see, yet alone, find the unit or trace the wire to the plug without first going through an entire can of engine degreaser.

What a BIG mess!

Just another day in Mini memory.