What I thought was a bad tensioner pulley and a leaking hose running from the power steering reservoir to the pump turned out to be much more than I anticipated. Today, I took the car into the mechanic to have a professional diagnostics and got a bad report. The supercharger is shot and the power steering rack and pinion is completely ruined. I picked the car up with power steering fluid pouring out of the boots. I payed $7,500 for it in August with 97k miles. Now, it has 102k miles, a new cat-back Milltek exhaust because the old one was rotted out, a new power steering pump, fresh motor and transmission oil, and 3/4 a tank of 91 octane gasoline... and a $5,500 repair bill. Being that I am a financially poor college student at Lee University in need of an operating car and cannot afford this, I am going to try to get rid of it, and sorrowfully accept the loss. Any ideas? This is my transportation between here and home which is 8 hours north of where I am at. This car has never been wrecked and has apparently had responsible owners previously. Help. I am not sure what to do. At this point I am going to have to rely on my God who will help me.

 

Sorry to hear about this. Hope everything works out for you. I share your trust in the Divine!

 

+1 your car is far from dead, I hope that you can find good used parts that you can afford. good luck and we are here to help

 

Welcome to the life of a college student. Most people have experienced what you are experiencing right now.

The thing to do is breakdown the problem into smaller more manageable problems. Figure what has to be done now and what can be deferred until later.

Can you possibly do some of these repairs yourself or do you know someone that can help? Used parts can keep the repair bill down.

God will help but remember that hope is not a strategy.

 

a new supercharger can be 350$ to 800$ depends on rebuilt or used and i think you could run without the power steering?

 

Please explain why you are prepared to accept without question the opinion of this 'mechanic.'

 

Buy a shop manual, borrow some tools, and get to wrenching. It's better than selling it "as-is" and taking a massive loss. Just my .02

 

either that, or part it out. motor alone is worth money, tranny, body panels, ecu, but they seem like preety moderate fixes, minus the rack and pinion

 

Considering the amount of money that I have in it, and the new exhaust and power steering pump, I am considering renting a tow dolly and towing it back to VA with my parent's truck. I'll either part it out there or try to repair it. Anyone have experience with superchargers? Is it possible to rebuild it, or is a replacement necessary? I'm semi-competent mechanically, but I have no experience with superchargers - is it something that I could do? And about the power steering rack and pinion, I am aware that is probably not something I can replace in my garage. I really like this car, and I hate to let it go unless I have to. I have a feeling I will be asking a lot of questions here on this forum.

 

I would get another opinion before doing anything

 

I have a supercharger in perfect condition for 500$ you could get a steering rack and pump for 300 from a junk yard. Shop manual, belt, some gaskets and specialty tools will cost 300. You could even buy a full socket set from harbor freight if you need more tools for less then 50$. With the repair manual you could get it all done in a weekend

 

+1

 

Keep it, tow to VA and take your time with it, get a used everything or rebuilt minus yeh little parts that you may have to buy new gaskets and such. DO not part it out this repairs are not enough reason! the job it's not that hard,!!!! Check out Pelican Parts for how to do this job step by step.

The SC can be rebuilt but it's not an DIY job. At least not for me, we are here to help go ahead and fix it it is a nice looking MInI

 

You can swap out a supercharger. I swapped mine out in about 6 hours. It is not that hard. the steering rack would probably take about another 6 hours. they are just bolts. It in't magic.

 

Minibx is correct. Your Car is far from dead. Buy a manual, ebay the hell out of it if you must, but don't take the loss. As someone else said, "…keep it…take your time with it…" You also may want a second opinion.

 

Quote of the day

 

I'll echo the above sentiments. Take what Cerenkov said to heart: prioritize the fixes based on 1) Safety 2) fixes that will prevent further damage to your car, and 3) stuff that can be put off for now. Minor leaks would be an example of (3) if you maintain correct fluid levels.

You can do it@

 

+1

 

Don't listen to anyone here...the car is too far gone and you should sell it to me for cheap :-)

All kidding aside, I and I am sure a few others would take it off your hands because the repairs, although they will take a bit of work, are all just bolt on pieces. I am decently mechanically inclined and have changed my supercharger and dropped the front sub-frame (complete access to power steering pieces). Although new factory parts are expensive, used parts are pretty plentiful and no overly pricey.

 

It would be cheaper to get an old civic, corolla, Mazda, etc.....

 

Look through here and other forums, in manuals, find used parts on eBay/Craigslist, wherever you can. If you really love this car and want to keep it, you can successfully bring it back to good health. It will be time consuming, but most definitely worth the effort.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the steering rack should be accessible if you can support the frame on jack stands and let the front suspension droop, as opposed to using a lift.

 

It's ten bolts or so, but you do have to take the front off, then the radiator in maintenance mode, so you can get the crush tubes out… Basically you drop the subframe.. It ain't that hard, you just gotta have your ducks in a row beforehand. Tools, the bits..

 

We can help supply you with used parts for many repairs as we have a mini MINI junkyard with about 10 R50 and R53's for parts. Plus we're in Atlanta so it's not too far it you want to come pick some parts.

 

Sorry about taking a while to get back on here. Classes started back this week.. I will be trying to fix my car and getting it back on the road myself. WayMotorWorks, I will be coming to you guys for parts, wether it be over the phone, or in person. I like the packages you offer on your website.

For kicks, I took a video of the whine coming from my car. The noise seems to be coming from the supercharger area on the passenger side. Does this sound like bearings gone bad within a supercharger based on what you have heard before? The car does not have overheating issues.

 

I need some help. Does anyone have a write-up or have any experience pulling the rack and pinion? I took a quick look and am wondering if I need to drop part of the sub-frame to access the rack, or if I can simply access it by working over top of it and pulling the rack out from the front. - I wasn't able to get far under, so excuse me if this is a dumb question.