I was going down the highway, noticed my S was loosing power and eventually started hearing a rattle. Traced it down - the belt tensioner damper bolt came out and the damper end was rattling. Drove several miles more. Now seems the damper is altogether gone. I am stuck in New York city and have to drive 400 miles back home. Question: Is it safe do do it without the damper? The belt is fairly new (8K miles) and does not show signs of distress from the drive. The problems right now are decreased power and fear of doing serious engine damage. If you recommend not driving, can anyone recommend a garage in NYC (Queens vicinity)?
Many thanks.

 

Please DO NOT Start or Drive that MINI. It's down for the count. I have a tensioner in hand and would be happy to over night it to you if that helps. Feel free to call me even today, Dustin 312-388-4263

Here's a place about 30 miles east that I would use
1099 Old Country Road
Plainview NY 11803
(516) 938.2280

 

I live on LI. I'll talk to some friends that all own repair shops and doo good work and see if any of them can give you a hand.

 

Maltese,

I can't thank you enough for trying to hook me up. I'm in Forest Hills and have AAA roadside, so the tow isn't a problem. I need to be back on the road on Tues, so if your buds can help me out esp. timewise, it will be fantastic.

Dustin,

Thank you very much as well for the parts offer. I'll wait to work things out with the garage, above, to see what's up with needing a part. Will I just need a damper or the whole tensioner?

I have to confess that I drove the car over 100 miles after I discovered to problem and who knows how long before then. Did damage happen or am I so far one lucky Mini owner. As you advise, I won't even turn the key, but for curiosity sake, what is the potential catastrophe?

I'll stand by for further info about a garage. This is one great community.

 

I don't know of anywhere to get just the Damper or the bolts that hold it on. I've checked my suppliers and I can only find whole tensioners as a replacement and that's what I have in hand.

You could drive the MINI without the damper, but I wouldn't do it unless very bad people were chasing me, and then I'd keep the RPM's as low as I could.

If you have unlimited AAA towing I'd use it to get out to the shop/s on Long Island. If you don't see me online here when you need something just call me.

 

Called the service manager at my dealership. He explains the damper smooths out the bounce of the belt tensioner as load is applied from acceleration (and I assume the air conditioner, etc) and as long as I drive moderately, all should be good. So, I'm off in the A.M. for a very slow and tense 450 mile drive home. I'll let you know how it turns out. One thought, the honkin' spring on the tensioner keeps the belt tight and the damper works in opposition to the spring, so my guess is that the damper minimizes the bounce during deacceleration, ie, applying the clutch during shifting??? Thanks guys for your help

 

while that is all correct I'd still not drive it unless I had too. If the rest of the part fails and causes more issues is the SA going to stand behind that too? Since it's an 03 R53 I'll assume it's not under warranty.

Go slow keep the RPM low. Best Wishes, D

 

Dustin,

Update: Drove home 450 miles with the tensioner damper disconnected. No component damage and no visible unusual wear of the drive belt. Any sudden or hard acceleration was avoided, especially since it apparently (un)loaded the tensioner enough that the was no SC boost. I downshifted when I needed more power, where I normally would have relied on additional boost to keep up my speed. I was not judicious about limiting my speed (up to 90 mph) since the load on the belt varies with acceleration and not constant rpms. The upside was unbelievably fantastic gas mileage. It was the rear mounting bolt which was lost, so the rear of the tensioner was free floating, but thankfully still attached to the engine. Just need to size a new bolt and install, this time with blue Loctite.

The SA was very appropriate with his advice. He was my partner in reasoning out the situation, but left me to make my own choice after informing me that I was accepting a risk by driving the car as is. I think he surmised that the problem called for proceeding with caution, but did not evoke alarm. It was my choice to drive the car. I'll update the thread if any damage shows up after everything is reassembled. Thank you again for your concern and generous offer of help. - David

 

It's good to hear you got home safe and sound. Had I said go ahead and drive it home and there had been an issue it could have come back on me. I took the hard line to "CMA".

 

There's a lot to be said for C'ing one's A. It's too bad, though. It cuts off the information flow so people can make their own informed decisions. There are so many folks who mistake an offer of helpful information for a guaranty and think they can surrender to a good sammaritan their own responsibility to make a reasoned choice and own the consequences. In my case, I understood that had my engine gone caflooey, it was on me and nobody else, especially someone who was kind enough to have answered my request for help.