My daughter just pulled up in the drive tonight in my 04 Mini S. Said the fan was sure running hard.

I went out a few minutes later to find the water temp pegged. The little tank near the PS fluid was dry and looked like it had boiled off. I remember checking this tank earlier today when I changed oil.

anyway, slowly filled the tank, it took a ton of water. temp came down on the ceiling. started it up, motor sounded OK, accept for a nasty sound on the left side of the SC. Within in maybe a minute or so the radiator tank was puking again. It was hot!!!!

A. at 113K miles, I figure the SC/waterpump combo has bitten me in the ***

B. How much damage have I done to the motor? she says it didn't show hot on the way home

C. should I just go ahead and pull the SC. is there any documentation on pulling one of these things. I capable, I just finished a new motor for my 89 Trooper. I just hate to crack open my work car.

D. Suggestions on where to get a rebuilt unit??


E.???? what else. I'm in a total panic here

 

Probably just the water pump, first thing to do is get yourself a bentley manual, it will compltely go through the entire tear down process, it's actually very simple.

 

I slept better last night after reading the DYI post on SC removal and all of the other posting as about the water pump.

I know I can do this with no problems.

I am concerned about the amount of heat the engine took after the pump failed. I don't know how long it was driven with no water pump.

 

You never can tell, the fact that it restarted after you let it cool down & added water is at least promising. Really the only things I can think of would be the basics, check for water in the oil qnd do a quick compression test, if those are ok, do the repair, put it back together to the point it will run (sans bumper & bumper cover) and let it idle for a good long time. ( our cars are known for not having cooling issues so if all is ok you should be able to virtually idle the car indefinatley) also if there is a problem short of a scorched or damaged cylinder you actually wouldn't be taking anything apart that you just reassembled, so at least you wouldn't be doing the same job twice.

Good Luck.

 

I just last night pulled the sc off without removing the water pump from the car (15% swap gone horrible, different story). Only fear I would have in your position is if when the car overheated that the head warped. When i first got my MCS there was a burn in the head gasket causing the car to overheat. I had to take the head to have it machined. That is only the worst case scenario. Keep us updated on the fix.

 

PM sent to you Gbo3. Hopefully the head hasn't warped on you!

You'll probably see something like this or gears that are totally knackered up. This MINI had similar symptoms to yours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZARD3Qi403Q

Jeremy

 

Thanks for all the support. I'm feeling confident about doing this now. Just talked to the folks at Supercharger Technology in FLA. they're shipping my blower today.

got the car off the street and into the garage and ready strip down. starts and runs fine, so my concerns are getting a little less everyday.

Also ordered a 15% pulley, figured what the heck this is probably the best time to do this.

 

Yes best time to do it Gbo3! Get them to ship it without a stock pulley on snout shaft, otherwise you'll need a pulley puller...

Jeremy

 

OK, took the day off to pull the supercharger and get ready for the new one. trying to get done before the heat of the day 107 today!


after I got blower off I pulled the water pump and noticed water in the union between the supercharger and the water pump, hummmm.

so I pulled off the PTO cover to take a look at the gear. WOW, full of water. the gear was in great shape, but the entire chamber was full of water. so much for the lube problem.

SOOOO, looks like a water pump too?

any advice out there?

 

Your rebuilt supercharger should have new seals to keep oil in PTO and coolant out! New water pump should have a good seal to keep coolant in too, so yes you need a new water pump.

Jeremy

 

got my rebuilt blower today, got a water pump ordered. new parking light coming on Friday and I think I'm set for a sweaty round of mini wrangling this weekend.

just gotta get the pully off, I didn't get to the supercharger folks before it was shipped.

 

glad you got it figured out atleast

 

All Done!!!

Looking back, it really wasn't hard, just a bit intimindating.

Bottom line, was the supercharger didn't fail as I thought it had intially.

the waterpump just took a dump, I couldn't turn it at all when I go it out.

bearing and seal were completely shot.

but I have the new supercharger in, 15% pully, new waterpump.

started and ran great.

I did and still do have tiny belt squeel. I put a new stock belt on, but in hind sight I'm wondering if I should have put on a smaller belt for the new pully. I seems to seating in, the squeel has subsided somewhat now, only when my foot gets really heavy.

any thoughts on belt length>

time for a shower

 

Need shorter belt. Do a search and you will find the answer.

 

already headed to the WMW site and have one in the basket.

just not looking forward to the install.

 

Most folks use the 535 length belt with a 15 or 17% reduction with a stock damper...the stock belt might be ok for a bit when new, but it will start to slip a bit when stretched...
Good to hear the car sounds like it survived.

 

Yes good news. Just for the future, often it is adding water to a hot head that warps it. I couldn't tell (doesn't matter anyway) but before adding water, you have to wait a really long time if it is dry in there. With water it is 200+ without...who knows but there is nothing to cool it so it takes an extra long time to get to a normal range.

Glad to hear nothing went wrong, but I was watching the thread. I didn't want to unnecessarily get you worried.

 

ya, looking back, hitting with water was pretty dumb. I'm used to my old overheating sprite with cast iron heads.

But on the good side, all looks and sounds well. No drips, drove all over the place this afternoon with air temps around 100. Fan ran once!

I guess I was curious about one thing. When filling the cooling system: just fill through the tank?

Is there any purge necessary?

Is there any easy way to change the belt without taking half the car apart?

 

Drop belly pan and winkle and route the shorter 6PK 1365mm belt. Note must have small hands otherwise you'll have to pull wheel liner off. :-)

2 bleed screws in cooling system. 1 in upper rad hose and other forward of thermostat housing(8mm socket).

Jeremy

 

There are several threads on bleeding....
Many folks have issues with bubbles....heck dealers do too sometimes...
It does take some time to get right....a bubble will usually result on a overheat.
most belts in the us use non-metric numbering system...stock is 1388mm, good to hear a number for the metric equivent of the shorter 535 (the 1365 as referenced above. The us belt sizing system is a bit of a pain.....I think dayco does use the metric sizing in the us...but usually just the holder/wrapper is marked as so.

 

Ok so, I took a quick drive down to the store which is about 5 min. away. When I came home, I had the car idle for about 5 minutes. Turned the car off and noticed a loud sound like a fan rattle. I scratched my head, opened the hood and the water overflow tank had erupted.

Any thoughts?