Okay, so installed the 17% supercharger pulley package from Way Motor Works. First off, WOW! They sent me a SWEET product, It came with the shorter drive belt and Laser Platinum spark plugs and all for a very reasonable price! Only now I have a problem. Keep in mind that I installed the pulley with the supercharger out of the car so I could give it a full service (aka: changed the oil, lol) This means all of the coolant was drained. Along with the installation of the pulley I replaced the Crank Position Sensor O-ring, valve cover gasket, spark plugs, ignition wires, and a Screamin' Demon coilpack which is now off the car with the stock one back on. Nothing against the coilpack It worked great I believe It's a solid upgrade, I just needed the money and wasnt doing enough spirited driving to justify keeping it. Back to the issue at hand. Now my car seems to take double the time to warm up and when I give it a good amount of gas while moving the engine tempurature drops!!!! I understand the pulley makes the water pump spin faster, but shouldnt the thermostat still keep it at the normal tempurature?! I feel like its possible that the faster water pump could be too much pressure for the thermostat spring and blows by it but I cant find anyone else with this problem!!! Its not that big of a problem, but I'd really like to resolve it considering I plan to keep the car till it dies lol. Its a 2003 Mini R53. Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful!! Thankyou!

 

Maybe you need to bleed it more..or the thermostat failed open...I run a 17%...even in subzero temps...steady temp....
There are two bleed valves in the cooling system......one by the rad... The other hidden by the thermostat...
As to WHY it runs different...did you replace the gaskets and make sure you did not pinch any...lots of things could go wrong on a BIG service like you did....

 

I have done quite extensive work on many cars from a Porsche Boxster, a 944 Turbo, The RX-7 rotary engines japanese tuner type cars, etc. This is my first Mini but I feel I'm at a level to understand working on motors and how to properly perform Large tasks, so I'd say as of now improper installation of gaskets and other parts are not as likely as a failed component, but I'm only human, its very possible I made a mistake somewhere. I've blead the coolant system, and feel like if there where air bubbles in the system it would result in overheating, and not overcooling. I would like, however, something a little more solid to go on before I just throw the thermostat out and put a new one in. Are the thermostats on these cars known for failure?? Do the systems tend to be a pain the a** to bleed? seems a little outlandish, but most cars tend to have unique troublesome areas. Any other ideas on whats going on?? BTW my r53 has 115,000 miles on it, anyone know of any common problems that could cause this at this mileage?? Thanks!!

 

I always bled mine using the front bleeder screw and always worked fine. It does sounds like a thermostat, it would be kind of a bad timing, but cars can be asses too sometimes. Like you've said, the water pump is spinning faster, but if the thermostat is closed, spinnig faster won't do much.

The thermostat is a wear item on all cars, so yeah, Minis aren't different on this aspect.

As for the common issue about it, I don't believe so. Most common issues always end up with overheating as you run low on coolant (Coolant expansion tank seperating at the seam and leaky thermostat housing/gasket).

 

Yeah I like the idea of changing the thermostat. Ill try that and post what happens.

 

sounds like you have air in the system.

 

That was my guess...usually results in overheating...but if a airbubble is around the sensor ...who knows..bleeding a mini can be a pia....often done wrong or half azzed....be sure it is done right...THEN throw parts at it....

 

Don't you think your coolant temp sensor is faulty? It's just a $10ish part

 

I had the same heat issue, I just redid the bleed mad it was fine.. with my scangauge2 hooked up he care runs around 198.
does it get hot really quickly or after your idling a while.. maybe it's your rad low speed resistor ?.

 

Ryan, OP's problem is dropping temps, not overheating.
Do you have a scangauge? It'll give you real time digital readings from the OBD to help you learn more about how the cooling system is working. Our stock temp gauge don't tell us anything by constantly sitting in the middle. It's normall to have lower temps when car is running than when idling.

 

It's possible, but I really doubt it. It worked fine before and is too consistent to not be correct.


Idk. I was just gone for the weekend so I havnt had the chance to do anything.
I was wondering what steps you guys take to bleed the system?

All I did was unscrew the bleeder halfway and left the cap off the expansion tank with the car at idle. Any thing else I should do for bleeding?

 

Two bleeders....
One is by the thermostat......
Air will be trapped by the thermostat if you fail to open it...so it may not work right.
Folks often ONLY use the one on the top radiator hose.....and have odd things occur...like you.
You will need to get the motor warmed up...get the thermostat to open....then you can bleed it right...a few rpms tend to help......

 

Stab in the dark I know as this is a very old thread. But did you ever get it figured out? I'm having similar issues. I'm constantly getting air out of the system and tank cap relesing pressure at high rpms. It started after I installed a 17% pulley and replaced the pump and thermostat. It is a 06 JCW