On todays episode of what did Steve do his Mini today after work:

These look really bad.

Much better

Some chemical guys headlight restorer and a buffing pad.. Excellent!!

UPS dropped of the header and the Mail lady brought the rest.

The little H pipe for the heater hoses was a real pain to install. The new one is aluminum so no worries about it breaking.
Drained and transmission oil, I don't think there was 2 qts in there. Filled with the new redline fluid. There was some fine shaving on the plugs but nothing alarming.

No idea when the last oil change was if ever.

Now you can see why I wanted to replace the muffler, there is some chrome missing on the tip. Only kidding, the retaining strap is rusted in 2 and the heatshield is getting bad, the muffler was next. I had to cut the tips of the bracket off to get the rubber mounts off. I got the new bracket installed

I installed the 02 sensors in the new manifold. The exhaust gasket should arrive tomorrow so I can bolt the header on and then start installing the lower frame. The rest of the exhaust should arrive by Saturday.

Any advice on coolant? I lost some from that pipe leaking and replacement, but don't know what kind was in there. Almost like the same color as dexacool.

 

If it never was swapped out, consider a good drain & fresh new coolant

 

Thanks!
Thats look great, nice and clean I think I will go that route.

 

Whats in there now is pink, like GM coolant. I think I will do a good drain and flush and refill with the correct blue stuff. I am going to pick some up on the way home today.

 

My wife wanted me to take a break today and be a husband and father.
I got 2 gallons of the blue mini antifreeze today on the way home and the exhaust gaskets arrived. I will get started on it again tomorrow after work.
The only thing I am waiting on now is the rest of the exhaust system from the cat back. Fingers crossed it comes in this weekend.
I am ready to go test drive!

 

First issue was the new exhaust gasket was missing a hole.



I have it all back together, steering linkage was a real pain to get lined up and back on.
Today I :
Reinstalled the frame,
New coolant
Installed all new exhaust, downstream sensor still throwing a code
Funny idle, really bad at start up. Give it some gas for a minute and then it idles ok. Turn on the AC and the whole cars shakes again. No codes except the 02 sensor. I reset the ECU but no big difference.
AC compressor comes on but no cold air, pretty sure it has a leak and the past owner filled it up before I bought it.

My back and hips hurt so bad from rolling around on the concrete all day but it's back together.

 

I am almost sure the car sat for a while so I ordered new injectors. Thinking of cleaning the throttle body too.
The 02 sensor code is lean so I'm thinking one of the injectors might be clogged up.
I also ordered a new AC compressor, drier and expansion valve. I am going to put the AC machine on it at work and see what the pressures are.

 

What an interesting turn of events.
I went to the corner store and filled it up with premium and took it for a drive. The check engine went out and it idles perfectly now. I am so excited!!
It shifts a lot better since I changed the transmission oil too.
Now to get the AC working and hopefully the dang airbag light off.

 

AC is working better, I put purple power on the condenser and pressure washed it. It was super nasty, I am going to check the charge level tomorrow.
I pressure washed the engine compartment, looks much better.

Before Lots of stuff in the paint, felt like 80 grit sandpaper.

I took a clay bar to it. Then some medium grit compound with a rotary buffer and then 2 rounds of polish. I then topped off with carnauba wax. Not perfect but a million times better,

 

Good work again, keep it up!

 

That was a fun ride to work, car purred like a kitten all the way. I did find it’s hard to hold a big cup of coffee in your lap and shift with size 13 feet and steel toe work boots on. Most of the side marker lights along with the back up light are not working. I will pick up some bulbs on the way home. I do have an oil leak and it looks like it is coming from the oil filter housing. I am going to hook the AC machine to it this afternoon and see what the charge level looks like. She is a work in progress.

 

Thanks, it’s a labor of love for sure.
Very fun to drive, just got to get the last few bugs worked out.

 

I see you used that black to black wipe crap... I used to waste my time with that stuff too until I found stuff called bumper / trim paint and it's the EXACT color of our moldings when brand new . On one of my mini I removed and replaced ALL of that trim because I got sick of applying that black to black product and having it last but a month tips.

 

I use forever black, got it on Amazon. It’s a dye that works great. I used it on my wife’s H2 hummer last spring and it still looks great.

 

We put the AC machine on the car and it was low on Freon BUT the compressor is also weak. It's a good thing I already ordered new stuff. I have a pretty good oil leak on the passenger side, funny thing is it never leaked idling in the driveway. The harmonic balancer is dry, thinking oil filter housing gasket. Think I will do the crank sensor when I drop the AC compressor. Hard to see a specific location looking from the top.

 

I ordered a new oil pan gasket, new oil filter housing gasket and the crank sensor o-ring. Valve cover looks dry and I’m not ruling out the timing chain cover or harmonic balancer seal but they seem dry too. Its really hard to see everything with the car on the ground and oil everywhere. Replacing the ac compressor so it just seemed logical to go ahead and do the pan and sensor o-ring at the same time. If this doesn’t stop it I guess the timing chain cover and gasket will be next.

I should have done the oil filter housing gasket when I had the lower frame out. Oh well. It will be a great car once I get the AC working correctly and it free bleeding oil.

 

There's an old saying in England that "if an English car is not leaking oil, then it's out of oil"!

Great thread. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks!
I have been a mechanic for almost 30 years, I heard about mini's not being reliable, leaking oil and hard to work on. We owned 2 BMW's and they were junk so I was very hesitant. They have their little quirks, like front end service mode for dang near everything. They are unique, fun to drive and really not that bad to work on. I have become quite a fan of these little cars already.

 

When you're done, what will you do with all of the free time? I'm envious that you're already driving yours. Am hoping for a road test this weekend.

 

Is a vehicle ever really done?
I only drove it to once since it leaks like the Exxon Valdese. I will drive it Friday to vacuum down the AC system. Thinking of new bushings for the rear now that the front is good.
I will finish up my 07 Escalade ESV. You can find my work here: https://www.cadillacforums.com/threa...nture.1092929/
I also have a 1979 Ford F100 that belonged to my late father in-law that I need do some work too.

 

I pulled it onto our parking pad and I brought my inspection mirrors from work. The oil filter and housing is all dry, the crank sensor is also dry. The alternator, the tension pulley, the belt and everything around in that area is also dry. At this point I am almost 99% percent sure its the oil pan gasket. It still may be the crank seal / timing chain cover but I'm not thinking so at this point.

Where is the PCV valve at? The one down low between the intake runners? I am wondering if that might be clogged and building back pressure into the crankcase.

 

Decided to go ahead and order and serpentine belt tool. Looks like this car is staying for a while. The oil filter base gasket came in, man that thing is a lot smaller then I was expecting.
I got it up on jack stands and ready to start putting it in front end service mode. I went ahead and ordered the Mini harmonic balancer puller. That way I have all the bases coved on getting the oil leaking stopped.

 

I wish I had bought a better puller for the harmonic balancer. The one I bought works but none of the bolts that came with it fit the stock harmonic balancer. So I had to figure out the right length bolts to buy. And the stock harmonic balancer on my 2003 didn't look like any in the photos I found online. Not a big deal but inconvenient.

Compared to other things you've done, the oil pan gasket is a piece of cake. I hope that takes care of it for you.

 

The h balancer is a weak point on these cars. Look into the ati balancer (aftermarket). Maybe worth it. Everyone seems to love it here…

the Pcv is on the passenger side valve cover, front

 

I ordered an Laser-6142 puller off Amazon especially for Mini's, 2 weeks to get it shipped in from the UK. .
Looking at this photo there does seem to be oil seepage coming from under the pulley.

The previous owner already replaced the stock balancer with an SFI unit.

The passenger side window wouldn't roll down yesterday. It was clunking but no movement. There is a few other things I found that I need to acquire or replace. Both the locking tabs on the battery box box cover are broken off, the upper heat shield for the exhaust was gone when I bought the car. The plastic cover for the fuel rail is also missing. Just little things but I want to make it correct.