Dropped the Mini off yesterday to get crank seal replaced and I won't get it back till Monday. I am already having Mini withdraws. Went ahead and detailed my Escalade since I have been ignoring it last last few weeks.

New upper heat shield will be delivered today. I have a couple of things in my cart at Allmag. New thermostat housing with thermostat will be in on Thursday. I have a weird drive noise, that comes in at around 58 and stops at around 62 MPH. Not a grinding but a like a hum. Thinking I might have a bad wheel bearing assembly somewhere.

 

I hope the mechanic is able to avoid replacing the crank pulley.

Thermostat replacement on gen 1 cars is so much easier than on gen2. I've done two gen2 thermostats and will be very happy if I don't have to do it again. There's a special place in hell for whoever decided the position of the clip that holds the water pipe to the thermostat housing. But I digress.

With any luck you'll be motoring on Monday.

 

Me too!! He said he has seen it before and they have a special heating tool that will heat it up without using a regular torch.
The thermostat and housing look pretty easy. The heat shield was delivered yesterday so I can put that on when I get it back, hopefully tomorrow.
The only good thing not having the Mini to play with is I got caught up on around the house chores like weedeating around the property and cleaning vehicles. I still need to wash our motorhome but that's an almost day long project, might do that next weekend.

 

Probably using induction, I have seen that once before. Only heats up the thing that you need to safely, no open flame

 

YES that's it!
I was drinking my first cup of coffee and could not remember. I should not post when I am still half asleep.

 

Thats a cool piece of kit

 

They have her on the rack and are working on her, don’t know if I will get her back today or not. It’s looking more like tomorrow. It’s fine as long as it’s fixed and I don’t have to buy a new balancer. Fingers crossed.

 

I ran by the auto repair place after work and he was working on it but having the same results as I was. Well the balancer is really stuck onto the crankshaft. He broke 2 bolts and it still didn't budge. He said he can get it off but I will need a new balancer, so I ordered a new one but it won't be in till Thursday. Also ordered a new bolt too, just to be safe. Looks like I will be without the car for a few more days.

The tech and I started talking and he said it seems like you are a car guy, why in the world would you to buy a mini cooper? I just laughed and said my wife asked me the same question. I was big into Pontiac Fiero's many years ago. I could have just bought a jeep like most motorhome people but I wanted something different. I love this little car already and it will be awesome when I get it the way it should be.

 

Here is my baby on the lift at the repair facility.

Fingers crossed that I get her back by the weekend.

 

All my repair parts are supposed be delivered today. Hopefully no more issues and I can get her back before the weekend.

 

The mailman dropped off my new balancer this afternoon!! Dropped it off at the repair shop. Hope to hear it is done tomorrow.

This arrived today too and will install when I get my car back. I also have a new upper heatshield.

 

So they were able to remove the old harmonic balancer? (Sorry if I missed that.) I'm sure you'll notice smoother running with the new one. Hope you get it back tomorrow.

 

They went and got more case hardened bolts and it still would not move. They were waiting till I brought them the new one to heat it up with a torch. I told them it was fluid filled so to be careful.

 

I got my baby back today!!!
The first thing the owner said when I got there was get your car and don't ever bring it back. He was kidding, well sort of. He said once they got it off the crank was perfect but there was scratches on the timing cover from when the factory pulley failed. Not bad or deep enough to warrant replacing it.


They had to weld the slide hammer to the balancer to get it off.

 

Excellent. Seems to me I've read similar quotes on NAM from other mechanics. At least you got an unusual souvenir. Might make a nice lamp.

 

I let them keep it.
I drove the old girl to work this morning and NO more oil leaks!! Rain is in the forecast till Thursday so probably won’t be able to work on her till this weekend. I am so glad to finally have it back and no oil leaks. Keep getting a engine temp below temp check engine light when I drive it in the mornings, hopefully the new thermostat will fix that. Then I can work on getting the airbag light to stay out.

 

Before

After

They are not on there perfectly but it makes the rims look much better anyway. I was able to make them look a little better after I took the pic.
I installed the new heat shield today along and the red reflector that was missing from the drivers door.
It's super nice not having a plate size puddle of oil under the car when I park it.

 

To paraphrase an old commercial: No more oil leaks -- priceless.

 

Just rolled to158 thousand miles today.
No work on her tonight because at work I did a steering column and dash pull on an 08 Ford F150 to replace a heater core. Not feeling it.

 

I installed a new thermostat and housing this afternoon. It did have a thermostat and it wasn't stuck open. Do these have 2 temperature sending units? One for the gauge and one for the ECU? The regular gauge is showing normal temps, about half way. I don't know why I would get a cold engine temp code in the mornings unless there are 2 separate sending units. Very strange.

 

The gauge in the cluster shows “middle” for a range of temps. What does inpa temp say? Or other obd readout?

temps should be around 96 c. They will climb at idle to 105 (low speed fan), then 112 (high speed fan)

 

I can’t get INPA to work because I keep getting an error message. I want to get that working but have no had time to really mess with it. I didn’t use my OBD scanner when I was running the car. I got a disheartening phone call that a combat buddy had taken his life. Needless to say working on the Mini ended for the day.

It comes on when I am driving into work but I didn’t drive it today to see if the new thermostat fixed it. I have it already set up on the parking pad so I can install the new expansion valve this weekend.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend. We don't do nearly enough to help veterans with their mental health.

 

Thanks!
I agree, I had some issues for over a year and the Army doctors never figured it out. It finally took my great civilian doctor to figure it all out and get me on the right path. I have a great wife that stood by me and helped me thru it. She is my rock.

I am going to try and finish the AC stuff tomorrow and then see what part number airbag controller I have so I can get that light fixed.

 

I went out this morning with every intention of changing out the expansion valve. After finding it hiding in the engine compartment and looking at might be involved I decided against it. I would basically be doing it by feel and I didn't want to risk messing anything up. I will charge it up on Monday and see how well it works. I did change my injectors, seems to start a lot better cold. It has never started on the first turn of the key, even after waiting for the fuel pump to prime. It even seems to idle better.

Good news is there is still no oil leaking!! It is totally dry under there for the first time, probibly in a very long time.