The leak is not coming from the radiator. Today I put the service mode bolts in and pulled the radiator assembly out a bit. Applying a little pressure to the cooling system showed that the leaking coolant had run down onto the radiator but it wasn't the source. I tried for a little while to avoid a lot of disassembly but I just couldn't see the source -- too many components in the way. So I removed the supercharger but left the water pump in place (removing the water pump bolts in place is a little tricky but not too bad). That allowed me to see exactly where the leak is: the back of the water pump. It's a brand new, genuine MINI water pump so that's disappointing but these things happen. I'm hopeful that the vendor will step up and take care of it. They have a good reputation on NAM for customer service.




Since I'm in a holding pattern on that, I installed the new coil pack, wires and plugs. I went with blue wires to match the car. Just a subtle hint of color under the hood.



I don't know when the plugs were last replaced but it looks like they were due.



This weekend I'll probably start doing some cleanup on the interior. It needs a good wipe down and some Q-tips behind the ears.

Speaking of the interior, since this is going to be a summer-only car, I want to replace the rubber floor mats with carpet mats or something similar. When I search, almost all of the options are rubber. Any good suggestions for non-rubber mats?

 

Check out coco mats. They are literally the best

 

Sorry to hear about the water pump.. man that sucks. Your doing great, I’m impressed!
Love the color combo.

 

Thanks, ChiefM. What I lack in skill, I attempt to makeup for with enthusiasm and dogged determination.

Still waiting to hear how the vendor is going to handle the defective water pump. So yesterday I had time to think. About half the time that ends up costing me money. Case in point: I decided to replace the radiator. I just don't know how much gunk, from the oil in the coolant, might be in the passages. With "better safe than sorry" in mind, I ordered a Mahle-Behr replacement. Cheap insurance. I also ordered the Dorman low-speed fan resistor. BTW, there's a 62-page thread on NAM pertaining to the low-speed fan problem. No, I didn't read all of it.

 

HA !!
I do the same thing. What about this, maybe I should replace that. I read a post about the harmonic balancers wanting to grenade so I ran outside to see what I had on the car! I already checked to see if the high and low speed works on mine.

 

Today I removed the radiator and fan assembly from the modular front end. Then removed the fan resistor module. The resistor is completely dead with bits breaking away. No need to check operation. And recalling yesterday's post, I ordered new lower and upper radiator hoses.

ChiefM - you should absolutely replace your radiator. Then I can tell my wife I had to replace mine because you replaced yours. You can do the same. And we both keep our fingers crossed that our wives don't join NAM.

 

I was already planning on the radiator, the fan, thermostat and housing and upper and lower hoses. I am also thinking a new fuel pump. I am going to collect parts over the winter and do it in the spring. I bought it and then tore it apart and ordered parts, drove it one day to work and then tore it apart and ordered more parts. Hopefully this seal will be the last part and I can drive it for more than just one time. I keep telling my wife it's better to do it now instead of it breaking is we are on vacation, problem is we are taking a cruise in June. She has a 2018 Escalade, a 2004 Hummer and a 2012 C300 Benz sport and not real impressed with the Mini. There is no chance of her ever joining NAM.

 

Not much time today. I tested the power steering pump fan. It works. The radiator fan resistor arrived so I prepped it for installation. Too tired to do the soldering. No rush -- the new radiator is still several days away.

Yesterday, I did a static pressure test on the AC. No pressure on low or high side. That might have something to do with the AC not blowing cold. I probably won't dig any deeper until next Spring. With no pressure, I assume that it needs more than a simply recharge.

 

Some progress yesterday and today but not as much as I had hoped. I ordered new upper and lower radiator hoses to avoid polluting the new radiator (which arrived yesterday). Both upper hoses arrived but the lower hose did not. So I'm stalled until at least Monday.

Yesterday after work I installed the replacement water pump which allowed me to put almost everything back together. Today, I installed the new low speed fan resistor. Both fan speeds now work. Am very happy about that. Then I reassembled the modular front end, including the new radiator.

If only I had the lower radiator hose I could fill with coolant and give it a go. Fingers crossed that my patience will be rewarded...

 

Congrats on the progress! I am sure everything will turn out great.
I am twiddling my thumbs till mine gets done. I will do my radiator, hoses, fan, resistor and water pump later, I will just collect parts for now and install all that in the spring. I think I will replace the wheel bearings next and see if I can get rid of that noise at 60 MPH. See if I can get rid of that annoying air bag light too.

 

Still waiting for the lower radiator hose. It arrived in the Twin Cities early this morning -- SIX DAYS after it left California. Must've taken the scenic route. At last check, it still hadn't moved from St. Paul. It's only about 2.5 hours from here so I'm hopeful for a Tuesday delivery.

 

Test drive success!

The lower radiator hose arrived today. Installed it, filled the system with coolant, and ran on jack stands for a while. No leaks or other problems so I put the car on the ground and took it for a very short test drive. Temperature gauge stayed at the midpoint. Low-speed fan came on a couple of times. It worked over the weekend when I applied power to the leads but this is the first actual test. I bled the system with the bleeder on the upper radiator hose and took it for another short drive. No change in the temperature gauge. As far as I can tell so far, no coolant in the oil either (that was the original problem that caused the previous owner to sell). I'm very happy with this though I'm not yet ready to declare job done.

The only negative is that the heater was not blowing hot air. More like lukewarm. So I need to bleed the heater core. Will look at that tomorrow after work. Then maybe I'll actually take the car off of our residential street.

One other thing that I don't understand. When I had it running on stands, in neutral, the front right tire was turning. It was very slow and there was no power behind it. I could stop it with my hand but then it would begin again. Any thoughts on what would cause that?

 

YAY!!!
Glad you got it together with no more issues. I am guessing it's a stick so the tire rotating is not an issue. The clutch, pressure plate and flywheel are so close it transfers a little of the engine rotation to the driveline. I am happy for ya.

 

After work today, I put the front bumper back on and took the car for a test drive outside the neighborhood. I guess I did about 20 miles, without getting too far from home to limp back if anything went wrong. But nothing did -- it performed very well. Temperature stayed at the midpoint of the gauge, it idled well and pulled hard, and the sound is amazing. I decided that all cars I own from now on must be supercharged.

Next up: flush the cooling system one more time; and run LiquiMoly Engine Flush through it and change the oil. Then it's time to get serious about cleaning.

 

Good for you!!
I owned an 02 Ford Lightning and the sound of of the supercharger was amazing and it was insanely fast. I think my next mini will be an S convertible. I can't even imaging driving one of these with a supercharger.

 

Took it out a couple more times today. First time to fill it with fresh gas and a bottle of BG 44K. Second time to NAPA to get more coolant so that I can do one more flush. Temperature is still good even though this time I was a little more aggressive with the throttle.

This morning, I made an appointment to have the power steering recall done at Mini of Madison, which is 140 miles away. So I want to do enough driving in the next few days to feel confident taking it that far. Unfortunately, that's the nearest dealer.

I wonder if some of the noise I hear on bumps is due to the engine mount. I don't see any fluid under the mount but the engine bay is so dirty that it's difficult to tell if there may have been a leak at some point. How else can one tell if the mount has failed? If I have to replace it, is there an alternative to OEM that doesn't introduce additional vibration? I'm leary of poly engine mounts for that reason. Here's a photo (apologies for the filth -- making the engine bay pristine is on my list):



Have a new fuel filter inbound -- thanks CRC. That's the last filter I haven't yet changed.

 

Is that a stock mount? Does not look like the ones I’ve seen

scroll down a few treads discussion about mounts and some options…

 

It's the stock mount for the early cars. Thanks for the pointer to the other thread.

 

You have the other piece too, right? The portion that has a mount on the strut tower behind it. I think I see the lower bolt on it. How are the bushing on it?

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure how sound the rubber is -- I'll have to examine more but I don't have anything to compare it to. The rubber on the upper strut mounts seems very hard so I wouldn't be surprised if the engine mount rubber has suffered a similar fate.

For the 2002-2003 cars, there is no portion that attaches to the strut tower. As I understand it, that's a separate part.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-en...4-r50-r53.html
https://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-up...3-r50-r53.html

If I replace the mount, I'm considering the Vibra Technic unit. Would like to see more reviews concerning the NVH on 2002-2003 cars.

 

Today was a big day. Since I installed the new oil filter housing to address the problem with coolant getting into the oil, I've driven the car about 50 miles and had it idling on jack stands for about another hour. In that time, I haven't seen evidence of coolant in the oil (on the dipstick or when looking in the fill location) but I couldn't be sure. Today, I put a can of LiquiMoly Engine Flush in the crank case, let the car idle for 12 minutes, and then dropped the oil. No milkshake! I should have taken a photo of what the oil looked like when I got the car. It was a deluxe malted milkshake. I'll continue to keep an eye on the oil for a while to be sure but I feel good about this.

 

That is awesome news! I'm glad you got it back together and no more issues with the oil.
I called the shop yesterday afternoon and mine won't be done till Monday. Going to be a rainy this weekend so I couldn't work on her anyway.

 

On Thursday, I'm taking the car to the nearest MINI dealer for the power steering recall. It's 140 miles each way. So I've been doing regular shakedown cruises to try to avoid unpleasant surprises on the trip. I think it's basically sound but have noticed a few things:

-- Occasionally, it stumbles momentarily. It only lasts for a second and then everything is fine. It's often accompanied by the Service Engine Soon light which then goes out after a couple of seconds.

-- There's a knock or deep tap that sounds like it's coming from the left side of the engine (transmission side). It is not loud but can be heard inside the car. The frequency increases with the throttle. It stops when the clutch is depressed. Does that last fact mean it's time for a new clutch? If so, I think I'll go with the Valeo kit with single mass flywheel. Advice/thoughts appreciated.

-- Perhaps most worryingly, it's possible that some coolant is still getting into the oil. I have very little evidence so far, and perhaps am being hyper vigilant and a little paranoid. Today it appeared that there was a little bit of milkshake on the bottom of the fill cap. Will know more after Thursday. Since the oil filter housing/oil cooler have been replaced. That was definitely a problem but maybe not the only problem. I guess a head gasket is the next candidate. A lot of labor but at least the parts aren't expensive and it's a good learning opportunity.

 

Hopefully it is just some residue left in the block. It might take an oil change or 3 to get everything out of the engine. I don't know if I was either paranoid or ecstatic because I went out and checked under my car like 6 times yesterday just to make sure it wasn't leaking.

 

I just purchased a set of factory black carpet floor mats. They are still available from the dealer and third parties.