Well what do you know, I chose the free shipping option when I ordered my clutch on Sunday and it was delivered to my house on Friday! Funny, when I pay for parts to arrive in a timely manner, they have been arriving late which has been slowing my progress since I only get 1 day a week to work on my car.

Full of optimism with having a new clutch and shift cable in hand, I went into the shop thinking I might be able to have the engine/transmission back in the car before I went home. TLDR: no. The powertrain isn't in the car yet.

I slept in until 6:30 and made it into the shop by 7:30 Saturday morning. I decided to start with the shift cable replacement that, thanks to watching ModMini on YouTube, went nice and smooth. I was done in well under 1 hour. I wish I had watched the video prior to my ordering the cable because he states the cables for the newer cars have metal cable ends versus the plastic ends on the older style that my car takes. The newer style cables require the newer style shifter box, which I might have considered ordering for those metal cable ends.

This is the bushing that I broke removing the shift cable last week.


The next task was get the timing cover on the engine. When I removed it 2 weeks ago, I put it in the parts washer for cleaning and in the back of mind, I wondered what effect on the oil pump that might have. I found out. The oil pump gears could not be rotated by my fingers, so now I have to take the pump off the timing cover. I cleaned the gears and pump surfaces and then coated them in oil before reassembly. Looking up the torque specifications in ProDemand for those Torx bolts that fasten the pump the timing cover stated 18 Nm. I thought that seems a bit much for little T10 bolts. Nevertheless, I set my 1/4" torque wrench and got to work. My intuition was right. It was difficult for a flat timing cover to stay still while torquing those bolts and I never hit 18 Nm, in fact 2 of the bolt heads started to strip. I decided 10 Nm should be sufficient and took 2 bolts from my original engine to replace those that wanted to strip. The 10 Nm of torque still seemed like a bit much as I was torquing them, but I was able to reach that torque in all the bolts.

I installed the oil pump seals and timing cover gasket and then noticed the center timing cover bolt hole doesn't have a seal. I reseal many timing covers on a regular basis and they all have means to seal oil from the bolt holes, whether it is a rubber gasket or RTV type sealant. I looked on RealOEM.com and the diagram calls out a bolt with gasket in that center location (it's also longer than all the other bolts). Closer inspection of that bolt and yes, there is a very small rubber gasket on it. Had I known that beforehand, I probably would have ordered a new bolt as that gasket doesn't look like any gasket I've seen on a bolt. Forced to reuse that bolt, I decided to hedge my bets and use the Ford sealant I use on all the engine work I do on that bolt boss and at the joint between the upper and lower engine block.



I put that sealant (Ford TA-357) here:



So now with the timing cover on, I put the front crank seal on and then had to decide which crank pulley to use - the one from my original engine (Genuine Mini, installed in 2014) or the one that came on the donor engine. The pulley from the donor engine had a "Cortico" stamp on the backside but looks identical to mine. I would say they were in equally good condition, so I went with keeping the pulley with the engine.

I've seen threads on how to install the crank pulley. I figured I'd include a picture here:

That's a 3/4" drive socket (I think it's 32mm) that I used to take up the space between the forcing nut and the pulley. I probably could have used a 34mm or 36mm socket instead but I didn't want to dig one out of my toolbox. I keep the 32mm socket handy because I works on the pulley's I deal with on a regular basis.

I noted that there was a washer with the crank bolt from the donor engine that was not present on my original engine. Perhaps I forgot to reinstall it when I replaced that pulley 8 years ago? I decided to use the washer with a new bolt and my reference site said the crank pulley bolt is torqued to 115 Nm. That seems reasonable, so I set my torque wrench and went to it. As I was applying the torque, I heard cracking that turned out to be that washer fracturing from the torque. I backed the bolt out and dug out the fractured/broken washer. RealOEM does not show a washer, so I torqued the bolt without it. I'll admit I never saw 115 Nm because the pulley kept turning even with a strap wrench holding it. My other tool to hold pulleys has pins to engage pulley holes and that kept slipping out in the shallow spaces on the Mini pulley, so a couple quick "braps" with my 1/2" impact wrench and I call it good.

Next, I put the transmission on a cart so I could clean whatever fluid has been leaking in the bellhousing (oil from rear main seal or gearbox oil from the transmission input shaft seal) and then replace the input shaft seal, the shift arm bushings, the throwout bearing guide tube and the throwout bearing.


I could gave cleaned it better that that's all I cared to do.

Now it's time to replace the remaining coolant hoses I didn't have in February when I first intended to complete that particular task. In February, I replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses, the heater hoses and all 3 plastic coolant tees. It was during this repair that I found out there were several more short hoses I did not know about nor came up during my search on FCP Euro. Frustrated that I all my hoses were not going to be new (my first overheat event was that short hose from the water pump outlet to the metal coolant pipe developed a 1 inch split while driving), I found RealOEM.com with this parts diagram and part numbers that I was able to input in my FCP Euro search and got the rest of the hoses (marked in green).


Let me tell you...since I did most of these hoses with the engine and transmission in the car earlier this year, I know what a hassle these are to do in that context. Taking advantage of no powertrain in the vehicle, I had these 6 hoses replaced in about 45 minutes. That time includes using my selection of hose picks to fight with the vulcanized rubber hoses on the metal coolant pipes and then use my wire brush on a grinder to grind that rubber off the pipes so the new hoses will have a nice clean surface to adhere to. In February when I did this, it took about 3 hours, LOTS of frustration and cut/abraded hands and arms.

From this:


To this:


This is how it is in the car:


I was in a very good mood after this and then I concluded the next step is the install my new clutch. A glance at the clock found it to be about 3:45 or so. So I'd have to get the engine off the stand, remove and replace the rear main seal, bolt on the flywheel then clutch disc/pressure plate. Factor about 1 hour of clean up time which means get my car ready to be pushed back outside (radiator core support, bumper and bumper cover back on), put parts back in the boot, move engine and transmission back to the corner, store my other parts in the shop out of the way, put my tools away, push the car outside and wash up.

Well, I'll have to accept I will not achieve my target of having the powertrain hanging in the car today. Then there's the part where next Saturday is a regular work day for me, so my project is on hold for 2 weeks. Since I've got a few minutes before I need to start shutting down, I got my oil filter housing mounted on the new engine (new seal, of course) and the belt tensioner and idler pulley installed. I really want to replace the oil cooler (it's the original cooler to the car, so 19 years old) and one of the radiator push/tab mount things (at the top corners) is broken, so I want to replace them. Also, though I can probably transfer the transmission/engine block alignment dowels, I'll order those (they're like $2), then a new exhaust pipe gasket and nuts. Since I've got 2 weeks to wait, I placed another order to FCP Euro.

What is left to do?
- replace rear main seal
- install the clutch
- mate the engine and transmission
- replace transmission output shaft seals (I've had those for a couple years but have not installed yet)
- put the powertrain assembly in the car
- topoff/fill the gearbox oil (lots of spillage moving the transmission around)
- install rear engine components (starter, exhaust manifold)
- replace fuel injector seals
- install front engine components (intake manifold, supercharger, alternator, A/C compressor, vacuum and fuel lines)
- connect cooling system hoses
- connect shift cables
- install clutch slave cylinder
- install drive axles
- connect wire harness
- replace radiator
- install radiator core support, bumper and bumper cover
- vacuum fill cooling system
- pressure test cooling system
- add engine oil
- connect battery (battery will be on my battery charger all day so it's fully charged for engine starting)
- start engine
- ROAD TEST!!

Honestly, I think this is 1+ days of work for me. It's the little things like routing the wire harness, coolant hoses, fuel and vacuum lines, etc... that slow the reassembly process. You have to consider how parts may move and either secure sensitive things or route them in a manner that movement will not result in damage. Then there's the fact that this is a 19 year old car and coming apart, some of the rubber was fragile, cracking and brittle. I'm thinking about the rubber elbow to the fuel pressure regulator here. Also tightening things properly. I rarely use power tools on reassembly because I like to feel how the fastener is going in by using hand tools. I think the only part I'll use a torque wrench for these steps is torquing the flywheel to the crankshaft and torquing the pressure plate to the flywheel, maybe the intake and exhaust manifolds. With all that considered (and leaving a buffer for the unknowns that I may have to deal with), that is why I estimate I'll need 1+ days to finish. I think May 14 is the day I bring my R53 back to life.

 

And yes. I just saw in that picture that timing cover bolt I made all that fuss about is missing.

Wait. No. That's where the tensioner bolts in. Found this picture:

 

Dependent on the cables we have some of those in aftermarket.

 

Boy, what an ordeal that was! Sixteen weeks after that broken tee let all the coolant out of my engine driving home from work, my car is finally back in my driveway.

TLDR: first drive with new engine, engine overheated. Coolant on the expansion tank again. Expansion tank cap won't hold pressure. Replaced cap and drive. Engine overheated on next, longer road test. Replaced thermostat. R53 is happy again.

Last Saturday (May 14), I did get the Mini running at about 3:30pm. It was not ready to drive yet but I just wanted to hear it run again. Once it was running, I was hustling to finish putting everything back on so I could drive it and at about 4:30, it was ready for the streets. I drove it about 4 miles and as I was pulling back into the shop, the temperature gauge was climbing again. I turned the heater on, popped the bonnet, grabbed my screwdriver and carefully opened the bleeder. I noticed the expansion tank was wet with coolant again and since I had pressure tested the cooling system to 15 psi after vacuum filling it, I knew the expansion tank is sealed and the entire cooling system for that matter is sealed, so I suspect my cap has failed.

I was kicked out of the shop at about 5, frustrated to not be bringing my R53 home. Once I got home, I got online to order a new cap and thermostat. I had meant to order a thermostat for when the engine was out of the car, but after reviewing my order history, I found I had not ordered one amid my chaos of what had become Saturday evening parts orders. Not trusting my normal parts supplier to get these parts to me in a timely manner, I found an online retailer on the west coast that, the week before, had proven they can have parts to my door by midweek*. So I placed my order for an expansion tank with the cap and a thermostat. I found a website where I could get the cap only, but they were near the east coast and once I factored in the cost of expedited shipping and the risk they might not get it to me in time, I was more comfortable ordering from the same supplier that I knew would deliver.

Monday morning at work, I pressure tested my cap and was happy to find it would not hold pressure. I felt like was on the right path. I was thrilled when I got home Tuesday evening to find my parts had been delivered, so Wednesday morning, I pressure tested the new cap to verify it holds pressure (it did), installed it and went for a 6 mile drive. No overheat. I was cautiously optimistic but noted it was in the low 70's at 7 am and I hadn't had the A/C running, so I decided to drive at lunch when the temperature would be in the 90's and I would use the A/C.

I decided on a 20 mile road test that I use to drive cars after I do major engine work. About 7 miles in, the temperature gauge began to climb. I was horrified, frustrated, angry as I turned the heater on and watched the temperature gauge come back down. I had 2 more scares on that drive but got the car back the shop safely. Everything now rests on the thermostat replacement except I don't have time to do that until Saturday, so I parked the car for a couple more days. One of the guys who was in the shop Saturday when I drove in overheating said he thought he smelled headgasket in the coolant - whatever that means. In any case, it put some fear in me that this 75k mile engine might have it own issues. That would be a nightmare scenario. I had replaced every engine seal, replaced all the hoses in the cooling system, replaced the radiator, installed a new clutch, replaced that transmission input shaft seal, broke a shift cable, broke the shift cable bracket while installing the engine back in the car. The thought of having do this again was unbearable.

This morning, I pulled the car into the shop. After being in the shop 6 days per week for all but 2 of the past 16 weeks, this was do or die. It went bad when I broke the pipe that the intake air temperature sensor mounts into as I was moving it for access to the thermostat housing. No time to worry about that right now, I will cobble together whatever is necessary to make that functional-ish so that I can drive this car today.

Things started looking up when I compared the thermostat I just pulled my engine with the new thermostat I had and the thermostat that was on the engine when it was delivered to me. The known good thermostats have a pin looking thing sticking out on the cold side that my suspected failed one does not have. I installed the new thermostat, did a hack repair on that pipe and started the car. This time, I have my code reader connected that also reads live data. I set it so I can watch the ECT pid and set out for that 20 mile road test with the A/C on. I was happy when I passed the point on the freeway that my car overheated the other day with my ECT reading 90 degrees Celsius.

At my turn around point, I pulled over and left the car idling while I had a look under the bonnet. Everything ok. I decided to stress the cooling system a little with redline shifts in second and third gears on the freeway on ramp. ECT hit 93, 94 then dropped back to 90 as I cruised at 70 mph. I decided to stay on the loop until I would hit a street that would lead me back to the shop on surface streets so I could stress the cooling system in stop and go traffic in 90 degree temperatures with the A/C running the whole time. ECT stayed between 89 - 91 for the whole drive. It was a huge relief as I knew I would be bringing the car home today.

I normally install brand new engines when I do engine replacements at my dealership, so I have no concerns whether or not the engine will start when I am ready to try to start it. Putting a used engine in my personal car was different. I was hesitant before I cranked it over. All the work I did over all these past Saturdays, feeling rushed at times. Did I get everything right?

After that long road test, the final test was to lift the car again and check underneath for any leaking fluids. I don't know if I've ever seen my engine so clean. Absolutely dry underneath. Except for power steering fluid. But that repair is just going to have to wait.

Thanks to all you for giving me a place to vent, offer your thoughts and letting me just tell the story.

Cheers and happy motoring!



* I had broken the shift cable bracket on the back of the transmission when I was installing the engine and transmission, so I had to replace that bracket so I can shift my car.

 

What an ordeal man! Its good to see you stuck at it and got her back on the road again. You have excellent story telling skills and this entire thread is a fun read. There is also some very useful information in here for the shade tree diy types that are trying to muddle their way through these same issues themselves. I was actually surprised to find that these cars boil the coolant without the system being pressurized. I have run Fords in the past without radiator/expansion tank caps with no issue. I actually blew a head gasket in an f150 in Baltimore once and drove it back to VA with no issue lol. The head gasket blew between the cylinder and cooling passage and was over pressuring the cooling system. I took the expansion tank cap off and kept driving.

 

👏👏👏

 

Cheers!