From what I've read, there seem to be a few indicators when your crank pulley is on it's way out:
- a burning rubber smell
- accessory malfunctions
- a rattling or fluttering sound
- visible separation

It was also mentioned before that you can't always tell from physical condition.

So! If you have an OEM crank pulley with no symptoms, that looks and feels solid, how much of a heads up will you get before failure?

I do plan to replace it with an ATI one in the future.
I just don't want something blowing up on me unexpectedly.

I've got an OEM pulley on an 05 MCS.
Got the car around 120,000 km and it's now got about 160,000 km.

Any opinions?
Thanks!

 

I bought my R52 in January from a dealer and everything was fine. After an hour and a half drive home, the pulley started to separate. No warning and the rubber looked fine. It's one of those it works great until it doesn't. We both have about the same km. I would replace it asap as it's a known failure point.

 

Haha, well!
I'll take everyone else's silence as agreement.

I just didn't want to get stuck with a sudden failure.

I've got an ATI on order now.

 

I didn't go with the ATI. I instead went with PRW gel filled. A little less $$ than ATI, but reliable insurance.
I've had 3 or 4 of the OEM fail (leaving my wife stranded) within the first 4 years of ownership while still under warranty.
She drove with the AC on and mentioned the smell of burning rubber each time. The OEM pulley's can detonate at any time without any warning. Smell or not.
I've had the Mini for 18.5yrs now, (3yrs with the PRW), I drive with the windows cracked. I smell burning rubber while on the freeway....Although now - from other's 75mph friction scorching tires.

Good move on your part for not waiting for the inevitable.

 

3-4 OEM fail within 4 years. That's incredible bad luck!!! My '06 S still has the original pulley and belt tensioner. Maybe I should replace it soon.

 

From what I read, there is a difference in the stock pre-facelifts. The facelifts last longer.

But it sounds like that doesn't even matter since Here2go confirmed they can fail without warning.

Not worth taking the chance.

Man, my front end rebuild has had major scope creep!
I'm looking forward to getting it off the jack stands

 

Yeah. Mine is a pre-facelift '04 R53 - build date: 3.16.'03. - purchased w/3 mi on the clock.
3-4 years (new) under lease/warranty = Dealer Replaced/failed:
_3) harmonic balancers
_3 - 4) belts
_1) tensioner
_1) passenger window regulator
_4) run-flats
_2) wheel speed sensors
_1) R front strut tower
_2) front struts
_2) outer ball joints
_2) alternator (1st year under lease)
_1) battery (1st year under lease)
_3) ps pumps + fans (none failed but replaced w/each dealer recall notice = 3 times @no cost) + 1) ps pump (4th recall notice) after lease/warranty was up = no charge.

35k mi when lease expired.
Even after all this; I still decided to keep/pay-off the Mini and have been doing 90% of repairs and maintenance myself for the last 13yrs. Now @90K.

 

I should have mentioned; that 1or2 of those pulley replacements were done/ recommended by the dealer, when the alternators were being replaced....but - still?!

 

I Had the same problem this week. Roughly 85F out, had AC on. Car suddenly went into limp mode. Restarted got a few blocks and it happened again. Battery light came on. Shut the car off and took a peek but didn't see anything odd but definitely had a little smoke and burning rubber smell.

Drove it home with AC off and gentle throttle inputs only. My crank pulley still looks ok, and the marks I put on it a long time ago haven't moved. Before reading this thread I had assumed the failure would be rotational about the crank axis. Is the failure mode planar to the crank face? Ie it doesn't rotate about the crank, but it wobbles back and forth (like a bad wheel bearing)?

I had assumed my issue was bely slip thanks to 5k miles on a 17% pulley. I have a new belt arriving tonight and will evaluate my crank pulley again. The picture doesn't do it any favors but the crank looks to be in great shape. It's just dusty.

 

Glad you got the ati. If you plan to keep the car any length of time its the best choice. I split a factory and then a amazon pulley in less than 3 months with the added torque from a tvs900. Now I run a custom one off 4% 8 rib shell on my ati

 

Crank pulley failed. The areas I marked in my picture above are not where it separates. The ribbed portion separates from the main pulley at the back. Fun.

 

Also P1688 OBD2 code. See Mod MINI's video on the subject.

Made it to 50K miles before it completely split in half here. After reading this thread, that might be a longevity outlier. Weak design, clearly. Went with the ATI, standard diameter, and a new bolt and got the remover from MiniMania. Now at almost 67K, no issues at all.