R50/53 35000 Mile Service
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,266
Likes: 3
From: Northern New Jersey
35000 Mile Service
My 03 S has 35000 miles so I figured that I'd have Morristown Mini check things out before it goes off warranty. Fortunately (or unfortunately) yesterday the drivers side window motor crapped out so I was lucky I had the appointment. I also asked them to check the cold start and brakes.
As for the cold start they said Mini told them to check the fuel pressure regulator. It is under the intercooler so it's hard to check easily but mine was cracked and leaking fuel. I won't know till tomorrow if the cold start was fixed but I am glad we found this now and changing it can only help. They said it was an upgraded part as well as a bunch of these have failed.
It also turns out that the brake shoes were under the 3mm minimum so they did a complete disk and rotor change. The front right caliper had a rip in the boot so that changed that too. Interestingly bleeding the brakes did not go as smooth as I would like. They used a power bleeder and ran over two gallons of brake fluid through before we decided to stop. The tech says that is not unusual. Really? Two gallons per brake bleed? We looked really close and decided air was coming in at the bleeder and when we tightened the bleeder almost all the way the bubbles just about stopped. The pedal is hard and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas? Clearly two gallons is more than the entire capacity of the system. For my time I got a brake fluid flush in the bargain but I would have preferred not to have spent the time.
Let me say that thoughout this TJ at Morristown Mini (NJ) was great. He never balked that I was looking over his shoulder and was apologetic that he was taking so long. I suggest that anyone coming up on 36000 make an appointment to have their brakes checked under warranty. I am gentle on the brakes so I figure that most at that point will be under the minimum and getting a free brake job seems to me like a great deal.
So. Any ideas about the bleeding problem? And I'll let you know if the regulator fixes the cold start. I should know early tomorrow morning.
Rich
As for the cold start they said Mini told them to check the fuel pressure regulator. It is under the intercooler so it's hard to check easily but mine was cracked and leaking fuel. I won't know till tomorrow if the cold start was fixed but I am glad we found this now and changing it can only help. They said it was an upgraded part as well as a bunch of these have failed.
It also turns out that the brake shoes were under the 3mm minimum so they did a complete disk and rotor change. The front right caliper had a rip in the boot so that changed that too. Interestingly bleeding the brakes did not go as smooth as I would like. They used a power bleeder and ran over two gallons of brake fluid through before we decided to stop. The tech says that is not unusual. Really? Two gallons per brake bleed? We looked really close and decided air was coming in at the bleeder and when we tightened the bleeder almost all the way the bubbles just about stopped. The pedal is hard and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas? Clearly two gallons is more than the entire capacity of the system. For my time I got a brake fluid flush in the bargain but I would have preferred not to have spent the time.
Let me say that thoughout this TJ at Morristown Mini (NJ) was great. He never balked that I was looking over his shoulder and was apologetic that he was taking so long. I suggest that anyone coming up on 36000 make an appointment to have their brakes checked under warranty. I am gentle on the brakes so I figure that most at that point will be under the minimum and getting a free brake job seems to me like a great deal.
So. Any ideas about the bleeding problem? And I'll let you know if the regulator fixes the cold start. I should know early tomorrow morning.
Rich
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