Hey guys/ gals,

I just purchased a 2003 Mini Cooper S in great condition for a very good price. The reason for the good price is that the car overheating light came on on the recent owner so they had it towed home. They said they brought it to a garage and the mechanic claimed that the car would need a new supercharger and water pump which I find very hard to believe. I have yet to take the car apart yet as I need to trailer it to my house still, but I wanted to gain some input from some experienced individuals on what you think. When the person I bought it off of started it up to drive it up the drive way I heard the strange noise which sounded like the pto / water pump gears clinging a little bit. From what I read online I think that the oil may have leaked out of the PTO/water pump end causing the gears to slowly eat each other away eventually leaving the water pump useless. What do you think? Any advice is appreciated! If this is in fact the issue should I just replace the gears or switch to an electric water pump?

Thank you!
FunkyMunkey

 

Yep, sure sounds like the water pump drive assembly has run dry and ground itself into paste. If the engine overheated there is a chance the head is warped as well, depending on just how hot it got before the driver noticed. Not a cheap repair with a rebuilt supercharger going for about $900 plus gaskets, water pump, possible cylinder head repair, etc. Hope you got the car for a song since it might begin to bite you back.

Eric

 

I was worried about that originally too but they said they pulled over immediately after the light went on. How easy is it to rebuild a supercharger yourself? I see the kits to do it and I'm curious.

 

The mechanic is probably right, sure sounds like he is anyway.

I wouldn't bother with an electric waterpump, if you are fixing the s/c it's going to be good for a long time. Or, if it always has oil, will last the life of the car probably

I sent mine out, but from what I've read a few have done it themselves.

This post is pretty informative

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ump-noise.html

 

If you go to the Eaton website they list 3 certified rebuilders in the US. The price about $750.00 is about the same as aftermarket rebuilders and turnaround is quick. I'm going to ship mine out when I hit 200,000. Mine was dry at 165k but amazingly the gears were still perfect. I must have just lost my oil when the water pump went south. The SC oil turned into a hard brown plastic that looked like Bakelite. I cleaned it up an added new oil.

 

Wow that's pretty interesting. I guess I should wait to buy another supercharger until I take it apart and fully find out the issue. Will a JCW or Hartge model supercharger work as a direct fit or will I have issues? I can get a used one for roughly $900 on www.car-part.com. what do you guys think?

 

If you're looking for more HP go for it. If you want a reliable fun car I would do the $750 stock rebuild. You're gonna want the extra money for everything else that goes bad. There's no shortage of things to replace. They're still great cars!

 

Even if you handy with the spanners plan on spending at least a grand plus if it's just the supercharger.

I would not waste the time nor the money on a used supercharger. The process to do this job makes me want to drop kick babies into a pond full of hippos and crocs

If you dig that deep plan on replacing

The water oulet on the block 0-ring
The water pump
The block off plate o-ring behind the supercharger
The thermostat and housing

Plus add a few bucks for misc stuff that will break

 

Hey everybody,
I finished it! The drive gears were completely eaten away due to no oil in the case. I sent it away to a place called superchargersales.com that did an excellent rebuild job with a performance pulley! I also replaced all of the corresponding gaskets and O-rings while I was down there. The car is back together and runs incredible!

Thanks for all of your help!,
Brendan

 

Nice job Brendan... Motor on!

Post a pic.

 

Hey. How much did that place charge for the rebuild?