@ECSTuning ,

Quick question...after reading through a lot of the forums here related to water pumps...obviously OEM Mini water pump kit is more expensive than others but it looks like they use a composite impeller whereas a few of the others you sell use a metal impeller. They all seem to need replacing every 3 - 5 years from what I'm seeing in the forums. Thoughts?

Compression testing on a cold engine will produce numbers slightly lower than a hot engine. Your objective is to get numbers within 10 PSI or so of each other. Any large deviation is an indication of a leak. Cranking the engine with a dry oil pan isn't a good idea, 'specially if the engine hasn't been run for awhile. Lotsa bearing surfaces are at risk, and the cams don't have replaceable bearings, just journals.

Thank you..decided to give a compression leak down test a shot and see how that goes...but I need to know what the numbers should be close to before I try that. I'm not in a hurry since I shot my quick / ready savings to buy it cash. Plan is to have it up and running by the end of Aug/Sep.

CR numbers will depend on whose equipment you use. My Harbor Freight set usually produces about 140 PSI and sometimes lower, while my tuner's set produced the recommended numbers of 160. Expect lower for a cold and dry engine. Main thing is minimum variation between cylinders.

Awesome...was planning on getting the Harbor Freight set based on a few reviews I saw on YouTube.

Hello, just get a metal exterior(most all are that now), (old ones were plastic and leak) some people prefer the metal impellar, just a little more insurance over the composite impellar. I have not seen a metal impeller ones fail yet.

Well...finally got a look at the intake valves...not as bad as some I've seen but not as clean as I'd like them to be.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...0f908a94d8.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...e073f6f238.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...50f8787950.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...a06f852615.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...abe92c6636.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...b3493f7a44.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...1c277fc3ea.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...637d9d26b9.jpg

On fifth picture, valve stem looks a slight bent, is that just the camera angle paradox or is it really bent? Should try to confirm.

I think it was just the camera...but I'll go back and check anyway. I'm thinking about just going ahead and doing a head job to be on the safe side and have all the valves checked in the process.

You really don't need to do a head job unless a compression check proves there's abnormalities with any of the cylinder. Have you ever a chance to check the compression numbers?

Not yet...but it's on my list for this weekend...possibly today...it'll be a leak down test at this point.

Update on my progress. Decided to go ahead and pull the head. It looks like someone attempted to do a head gasket replacement and they may have even replaced the timing chain. All the head bolts were very easy to take off. I don't believe they were torqued to specs...if they were the sure came out a lot easier than I expected.

Anyway...ready to take the head to the local shop who specializes in nothing but head repairs.

Removed the main seal and ready to put that back in next weekend or sooner depending on how soon he can finish giving the head a good check.

Still need to remove the water pump and put the new one and gasket on.

More to follow.

Water pump crossover tube's gasket was shot and gasket on the water pump was also shot. Have new water pump ready install along with new gasket and crossover tube. Will do that later this week while the head is being checked out/cleaned.

I got good news from the head shop. He couldn't find any problems with the head, all valves are in good working order, he cleaned it and said it's ready to pickup and be reinstalled.

Question: The Bentley manual and the Newtis website show a tool for reinstalling the crankshaft pulley that essential bolts to the pulley and is used as counter leverage when you torque the crank shaft bolt. I've seen several YouTube video's that don't show anyone using this tool. Is it needed or with the flywheel locking tool hold everything securely enough to torque the crank bolt correctly?

When the engine is still in the car, this is the best tool to use when torquing the crank center bolt. If the engine is on a bench or stand, without the tranny, it's possible to hold the flywheel, or that end of the crank, with a different tool, while torquing the center bolt. Getting the added 180 deg of rotation on this bolt takes some serious torque and is difficult to do while keeping the crank from rotating. Failure to add the 180 deg rotation can lead to the bolt working loose and causing timing to be lost, destroying valves and possibly pistons too. I had this happen --- cost me another $2K in rebuild costs. There are other "work-arounds" but I don't recommend them. I've seen where one guy built his own counter-support tool --- saved a few dollars.

Thank you for the feedback. I'll get with Pelican tomorrow and order the tool. I found a few similar tools on Amazon but they're all short and seem to need some sort of extension. If I had time I'd make my own...I'm racking up quite a few unique tools working on my Mini's :)...but I enjoy working on them and am still saving money at the end of the day.

I used one of the cheap eBay ones. Had a 3/8 square hole in the bottom and I just put another wrench in it.

I considered the cheap one's on Amazon...didn't look at eBay...should have but I've got the one from Pelican Parts on order. I've been able to save money in other areas and I'm pretty sure this isn't my last 2nd Gen MCS...I'm probably going to target a GP in the future and will likely have many of the same repairs to make....at least that's what I keep telling myself :).

Thank you Pelican! My tool arrived today and wasn't supposed to arrive until Tuesday next week. I know now why it's so expensive...very well made and weighs about 8 lbs. It's a huge chunk of metal wrench. A lot bigger than it looks in the pictures. Got my head back today so I'm ready now to start putting her back together. I'm guessing about two weekends at my pace and to make sure I don't skip any steps.

Not a lot of progress on Saturday due to a mistake I made on one of the fuel injectors when I was resealing them. Note to self...always watch the video again to see how the tool is supposed to work when using a special tool. Wound up ruining one of the Teflon seals for the first fuel injector I worked on. Got the other three done right and have reinstalled them in the head. I'll wait on the new seal to arrive from Pelican this week before I reinstall the head.

Also waiting on new bolts for the camshaft exhaust/intake sprockets. These should be included on any timing chain kit since they should be replaced...at least according to the Bentley manual.

I also replace the water pump and used Loctite (blue) on the 10mm bolts...torqued to specs. New gaskets on the heat exchange and oil filter housing with Loctite torqued to specs and installed on the block...also torqued to specs with Loctite...you would think they'd have one more bolt on the oil filter housing...the placement of the four bolts seem problematic for a good seal but I'm not an engineer.

I should make a lot of progress next weekend...or sooner if I've got time in the evenings to get it back together.

Does anyone know if you need to replace the fuel line from the fuel rail to the HPFP? I did not remove the fuel line that needs the special tool to remove which I know they recommend you replace.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...1242d1066f.jpg
This is the fuel line I removed when I took the fuel rail off the intake side of the head.

There is contradicting information out there, but I found one that said it's ok to reuse up to 10 times or so. Make sure to get a crow foot socket and torque to spec. Don't go too crazy on loctite on everything, but rather torque to spec.

On the bolts: the center bolts as well as the two camshaft ones are TTY. Maybe that's the reason why they can only be sourced from OEM and may not be part of generic timing sets.

I used rmeuropean as parts source. Great prices and very fast shipping.

Correction: newtis says to replace:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/r...-lines/HpNkxT1

Some folks re-use their lines with success.

Bentley says: replace high pressure fuel lines when tightened more than ten times (130-44).

Choose your destiny.

I've re-used my fuel line a couple times, but always use TLC when installing / removing it. Tighten both ends, gradually, by hand to ensure proper alignment, then torque to spec. Avoid bending it.

I'm going to go ahead and try to reuse the fuel line first. I'll definitely take my time and start both ends and take my time to tighten them slowly and cautiously to make sure I don't cross thread anything. I'm also not going to overdo my use of Loctite...but wanted to use it on a few of the parts that have rubber/silicone gaskets. Taking my time to slowly torque them to specs...I snug all of them by hand and then slowly tighten them in a cross pattern until they are torqued to specs. I will not be using Loctite on the internal bolts..but may consider them for the valve cover. I think it'll be another weekend before I can get back to working on it due to some other commitments.