PS The mechanic said a few interesting things that I'm not sure I agree with.
1. He does not trust rebuilds and said that a new SC was necessary to fix the problem.
2. He said that the pump affected here is only for coolant for the SC and that another, separate water pump is located elsewhere for the rest of the engine components. I'm almost sure that this is wrong but correct me if he's right.[/QUOTE]

I would find myself a new mechanic as quickly as possible

 

1. New might be slightly better, but not worth the cost
2. Time for a new mechanic. There is no 'separate water pump' - the SC has oil front and rear, it is not water cooled. The only water pump for the car is driven off the SC.

 

What that mechanic meant when he said, "the pump affected here is only for coolant for the SC and that another, separate water pump is located elsewhere for the rest of the engine components." is that the other H20 pump is located in his A$$.

I'd go to someone who knows Mini.

If you opt for the Electric Pump, please document the process for us fellow Mini drivers. I myself expect my S/C to go at some point and already have a spare on stand-by.

 

I'm likely going to do a collaborative how-to with oxybluecoop, as long as he provides me with instructions I'm going to do a very thorough picture session throughout and create a nice little instruction pdf with directions and pictures that anyone can follow. This will be payment for any info you guys can provide that might help me get through the process!

 

#1: His opinion, your money - did he say how many bad rebuilds has he dealt with?
#2: You're right, he's wrong. AND that's the most hilarious thing I've heard all week - thanks for sharing and brightening my day - I'd have been ROFL right in the shop, just before getting in the car and leaving - for good. This guy needs reported to the BBB before he rips someone else off.

 

I could pretty much do everything I need to do if I got this far, short of perhaps setting up the electric pump itself. What needs to be done to remove the front end of the engine compartment like this? Also I got the idea that I would attempt to remove one of the gears on the existing pump but then replace it afterwards, nonfunctional. This way the unused pump would act as a plate to cover the opening so I wouldn't have to have one made. Then I could find a new place to install the electric pump and not worry about the SC at all.

 

Seeing as how your mechanic is woefully wrong about #2, that puts his expertise about #1 in question.

 

Okay, so I did it myself. I'm down to the first picture on the second post up, but I still have not taken off the water pump (due to weird circumstances about not having the right tools, location, etc.) but I will early tomorrow morning. I have taken an extreme amount of pictures documenting the removal of every little screw and detachment of every wire, and of course I plan to create a step by step narrative of the procedure (and actually post it ). As long as the noise turns out to be the gears and not something unknown, I'm going to remove the current pump, place a plate that I am going to have made over the opening, and then affix in the same general area a new electric pump. Right now, I'm leaning toward purchasing a BMW 3-series EWP and leaving the stock thermostat, coolant hoses, fixtures, etc, in place. Comments? Questions? Oh yeah, and do I have to take the intake manifold off? Cuz I'm in the middle of doing it already, I'd like to know if I don't have to.

 

No need to remove the intake manifold. Remove the blower with water pump then you're on your way.

Jeremy

 

Any ideas for an electric pump? I'm looking at Meziere, and possibly that one from E2 services (the 1fastMINI guy). I haven't really heard much in terms of life expectancy or ease of installation for either of them, though. If someone lets me know, I'll be able to finish my car and put up a tutorial. Obviously a generic pump would be cheaper, other than the plate, but is it really worth up to three times as much to get the bolt on from E2?

 

 

Why wait for your stock one to break when you can just pull the front end off, top off the oil and be done with it?

 

Besides being a bit lazy, there's still another 3yrs & 35,000 miles of warranty for on the SC under California Law.

 

Almost done with the fix. Looks like I'm gonna have it done for under $400 (remember, quoted at $3000 from dealer). Found a perfect place for the new electric pump and came up with an awesome idea to cover the "hole" left after removing the stock pump. I'll do a thorough writeup when I'm done in a few days. BTW, started the engine yesterday and NO RATTLING NOISE!!!!

 

So the PTO gears are still in good condition or did you just remove them?

Looking forward to your write-up!

 

Not too bad but it doesn't matter, I took them out anyway. You'll see. I'll include pics and description of the damage too.

Just reread your question and now I understand what you meant. The PTO gears were bad. I removed them and started the engine with them gone to make sure that was the source of the grinding noise. I couldn't run it long because I have no coolant pump running at the moment, however I was able to run it long enough with the PTO gears removed to recognize an absence of the horrible noise. Thusly I was excited because I knew that the PTO gear diagnosis was correct and that my fix would actually fix the problem (or at least circumvent it).

 

My supercharger started making the death noise at 96k miles. had my mech look at it and it didn't have any oil in it what so ever but gears were still good. i got lucky but i would recommend changing the oil and i have a great mech in fla that does it and is very honest if interested. i also changed the water pump so saved me some money

 

Just remember that the oil where somewhere. I would not be comfortable knowing that it was just refilled, since we know a bad seal sucks the oil into the s/c, the new oil is just going to be pulled out as well. I would consider having it rebuilt.

 

If the gears are good why rebuild he is gonna seal it the way they would makes no sense to replace the gears if they are good and everything is ok.

 

Yes I'd find out where the oil got out before just adding some back in. ie supercharger shaft seal as Dan pointed out, waterpump seal, fill plug o-ring, or machined mating surfaces.

Jeremy

 

I didnt say replace the gears, the unit needs to come apart to replace the seal between the gear and the rotor. Only an experienced rebuilder with the proper tooling can do this. The seal internally is bad if the gearbox is dry. If it leaked through the case externally, then there would be evidence of that.

 

he did take it apart thats gonna be the only true way to see if the gears are bad.

 

He pulled the gearcase apart, not the internals of the supercharger.

 

he is replacing the seals and o rings to fix where the leak came from. would be like having a leak in the ac and just putting freon to band aid it.there would be no benefit to do that.

 

While he's there he may want to pull the snout and inspect the coupler for oval holes.

Jeremy