Did anyone take notice of having darker oil while suffering from this problem?

cheers

poorman

 

Okay everyone, sorry I haven't gotten around to doing my writeup on installing an electric water pump yet; I have paramedic school and a full time job so finding time is tough. I promise I'll try to at least get a majority of it done tonight and posted in the next day or two. Just to let you know, my car runs fine now, the electric pump has about 5,000 miles or so on it and it still runs fine, my only complaint is that it is noisy in the passenger compartment, I think I'm going to try to install some kind of rubber gaskets or something this summer to try to stifle vibrations that I believe to be causing much of the noise.

 

Going to have a look at doing this this weekend - I have a R53 challenge race car it's a second car so I have the ability to take my time but I would like to know which parts I require in advance (gaskets o-rings etc), also what is the tensioning tool I require - someone posted an ebay link but that has expired? Really looking forward to your guide.

Tim (in the UK)

 

 

Right, front is off the car inc radiator. Bought the BMW tensioning tool from North Oxford Mini (£47.69) last Thursday (ordered and delivered same day ). I'll attempt the rest of the removal on Tuesday.

 

Right, supercharger is off. I've had a look at the water pump end and it has oil albeit rather dark brown. Noticed some small metal filings on the gears but this may have been from bedding in originally, they look fine in themselves. Will have a look at the nose gear next week. Pics to follow.

 

My '04 MCS is making some chattering noise coming from the SC. After reading your thread I'm worried that is the cost I'm looking at paying. How much would does this run?

If it is the SC wouldn't there be a severe loss of power? This noise is new and alarming because it's so loud while driving and at idle.

I've never done this kind of repair before so, I will be taking to a mechanic or the dealership. Would you recommend one over the other?

 

It's not necessarily the loss of power ... It will be the loss of your water pump (which will definitely be a loss of power).
If you read through the thread I believe they now make a replacement gear set... not sure of the price.
If possible I wouldn't take it to the dealer - best to find a MINI mechanic in your area.
I lucked out when my gears eat each other ... another NAM member had a used SC for sale at a reasonable price.

 

Just a quick note, when I re-filled (using motorcraft XL-4 s/c oil from Mountune uk - though I've since been told that any ep90 gear oil would be adequate) the oil in the water pump end to the Eaton stated level (1.4oz) it was about twice the amount that came out so it had been losing oil at some point.

 

Has anyone had there's replaced by the "California Emission Control System Limited Warranty"?

 

I've been following this thread since '09 and haven't heard of anyone yet.

Why... is yours acting up?

 

I'll be doing the service to the SC oil in a few weeks. Is there anything else I should do (preventative maintenance) while I've got my '06 MCS with 70,000 miles torn down to this state? I'm going to replace the tensioner damper bushings and replace a worn looking tenstioner stop cable. I'll also be replacing the water pump and coolant hoses, plus all of the proper seals, o-rings and gaskets mentioned above.

Perhaps the o-ring on the engine oil sensor? That seems to be a frequent oil leak source on the R53. Anything else?

Also... any thoughts on the gates water pump vs. the factory refurbs that my local MINI parts desk is selling?

 

We all know that filling the S-charger w/ fluid is a PITA. Has anyone thought of a piece of tube that screws into the S-charger fill holes?

 

I have a spare supercharger that I've studied for this purpose. The front fill could get a banjo bolt or similar arrangement that would allow for checking and adding oil. However, the rear/waterpump cavity is really buried beneath the pump and all that intake plumbing. I gave up trying to design something for that.

What I found when I disassembled both end caps on my supercharger was that the water pump end was a rather rough machining: lots of swirls and tooling marks. The end plates don't use gaskets, just a superthin smear of sealant. I cleaned everything very well and used a special Loctite sealant with a primer. With new oil in the cavities and good sealant, I don't expect to leak any oil. Of course, the supercharger could always suck some through bad seals but only time will tell after I swap chargers.

Eric

 

Same conclusion I came too...
I was told by a shop that the $500 rebuild place in fl does not change that lower waterpump seal on the pto...the rebuild the top end/seals, but steigimer/mini rebuilds have a full rebuild, including that lower seal...so the extra $$ does get you more service.
my thought is if the oil level was ok on the spare, that pto seal is mostlikly ok....I bet 90% of fail SC that loose oil are from that seal....the anaerobic sealant used on the surfaces of the water pump gear plate can seal a bit of roughness...heck not pretty machining, but I doubt it is the cause of low oil in the pto in all but a few cases.

 

When I checked the pulley side of my SC, I was expecting some fluid to either seep out of the fill hole or at least be on the bolt itself. I used a small mirror and a bright flashlight to look inside and I could not see any fluid. Granted I have 130k on my SC but, I was expecting at least something.

So, I cut a small diameter (can't remember the size) piece of tubing, shoved it into the hole and started filling the SC. To my amazement it took the entire 4oz. bottle w/ little spillage. I would love to know what the gears look like esp. on the water pump side since I was unable to reach it w/o taking too much apart. It would be very beneficial if someone could come up w/ a fill tube that is inserted into the center of the bolts. The tube would be small diameter steel that allows for easy filling on both sides and is welded in place.



Heck, I would buy a few bits to pop a threaded hole in the two nuts if I could find replacement ones in case it didn't work. Anyone know where to buy some replacement SC nuts?

 

Last week my wife's ~80k 03 Cooper S started to make a strange sound when she hit a bump. The noise didn't stop when the car did, so I immediately assumed MINI death rattle. I found this forum, watched the vids, and after work I traded cars with her and sure enough, it was making some scary sounds and there was an odor of something burning. It kinda smelled like oil and bread, but I was downwind of three restaurants, so passed it off as an Applebee's lunch special.
I took video of the car making the noise, though it quieted down as I did so. The noise was gone completely by the time I got home, but I parked it until I had time and another set of ears to investigate the sound this weekend, just to be safe.
I couldn't get the noise to return, but we checked everything that we could without teardown anyhow. The front s/c case fluid is clean and clear. Whilst reattaching the dipstick brace, I dropped the socket onto the splash guard. Upon retrieving the socket, my friend found our noisemaker - a squished, ground, burned and greasy walnut, still in the outer sheath.
I'd checked the fluids a week earlier (this thing goes through more oil than my daily driver 140k '91 318is and my 190k '86 M535i), and happened to be under the neighbor's walnut tree with the hood open. 'tis walnut season....
If anyone wants to hear what a suicidal walnut sounds like, I'll post the vid to my youtube channel.

The practical upshot is that having read this entire thread, I have a good idea of what to expect and when to expect it. So I'm going to look for a spare s/c to have rebuilt now with a new water pump, then swap mine out before it fails.

I do like the idea of relocating the water pump. Has anyone here considered/tried a belt-driven pump? Electric is probably the best option, though.

Neil

 

how do you know when it's just the PTO gears that need replacement and not the whole supercharger? or is it better to just spend the extra 225 or so to get a rebuilt unit (consdering a gear replacement kit goes for about $325, and a rebuilt sc goes for $550)

 

Where are you finding a rebuilt supercharger for $550? Mine is slowly dying or at least I hope it dies slowly sounds like the gears on it are going. can't quite figure out the noise. I only hear it from idle to about 2500rpm

 

I'm looking for a gates water pump too.. The seller on ebay has told me this is made of plastic. Is this genuine?? Does gates make plastic water pumps???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GATES...item27bd8faef1

 

I checked in to the Gates water pump as well. The unit itself appears to be metal, but the impeller is plastic (just like the OEM unit). I was able to get a reconditioned MINI brand water pump w/ my local club discount for $114, so I bought that instead. If the Gates had been an improvement over the stock plastic impeller, I would have spent the extra $50 in a heartbeat!

FYI: I put together a 20 page DIY for the supercharger oil change... part numbers, 28+ images, torque specs... the doc that I wished I had when I started the project (plus oil pan gasket replacement which is easy to do when you have everything apart for the SC oil change). It's located in the library section of another large US MINI site. I'd like to provide a link, but I don't want to run amuck of NAM site regulations.

 

Looks like my supercharger is due to a rebuild soon, as I'm hearing rattling noise when sticking a long screwdriver to it

Is it easy for me to pull it apart in my garage?

Should I buy a rebuild kit or a rebuilt unit from WayMotorWorks, Stiegemeier and etc.?

Or should I just replace it with the new Sprintex supercharger, or the Rotrex supercharger from RMW?

I wonder what are their cost, reliability and performance differences.

 

When the day comes (hopefully after I have the $$$ saved up for a major repair) that mine needs replacing, I'm going Sprintex. From what I've read, bolting one on set up for no increase in boost, on the stock tune, nets you about 50HP extra, due to less friction losses internally.

From what I've heard and read, the Sprintex kit is fairly straight-forward and well appointed, with a new intercooler "horn" to mate to the new s/c and an intake made of real metal (instead of plastic like the stock one), as well as the required electrical water pump.

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

Just checked the price, it is $3200, a lot more expensive than buying a ported/rebuilt unit. Probably because it contains the supercharger, the electric waterpump, and the supercharger horns.

 

I tend to treat repairs as an opportunity to upgrade at a discount. Probably should've included that in my original reply....

C ya,
Dutch