Stock pulley from sprintex with the belt provided. I've tried 4 times with same results. Doesn't appear to fit properly. Even when seated the belt on the 17% cravenspeed pulley it doesn't fit in all the way.

 

Ah, ok, you're running a Sprintex. I missed that bit.... Good luck, anyway....

 

I noticed the dreaded rattle in my 03 last week. Over the weekend I pulled the supercharger and waterpump off. When I pulled the waterpump off the SC, coolant came out from the connection area. Apparently coolant had leaked past the pump bearing into the PTO connection.

I opened the oil port to check the oil in the PTO gears on the SC. It too was full of coolant. Looks like the coolant made its way past the gear bearing into the cavity.

I am not sure which was rattling the PTO gears or the waterpump. The waterpump bearing was shot and the pump shaft was loose enough that the vanes could move off axis. That may have been the source of the noise. Since the PTO gears section was compromised I'll send the SC off to be rebuilt.

 

I was thinking of doing a 17% pulley but now Im not sure. Around $3500 for a replacement s/c ? (not sure if that includes labour,probably doesn't) on a students budget is simply not possible. Another issue is that there arnt many mini mechanics in my country, practically none in my city, and dealership's here are weird and seem to have very limited knowledge on certain aspects of the car. I took the car in last year to have the strut towers inspected and informed them that it was common on R53's that the strut towers mushroom, they said they diddnt know it was a common problem, weird since many roads here are horrible, and 90% of MINI's are driven by people who never browse forums, or modify their cars. Probably means that they don't know they have strut tower issues too, I know I diddnt when I first got the car. The dealership also advertises the R56 as "Supercharged MINI's" and some as "2007 hardtop R53" ?????. So It'd probably cost me upward of $3500 to fix this. I'm emailing the dealership enquiring about the cost inc. Labour. Its horrible, loving this car while knowing something will fail and there's nothing I can do about it.

 

What country are you in? $3500 for a SC? There are plenty of quality rebuilds throughout this forum for around $1200-1700. A decent mechanic should be able to install for around $400 US.

Research replacing SC in these forums for install tips to give your mechanic. Little things like disconnecting the vacuum line without breaking it, or covering the dip stick hole so you don't fill the oil pan with antifreeze when pulling the old sc out. I recommend installing a new water pump and thermostat at that time. How many miles on your car?

Good luck

 

One last thing. Regarding strut tower mushrooming. I solved mine with a set of reinforcement plates from MiniMadness
About $99 They were solid enough to draw the towers back in place when I installed them. You do have to remove the struts as they install up inside the tower.

Buy yourself a set of wrenches and a cheap Haines manual and learn a new trade my friend. To own a mini with over 50,000 miles you either have to be quite wealthy or not afraid to turn a wrench. There is no in between. If you want a car to drive buy a Toyota. However if you want to drive a fun car that you know every nut and bolt and every noise or oddity.....then a MINI is the right car for you.

It's nice to know that there is still a car company who appreciates and offers the British quality of early MG's and Triumphs!

 

He is in South Africa

 

JReah, I agree with you say. I'm not as hands-on as I want to be, that has to change since I can't always be going to the dealership if I have a small issue.
Regarding the S/C , since I'm in S.A , shipping costs / tax fees and handling costs are quiet high on items such as this. So even if I import one, shipping and handling fees would be around another $1000. Then I'd have to pay import taxes. I don't want to cut costs with the S/C either. Neither do I want to let go of the MINI. I'm just looking for the most cost effective way of managing it when it happens. Its quiet hard since dealer prices are so high because of the fact that there are absolutely zero aftermarket parts / shops here for the mini. All my mods including my lowering springs had to be imported. Annoyingly the dealership still diddnt reply to my query regarding the S/C cost.
This is just a thought, but If I get a supercharger off a used MCS, the oil,waterpump etc in good condition would it last as long as a rebuilt one? I ask this because the supercharger seems to be quiet strong and the main reason they fail at around 100k miles is because a loss of fluid or a leak-waterpump issue? So if I get a used one and make sure the fluids etc. Are at the required level, would it be a good option? Would it last long eg. If the MINI it came off was at 50k miles? I'd probably still go to the dealer for fitment because I've never tried something like this before, and there are no MINI mechanics in my area. but it would save a minimum of $1000 with taxes and shipping, and since not many people own R53's here, I should be able to land one at a reasonable price because demand just isn't high. Just want to know if someone could tell me whether or not its worth it or advisable putting a used un-refurbished one in (possibly an 05-06 model).

 

PS. I'm on around 70 000 miles.

 

I'm at 160,000 and mine as of today is doing well. I haven't checked the oil to see what's going on in there.

 

Pulled off a SC with 70K from my friend's 04 MCS because of a broken water pump nipple.

Lucky for him I have a take-off that has been sitting in my closet for 5+ years.

However, I just pulled it out and am slightly concerned about the case seals.

Do you think it's ok to slap this baby in as is? That would save time and $$$ for sure.

SC looks to be in good relatively unused condition otherwise.

 

At a minimum I'd drain and refill the front and rear. Would be nice to pull apart, inspect and reseal, but that would be a bunch more work.

 

Here is some of the whole story regarding the failed PTO seal to M45 Roots R53 supercharge gears. The "noise" you hear near the water pump are the two gears inside the PTO outboard (drivers) side of the supercharge. The gears are lubricated with a few ounces of oil. The oil is contained inside a sealed casing on the drivers side of the supercharger. There is one fill/level torex plug to check the level of the oil. There is NO drain plug. The plug is between this aforementioned casing and the water pump. Mini Cooper does not have a maintenance schedule to check the oil level. It takes roughly two hours to get eye contact on the plug. You can fill the PTO oil bath with Genuine GM Fluid 12345982 Supercharger Oil part number 10-4041 with a very small hose and funnel. Fill to the level where is flows out, similar to a rear axle on older trucks with only one plug access to the "pumpkin". If you do not check the oil level at least every 60,000 miles, you will be facing a PTO rebuild ($500 to $1,600). This is a design flaw by the Mini Engineers. They short cut the drive for the water pump. Here is an explaination of why..... The oil bath is isolated from the outside world with two seals, one on the supercharger side and one on the water pump side. The supercharger is sucking outside air from anywhere it can. The seal from the supercharger to the PTO case is the weak link. The oil from the PTO bath is sucked into the supercharge and then blown into the engine. The oil into the engine is not a problem because it's just oil. But the slow removal of oil from the PTO case leaves the gears running without lubrication. Then the noise starts. Then the gears eventually strip due to overheating. When the PTO gears are no longer engaging, they no longer drive the shaft which turns the water pump. When the water pump stops turning, the engine overheats. The problem all begins with the Mini engineers and the lack of documentation to perform periodic maintenance on the supercharger PTO oil bath. The passenger side (the drive pulley side) of the Supercharge also has a sealed oil case and gears but it seems not to fail. It also has a torex fill plug which should be checked. It is much easier to check that side and oil fill plug it but still requires some dis-assembly. Bottom line. If you are not a wrencher, insist that your mechanic check and fill the two oil baths at least every 60,000 miles. Absoultely, without fail, if you hear a noise coming from that part of the engine, do not assume what the noise is or blow it off. Get in to the supercharger and check the oil level immediately at any indication of noise. Worst case fix is getting a new supercharger from Mini which they will gladly sell you for $1900 plus labor. Second worse case is sending supercharger to a rebuilder. Rebuild prices start at $900 and go up, depending upon how bad the PTO gears are worn. Three rebuilders who I spoke with tell me that the PTO gears must be made by machine either in shop or out sourced because Mini and Eaton do not supply those parts anymore. A rebuilt supercharger is just as good as a new one, all bearings and seals are replaced. All reduction drive gears are replaced as needed. You DO NOT need a new water pump at $260, because it did not fail, instead, the drive mechanism to the water pump failed. All of this problem is because there is no maintenance schedule from Mini and because the Mini Engineer decided to short cut the water pump driving mechanism and use the supercharge to drive it. The seal failed because it had no choice since it was faced with all of the sucking from the roots blower. That is not the whole story. But for those of you who are wrenches but scratching your heads with the noise, I hope this helps. BUY A MANUAL for the procedure to get to the supercharger instead of wasting peoples time asking for help. For the rest of you who wonder what the thump thump thump thump is when you are on the highway......well..... you shouldn't own a mini. p.s. I am 69 yrs old, been wrenching since I was 8 yrs old, earned three advanced degrees including a MS, military officer, and very discouraged with how many young people who don't have a clue. For those of you who are really SERIOUS about modifing your R53, I recently made a prototype adapter which allows the Davies Craig Electric Water Pump to bolt onto the supercharger in same location as the PTO. No additional real estate is used and this is not a hang off the water hoses like other NAM users have posted. If you are interested, please see my other post at https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ump-ewp80.html. Safe Travels, WTMF

 

WTMF. Great post and thank you for the valuable information. Now I'm determined to get to the oil ports to check the levels. It makes complete sense about the negative pressure pulling the oil into the engine. Can you recommend any gaskets or parts to have on hand when I access the drivers side port???

Thank you again for your detailed explanation.

JRhea

 

JRhea, As long as you do not remove the supercharger output horn from the supercharger you do not need any gaskets or sealers. Mini recommends replacing the gasket between horn and supercharger. You may need to disconnect the water coolant hoses, so you will have some spillage to replace. fyi, I have three repair manuals, Chilton, Haynes and Bentley. Bentley is the best but the other two help with photos. Have fun. WTMF

 

When I turn the key off, it keeps spinning and makes a sound that sounds kind of unlubricated for about 20 nasty seconds on each of the two runs in this video I took 5 mins ago: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

Is it supposed to sound like this, or do you hear anything related to the title of this thread or are these sounds normal?

The engine is warm during these two tests.

 

if you could post how to that would be great!!

 

That does sound strange. I'm thinking it might be your radiator fan spinning down though. Try to get a look at it to see if it's spinning at all when you hear that.

 

DerekDrew, Nasty noise. IMHO, the large PTO gear is inertia spinning. If you are a wrencher, this first test is not definitive but -- try listening with a stethoscope to the outboard side of supercharger-- between water pump and supercharger. Place the probe directly on top of PTO. (screw driver method is not much good here or anywhere IMHO). A cheap stethoscope is at Harbor Freight. Then compare PTO sound to the pulley side, and other points around the engine. If the sound is louder at the PTO then move to next step. If not louder anywhere near the Supercharger, then you should listen elsewhere. The electric fan is most likely not the source because it does not come on and off with the engine, it activates by coolant temperature, but you can always try listening there. If you narrow the sound down to the PTO end then the next step is get access to water pump PTO---at least a 2 hour job. You do not need to remove SC but you will need to loosen it and will you will need to get MFE to service mode for access. Take the WP off, take the PTO off the SC and examine the PTO gears. You are not wasting your time because you now are performing preventive maintenance. If all is well, refill PTO with supercharger oil. It is highly recommended to use Supercharger oil, not engine oil. p.s. An authorized EATON SC re-builder told me that he adds an extra ounce or so of oil to the PTO when he rebuilds these. If the gears are toast, PTO gears are available but you will need to replace the seal and should rebuild the SC at the same time. Please post your results so that we can all learn from this. Safe travels.

 

Did you ever get a chance to do the how-to on the electric water pump for R53 Mini Cooper?