Detailing World Forum banner

2004 Mini Cooper S JCW - For Free

316K views 458 replies 170 participants last post by  percymon 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I spent a lot of time following various people's projects in this part of Detailing World. So it only seemed fitting that I would begin my own! This will be a rather wordy and picture heavy project blog of my slightly crusty, non-running 2004 MINI Cooper S Works which I have fondly named "Stouffer" after Harry Hill's blue cat puppet (Seen here)

Background

It's worth making clear that i'm a big MINI fan, although I have never owned one. My Mum has had a 2004 Cooper S for over 9 years which i've always been very fond of - however she is also very fond of it, so i'm rarely lucky enough to drive it! I usually need an excuse - such as "I've just changed the coolant, but I need to test drive it to make sure everything is ok ... BYE". I love the way they drive - a real hoot at (relatively) legal speeds.
In the past when i've looked to change car, the MINI has never been quite suitable as I used to do a lot more miles (mainly motorway) which dictated a slightly larger and less bone-shaking car with an auto box (Golf GTI DSG and BMW M135i). However, as i'm looking to work close to home - a MINI makes a lot more sense now.
After selling my M135i, I have used my Land Rover Discovery 300TDI as my 'daily' since last year - it's comfy(ish) and relaxed, but you simply cannot have any fun behind the wheel - it takes at least 18 seconds to get to 60mph.

I was recently helping a family friend to resurrect her Audi TT which had a flat battery. Coversation turned to her MINI which had suffered head gasket failure in September 2016. She had not had the time to get it repaired, and so it had sat there ever since - gradually turning green under some large trees.
We had talked about putting it up for sale as spares/repairs - but I think the look of genuine horror in my face lead her to say "Why don't you have it?" I was quick to explain that I couldn't really afford to buy a car at the moment as I don't have a permanent job, so I would have to 'pass' on it. However, what she actually meant was that I could have the car for free if I wanted it. Like a kid at christmas, I jumped in my Land Rover and began to formulate the plans in my head!
Here are a few pictures of the car as it stood:




I think we need to address the elephant in the room - yes, that Audi TT is pink.


Picture taken through the window due to missing key (more on that later). Note the mouldy seat!






The car

To the best of my knowledge, the car is as follows (and i'm happy to be corrected here):
2004 R53 MINI Cooper S with the John Cooper Works pack.
It is a 1.6 supercharged inline-4 with 6 speed manual gearbox.
The colour is Hyper Blue, with white roof, mirror caps and bonnet stripes.
From what I understand, the cars left the factory as a standard Cooper S and would have the JCW kit fitted at the dealer which raises power to roughly 200-210bhp as opposed to the standard 170bhp. It comprises of:
  • Ported head
  • Uprated injectors
  • 11% Supercharger reduction pulley
  • Different ECU map
  • Different airbox and filter
  • Larger diameter cat back exhaust

In addition to this, I believe my car has the Chili Pack (including full leather) and ****pit Chrono Pack (extra dials).
It also has some sort of dealer fit sat nav (although the head unit has since been changed) which scared me half to death. There is a button (pictured above) which rings through to something like "MINI SmartNav", you tell them where you want to go and they send the directions to your car! I was very surprised when I pressed it at 11:30 last night and it started calling somebody! I'll stick to using google maps on my phone!

The button for the obscure sat nav. Don't worry, i've cleaned it since.


As you can probably tell, it has been fitted with Works GP type wheels (I'm not sure if they're genuine or replicas) but I really like the look of them so they will be staying.

Getting it home

The first issue was the key (or lack thereof!). In the time the car had been sitting - the only key had gone missing. After a bit of hunting, the V5 document was unearthed. I went with the current owner and ordered a new non-remote key from the BMW/MINI dealer for the surprisingly reasonable sum of £42! This arrived a couple of days later. It does the job, although I should mention that it is the single most cheap feeling, hollow piece of plastic I have ever come across!


I next needed to work out how to get the car home. I was reluctant to tow it with a rope as the journey is around 30 minutes on B-roads with a lot of stopping and starting - and I knew that the MINI would have little to no brakes as the engine obviously wouldn't be running. I found that Screwfix sell a fixed tow bar with spring damper for under £20. It's pretty good, although (as per all the reviews) the cotter pins which hold the 3 pieces of the bar together are rubbish, I could visualize them coming loose very quickly - so I substituted them for some split pins.


I started by removing all of the previous owner's stuff and wiping down the mould from the passenger seat to make things a little less of a health hazard on the way home. The handbrake had been firmly applied all the time it was laid up, so predictably the car did not want to budge. Luckily a couple of quick yanks with my Discovery and it rolled freely.The battery was totally dead (no surprise really!) but no matter how hard I tried, wouldn't accept a charge. As I wanted to be able to have the hazard lights on during the journey home, I popped to Halfords on the way home and picked up a suitable battery for £55 on my trade card.

My Disco and the MINI after getting the brakes freed off


My Dad had agreed to tow me back with his Defender whilst I sat in the MINI, so that evening we went over to collect it. I'm pleased to report that this went without a hitch! (That was a towing joke, by the way...)
The fixed bar attached easily to the MINI's front towing eye, having anticipated that the Defender doesn't have a towing eye on the back - but does have a tow ball, we found a suitable shackle to attach it with. I hooked up the new battery on the MINI and all the electrics came to life.






Part 2 coming shortly :car:
 
See less See more
16
#117 ·
Hi all, just to clear up about the timing tool - as I understand it, the kit provides a bracket which allows you to undo the sprocket without having someone stand on the brake with it in gear (which i have since done) and a bracket to support the engine whilst the mount is removed (I have also done this now, however I'm using some blocks of wood to support the engine)

Even with the kit, you still need to mark the chain and sprocket before removing the sprocket, so as far as I can tell - there's nothing else that the kit provides.

So I don't want you guys to think I'm cutting corners unnecessarily, I just don't see the need for the kit in this case.
 
#118 ·
Just a heads up but when I rebuilt mine I think I'm pretty sure that to remove the supercharger, you have to remove the head as 1 bolt is inaccessible. Just in case you was planning on doing any stripping down whilst your at this stage

Great work keep it up though buddy

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
#120 ·
Part 7 - Head removal

Hi all,

After a good few evenings in the garage, the head is finally off. Here's a brief (read "long-winded") rundown of the rest of my progress!

As we left the action last time, I'd got the valve cover off. The next day, I went out and cracked on.

I had picked up some infuriatingly expensive Tipp-ex, so I jacked up one wheel and rotated the engine to TDC (for some sort of reference) and marked the chain and sprocket.



Then, I jacked up the engine slightly to take the pressure off the mount which has to be removed to gain access to the camshaft position sensor. My electric impact gun proved very useful for bits like this - it just takes all the effort out of undoing the bolts. I then supported the engine with some wood and removed the jack. I was then able to remove the aforementioned sensor which gives access to the bolt for the sprocket.

At this point, I enlisted the help of my mum to stand on the brake with the car in 6th whilst I undid the big bolt on the sprocket - It came undone with relative ease. I left it partially done up until I needed to remove the sprocket.

Then came the chain tensioner which hides at the back of the engine block and is removed with a single 19mm bolt (obscured by various things!) my handy YouTube video suggested the use of a wobble extension and a 6 point socket for ease.



Naturally I had neither of these things and attempted it with a 12 point socket and a regular extension. Just as I was applying full force, it slipped and I smacked my hand and decided I should order the correct tools and stop being such a moron. What I didn't realise for about an hour (because I was wearing gloves) was that my hand was bleeding quite badly and a chunk of skin was hanging off :doublesho I won't share that picture..



Anyway, after drawing a blank on the tensioner, I decided to start removing the exhaust and intake manifold bolts which had been soaked with WD since the previous day. I'm pleased to report that they all undid without complication, which is unusual!

The exhaust manifold fell away from the block quite happily, but the intake manifold would not. I wasn't removing it, just getting it to the point that it would slide back to allow the head off when the time came. It was totally stuck against the head. I had liberally sprayed some WD around that the previous day to avoid this, however it wouldn't budge. I resorted to tapping it with the hammer a few times on a thicker part of the manifold. The left hand side broke away easily but the right would not.
A few more taps with the hammer and all but the very right hand end was free. A couple more and ... great! It's off ..... oh hang on, it's broken in two :wall:



I actually was uncharacteristically calm about it, as I knew I had been careful and done what I could - but I was prepared for a big bill to replace it. I quickly checked on eBay and found that there are a several available for under £20 delivered, INCLUDING the intercooler mount that i'd just paid £15 for :lol:

As an aside - I was unable to get the broken piece off the stud, so I just unscrewed it along with the stud and soaked it in a lid full of WD40 for two days, but it was still fused to the stud. I used my vice as a press to remove it which still wouldn't work! There was no way it was being removed. I'll just replace that stud.​

The following evening, I drained the coolant. I was unfortunate enough to encounter the horrible spring clamps the MINI uses to hold all the coolant hoses on. I've since bought a special tool for removing them.

I didn't want to faff around jacking the car up to drain the coolant in such a confined space as my garage, so I sourced the cat's old litter tray - needs must :rolleyes:
I was very careful not to spill any coolant as I didn't want to have to work on a damp floor afterwards. That went well.......



Now that the coolant was neatly deposited all over the garage floor, I was able to remove the thermostat and housing from the side of the head - it's a common leak point and did seem to have quite a lot of cack around it. So i'll just order a new thermostat and housing.

I have enforced a strict policy whilst doing this job - at the end of every evening, I label up all the bolts removed and put them in cat poo bags :thumb: then put all the parts removed into a box and then put the bags of bolts inside and put the box in the shed. The next day I start with a new box etc etc.
I then put away EVERY tool I have used, as my garage has very little work space which very quickly gets full of tools and becomes a total disaster area in the matter of one evening. It's also much nicer the next day, as it's tidy and all the tools are where they're meant to be!

The next day, quite a few bits arrived. An assortment of 3/8" wobble extensions, UJ socket adaptors and a 19mm 6 point socket.



I went straight out as I wanted to get the nasty tensioner removed which had injured me before. I connected up all my new tools and before I could get my 'bar of extra leverage and justice', I felt that the tools were turning so couldn't possibly be seated on the bolt. So I put my hand down there and felt the bolt - it was already loose :wall:

It turns out that when my socket 'slipped' and I smacked my hand - that was actually the bolt cracking loose :lol: :lol: so the tools were totally unnecessary! They'll no doubt come in useful at some point though.

Next, I removed the sprocket, then supported the timing chain with two bungees - just in case!



After this, I removed the two chain guides. I then began to loosen the bolts holding the rocker arms in. I loosened them from the outside inwards in small increments until they were removed. I followed Andyblue's tip and put them into a piece of cardboard. I don't know if it was necessary with these bolts in particular, but it can't do any harm.

The bearing caps are numbered on this engine, so I took pictures to ensure that I knew which end the numbers started from! They all came off easily.
That then allowed the camshaft to be removed.

After this, it was time for the big one! The head was ready to come off. Again, I removed the bolts gradually and working from outside inwards, then pushed them into a piece of card. I'm pretty sure they can't be reused anyway, come to think of it.

I then enlisted my Mum's help to support the timing chain whilst I lifted the head and then reattach the bungee cords. I put the head down on one work surface, it then promptly poured oil off the edge, down and inside the tumble drier ... which didn't go down too well :lol:

I got my first look at the head gasket - no points for spotting where it failed!!





Gasket removed








Feeling like a complete hero, I packed up, hung the failed gasket on the garage wall as a trophy and went inside.

The next night, my mechanic chap came down to take a look at it all. He said there was very little wear in the bores and nothing obvious to be worried about. He gave me the details of an engine specialist that he uses also.

My poor mother was enlisted again - as the place is on her route to work :lol: so I bagged the head up with the failed gasket and plonked it in the back of her car - don't worry, she has a Freelander too, which actually has a boot big enough to put the head in :lol: I sent her off with a list of what I wanted doing, and some questions to ask.

From what I understand, they have had a quick look at the head and will let me know if they find anything wrong under further inspection. But they will skim it, do something or other to the valves and seats (I forget the term they used) and pressure test it.
I've also asked them to supply the head gasket, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets and a new stud for the intake side.

So I've just got to wait to hear what they say next week. If, for example the head is cracked or ruined in some other way, then I will just have to source another. From a quick google, it seems that a regular Cooper S head can be used if push comes to shove, as the Works head only differs in that it is ported on the exhaust side.

Once the head is sorted, I will be able to start ordering all the new bits. I think i'll change the water pump and aux belt as a matter of course. I'd also like to get the supercharger off and change its oil as mentioned by potter88 as I really don't want to have to go in there again :p
That means removing the radiator, which will also be a good opportunity to clean it through and check to see if it has been leaking anywhere obvious.

I've since been out and cleaned some of the black off the top of the pistons, I still need to clean up the top of the block to get the surface ready for a new gasket.

Hope you guys are enjoying the progress. I've really enjoyed tinkering in the evenings. So much so, that I decided to change the oil on my Mum's MINI because I wanted something to do today :lol:
 
#121 ·
A question for any MINI bods: This is the inside of my airbox with the filter removed. The JCW box seems to have an actuator with a vacuum line attached to it. In addition to this, it seems to have this cylinder inside it with two vacuum lines - neither of mine are connected to anything. Should they be?!

The disconnected setup you are seeing controls the flap at the rear of the airbox. A lot of R53 JCW's have this disabled to keep the flap permanently open bud. :thumb:
 
#126 ·
Thanks as always for the lovely comments. It really is a big encouragement. :wave:

The disconnected setup you are seeing controls the flap at the rear of the airbox. A lot of R53 JCW's have this disabled to keep the flap permanently open bud. :thumb:
Thank you. I've had a little look at this online now you've mentioned it. Looks like I'll be removing the flap totally. Apparently it makes more noise :D

Well done for tackling such a big job - i know you have little to lose, but even so its a heck of a lot of work. Good learning experience to boot !
Thanks - I'm looking at it in much the same way, it's a great job to have under your belt once it's done. It's certainly given me a lot more confidence so far to attempt other jobs I wouldn't have done previously. And it's not like I need the car day to day, so it doesn't matter how long it's off the road.

Have to agree, a very interesting read if you like this sort of thing, good luck matey with the rest of your project. Its not all about highly polished and protected paintwork.
Oh I wish it was - I know a lot more about polishing, it would be so much easier :lol: but thank you - I hope it's something a little different to the norm for you guys to read :)
 
#129 ·
Part 8 - Head work and more dismantling

Good news - the head is back from the engine shop.

They skimmed the head, did the valves and seats and pressure tested it. They also supplied the head gasket, inlet and exhaust manifold gaskets and new head bolts. This came in at £217, which seemed pretty reasonable to me.

Here are some pictures of how it looks now. I'm afraid the cat was very interested.





Once it was back, that triggered me into ordering the parts I need. I had waited, as if the head had been scrap - I wouldn't have wanted to order everything unnecessarily.

So far, I have ordered:

Valve cover gasket set (includes spark plug tube seals)
Intake manifold (actually came with injectors in it!)
Thermostat
Thermostat housing & gasket
Expansion tank cap
Water pump
Auxiliary belt
Radiator fan resistor & thermal paste for the repair
Oil filter
Bumper fasteners
Supercharger oil
Supercharger inlet gasket
Water pump o-rings
Timing case & crank gaskets
Offside sidelight unit

I wanted to change the supercharger's oil whilst I had the car apart. This is something which is very often overlooked (I wasn't even aware of it for the last 10 years that my Mum has had hers!).

Firstly, you have to take the front end of the car off :doublesho

This isn't particularly complicated, as it is designed to have a 'service mode' which allows much better access. The undertray has to be removed, this is held on by a few bolts.

Next is the bumper (or technically the bumper cover ... anyway, the big blue thing on the front of the car) - where bolts are usually fitted, mine had been substituted with cable ties :rolleyes: after this, there are 8 plastic scrivets, anyone who has removed bumpers etc will be familiar with the little blighters



Every single one of mine had to be removed by force. They are inaccessible, and when you do get to them, the screw head is either half broken off, or rounds off immediately. It took a good hour to get them all off. I have bought a new pack of them for reassembly, but I already hate them so much that I want to throw them in the bin, just to teach them a lesson :censored:

After this, the crash tubes can be removed - they're held on by two big bolts each, underneath the car. They took some serious effort to remove, but all went well.

Now, there are various bolts on the radiator carrier which are to be removed. I had already removed all the coolant hoses, but anyone else would be draining the coolant at this point. This then comes off, with the radiator, fans and fog lights in one piece - leaving this:



The aircon rad can be left dangling like that, as it is all connected by rubber hoses and means you don't need to get your AC re-gassed each time you do this!

I then came across the issue of getting the auxiliary belt off - on my Land Rover, you can remove the belt in about 10 seconds - just put a big spanner on a nut on the tensioner and the belt is off.
The principle on the MINI is largely the same, however you have to buy a hockey stick type tool (Seen here)
It is practically impossible without this, so I had to order one. It includes a screwdriver type thing which can be inserted into a hole which locks the tensioner out.

Once the belt was off, I was able to start removing the supercharger itself. This is just a case of removing a few bolts which was made much simpler again with my electric impact gun. The alternator has to be removed, and one of the bolts for the tensioner to allow the supercharger to come off.

Supercharger removed:





The water pump is mounted on and driven by the supercharger. I wanted to replace mine whilst I was in there. It is held on with 3 or 4 bolts. You'll see in the above picture that I have already got the pump off.

I then drained the oil. It is apparently quite common that almost no oil will come out of the supercharger, as it leaks out over the years. I was pleased to find that mine had plenty. It was totally black (which seems to be the norm). There are two reservoirs. This picture is the oil from the pulley end (the larger one of the two)



The oil absolutely stinks, a bit like rotten fish. It's incredibly unpleasant!

I got a bit confused when trying to remove the water pump (other end of the SC) and accidentally undid the water pump drive gear bit, which meant the oil from that end poured out all over the place. It wasn't fun clearing that up :lol: although i'm happy to report that there was plenty of oil in that end too, and much cleaner looking. I don't think the two pieces are joined by a gasket, but before I fill that end up, i'll run a bead of instant gasket round it to be sure.

I have refilled the pulley end. It's much like changing the oil in a diff or gearbox - just fill until it starts to come out of the hole.

Side note - the supercharger oil is really expensive. It's type 2 turbine oil. And costs £22 for just under 200ml!

I'm going to check the timing marks on the crank/timing chain to make sure that the chain hasn't moved from its original position at all during this work. There are two marks on the crank gear and the timing chain which want to be matched up, and one on the camshaft sprocket and the chain.
I don't think there's any reason why it wouldn't be right, but there's no sense in finding out the hard way!

To get the crank pulley off requires a 3 arm puller which I don't have. I also don't have a torque wrench of my own, so i'm going to get my mechanic chap to come and get the crank pulley off, take off the timing cover and check the timing and reinstall the head, so that the timing is sorted and I can't c*** it up ;) I've also ordered the relevant seals/gaskets for him to replace whilst he's in there.

In preparation for him coming, I've removed the wheel arch liner which gives much better access to the crank pulley.

I've measured the pulley on the supercharger, and it seems to be a standard Cooper S pulley, not a JCW one (which is smaller, spins faster and generates more power) so i'm wondering whether it has been replaced, or if it's linked to the engine work the car had in the past.

I would like to get a 11% pulley on there (equivalent to the JCW one) as I don't particularly want to have to take it off in the future, and would like some more power and supercharger noise!
It requires a specific pulley removal tool (clamshell type) to remove them, a regular puller won't work. So I contacted my local BMW/MINI specialist, however they don't have the correct tool. It's about £70 in itself on ebay!

I've got to go to the MINI dealer tomorrow to collect a new mirror cap as my Mum had a little incident with her mirror involving our gates :wall: this broke all the clips off, so even my ingenious registration plate sticker repair wasn't successful. Luckily, the new cap (unpainted) is only £22, and the BlackJack covers just stick over the top of that.



Anyway, i'm going to see what they'd charge to swap the pulley for me.

Hopefully not long now until I can begin putting it all back together!
 
#133 ·
Excellent write up again and enjoying you making progress :)

Might be worth looking at changing the chain etc as you've got everything stripped - neighbour was having slight issues with car running very slightly off on occasions and if he revved the engine there was a bit of a vibration on lift off - his mechanic said the chain had stretched slightly and (think) the automatic adjustment for timing etc was always slightly off from what it should be, he decided to change the chain etc and said it transformed he car - could certainly be worth a look at as you've everything apart and would be a minimal cost now....
 
#137 ·
Part 9 - Reassembly

We have progress!

I got the call on Saturday morning to say that my mechanic friend was on his way.

He had come up with an alternative method for checking the timing, to save removing the crank pulley and timing cover. He had a rather fancy looking endoscope type camera with a monitor. This worked like a charm! We were able to see that the timing marks all lined up and the sprocket was in good condition. I think most people just put it all back together without checking - I think this method does work as long as you're careful, as it was all timed perfectly. This method of using the endoscope had another advantage - I'll now be able to return the seals/gaskets I had bought, as they never had to be removed. £45 back in the kitty!

One thing we did notice is that the engine seems to turn nice and freely by hand, which is promising.

I had just seen the reply posted on here about considering changing the timing chain - a very good point. I decided that we would check the chain and sprockets as best we could, and decide whether to take any action. I'm pleased to report that they all appeared fine.

The same went for the sump gasket - not something I had previously considered. Luckily this seems nice and dry. Actually, my mum's has had a very very slight drip since it was 4 years old, but it hasn't got any worse.

Now that we were satisfied that the crank and chain were timed up correctly, we (and when I say 'we', what I actually mean is that my eternally helpful mechanic did it, and I made him a cup of tea) prepared the surface of the block to accept the head gasket.

With a bit of well coordinated teamwork, we kept the chain under tension and fed it through the new head gasket and head. Then installed the head bolts and torqued them down to spec (torque specs very kindly provided by a fellow DW member). I was incredibly jealous of the torque wrench he brought along







With the head on, we could then install the camshaft and rocker arms, which were also torqued down to the correct values, and then fit the cam shaft sprocket onto the chain and breathe a sigh of relief as the timing was now set. After this, we reinstalled the chain guides and tensioner.

I set about cleaning up the flange which fits between the water pump and the engine block, but quite quickly it broken in two! The metal behind the rubber seal usually fitted to it was so thin, that just holding it in my hand was enough for the middle of it to fall out! A quick check of eBay only brought up a few replacements which were all in America! So I decided to add that to my list for the MINI garage.

At that point, we packed up and I headed off to pick up the mirror cover for my Mum's car.

The BMW/MINI garage is quite big - the showrooms are on the right side of the road, and the service centre on the left. As I turned onto the road, I noticed a Mercedes sticking out of the car park towards the road! As I got nearer, a woman got out of the passenger side and looked at the back of the car. I think the driver had done the classic thing with an automatic, where they stomp the accelerator instead of the brake! They had smashed down the metal barriers and got the car beached with the back wheels spinning in the air!





I'd like to say I was concerned, but I actually thought it was bloody hilarious!! They eventually abandoned the car and made themselves scarce! It would have to be recovered for sure, as you'd never move it without damaging it further. Whilst I was in the service side, I saw loads of the staff popping outside for a giggle. No harm done etc..

I went into the parts area, armed with my broken water pump flange. Happily, the chap was able to find it and order me one. £13 - happy days. It'll be ready on Tuesday.

Then, I went over to the service side to get a quote to have the supercharger pulley removed. The man I spoke to was really helpful as they always are, and asked me about the project. Apparently, none of their technicians had ever removed one before and didn't have the correct puller. So my trusty mechanic is going to remove it instead, we'll try a regular 3 point puller - and if that fails then we'll grind it off (which seems to be what quite a lot of people end up doing).

I've ordered a KAVS motorsport 11% reduction pulley and a set of colder NGK spark plugs which is pretty much equivalent to the JCW pulley. The supercharger will stay off until that's done.

http://www.1320.co.uk/kavs-kavs-motorsport-reduced-supercharger-pulley-for-mini-cooper-s-r53-15-17

After I got back from the garage, I set about draining the old engine oil. I had left it until this stage, in the hope that any rubbish that was dislodged while stripping the head off or cleaning up the block surface would fall into the oil and be drained away.

The drain plug put up quite a fight, it was rather tight, but made more difficult by the car being so low to the ground and not jacked up - I just couldn't get enough force on the socket wrench as I was lying face down on the garage floor! Eventually, with an improvised breaker bar made from a re-purposed garden solar light , it was undone.

Like a true professional, I placed the drain pan perfectly (no, really - I actually did this time!) which caught the flow of the oil. As it has sat so long, the water had settled at the bottom, so the first half litre or so was just water, followed by very black oil.

Luckily, I had exhausted myself so much, I was still lying on the floor - drain plug in hand, when the drain pan reached capacity and began to overflow! I was able to bung the drain plug back in and stem the flow!

There must have been LOADS in there! As I've never had it overflow before, even when draining the oil on my Discovery which takes nearly 7 litres. I think there was a lot of oil, plus a lot of water and a good helping of WD-40!

I then emptied the drain pan, placed it roughly under the oil filter and put a jug under the (now dripping) drain plug hole. The oil filter canister is removed with a specialist socket (about 38mm). It's positioned in such a way that it pours oil all over the exhaust manifold and several suspension components when you remove it. There's very little you can do, other than wait for it to stop raining down underneath the car. I left them both to drain over night.

Sunday - I got out there at about 9. I replaced the drain plug and installed the new Bosch oil filter.



I then installed the new exhaust manifold gaskets and set about installing the bolts. It took quite a bit of jiggling around and moving the engine about with the jack, but I managed to get all the bolts in eventually.

Next, I refitted the various sensors on the sides of the head and then the new thermostat and housing. More nice new shiny bits



I then prepared the replacement intake manifold. It had come with a set of injectors which looked quite crusty, so I removed them and cleaned out the area in which they sit, then prepared the mating surface for the new gasket, and finally sprayed some brake clean all around to get rid of any loose muck.

As the famous intercooler bracket was already fitted to this one, I was reluctant to touch it, so I needed to get the valve cover on first - as the bracket would otherwise prevent it being installed.

I cleaned out all the manky mayonnaise stuff from the top of the valve cover and fitted the new gasket with the aid of a hairdryer to make it a little more pliable, and pushed in the new spark plug tube seals. I decided to put a little bit of oil down the spark plug tubes to drop into the cylinders, and some more over the camshaft and rocker arms before reinstalling the valve cover.

This allowed me to fit the intake manifold and gasket which was remarkably easier than removing it in the first place! Then came the injectors and fuel rail which all popped in nicely. The various electrical connections then followed.

It was incredibly useful to have a spare MINI to check on, I was able to see exactly where all the cables are supposed to be routed. Particularly the weird black cylinder which I'm not entirely sure of the purpose of, that has various cables and tubes going into it from all angles! You'd take ages trying to work out what wanted to plug into it!

This is what mine should/will look like



My spark plug wires are quite crusty - they look as if they've been chewed by a mouse in places and are fortified with electrical tape in others! I have therefore ordered a replacement set, however I have put the old ones into the spark plug tubes, as I don't want anything falling down there before I get the new plugs and leads.

One of the last things I did on the car was reinstall the air box, I've blanked off an unused vacuum line coming from the throttle body which I found (surely that had to be a vacuum leak?!) and removed the previously mentioned flap, which I'm hoping will give me more noise!

That left the engine bay looking much more complete



I ventured inside the shed and took a look at the radiator, as I was concerned it could be leaking - after I removed it from the front panel section, I realised that it was very modern and silver in colour - this was backed up by a date stamp indicating that it was made in late 2015 - bonus!



The supercharger is still on the workbench, so I applied a bead of instant gasket around the piece I had mistakenly removed, and refitted. Then I refilled it with new oil - the water pump drive side only takes a very small amount (somewhere between 25 and 40ml). After this, I fitted the new water pump.



And finally, I cleaned the intercooler through with some petrol and brake cleaner so that it will be a little more efficient in cooling the charge air. It wasn't too bad - again, I'm comparing this to the intercooler on my Land Rover which is usually pretty oily!

That's all for now. I am waiting on my new supercharger pulley, a fuel filter, some gearbox oil, the new water pump flange and the resistor for the radiator fan repair.

I will also go to Halfords and pick up 5 litres of fully synthetic 5w30 and some coolant, ready for the big moment!

Thanks for all sticking with me, it's been quite a long road (or it certainly feels like it from my side!) but we're making progress now.

Finally - the bonnet can actually be closed now!

 
#140 ·
I couldn't really check that. I just did as the Haynes said, and checked for wear on the sprockets and the chain links - of which there seemed to be remarkably little. It would tie in with what the service book says about the engine work this car had in the past - as the engine would at least appear to have a lot less wear on it than you would expect. So perhaps it has had a new chain already.

In an ideal world I would like to replace everything in sight, but replacing the chain would mean getting the timing cover off, removing the crank sprocket would need tools I don't have and it requires heating up to a certain temperature to reinstall etc. Then you might as well change the chain guides etc. It just gets out of hand very quickly :lol:

I have to draw the line somewhere as there's not a lot of money to go into this - although that's perhaps a little hard to justify when I've just spent a packet on a new supercharger pulley :p
 
#146 ·
Thanks as always guys :D



if you undo the oil filter cannister to its last thread a valve opens and allows the oil to drain into the sump!!

stopping the mess on the manifold and subframe.;)
Seriously - where were you guys for the last 9 years I've been pouring oil all over the exhaust manifold? :lol:

Wish i'd bloody known this!!!! I'll try it next time!

Great work - some Halfords brand oil for initial start up, 100 miles; then drain it all out with new filter and fresh quality oil.
That's the plan, I've got a spare oil filter waiting in the shed. More details in the upcoming post, but I managed to get 5L of Petronas fully synthetic for £24 from Halfords on the trade card :driver:

Just working on the next update. Nothing major as yet, just some more bits put back together!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top