November Shop Day - 16th

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Zack
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Zack »

Oliver is finally repaired. Dasher Garage worked all through the weekend and located the part they needed on Saturday to fix it. 3 days before they said they could get the part. The car is purring like a kitten and ready to roll. I'll let you all know what exactly went wrong once I have the paperwork. I'm not exactly sure myself, had something to do with all three, alternator, throttle body control, and harmonic balancer.
Bruno - 2022 JCW
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Minidave »

I'll bet I know what went wrong.

The center rubber in the harmonic balancer sheared, when it does that the belt no longer turns, so you get no alternator output, supercharger output (reduced power) and the car overheats if it's run long enough since the water pump is driven off the supercharger. If it's summertime your A/C also quits since the compressor isn't turning either. Solution is to replace the harmonic balancer, and a shop not familiar with MINIs would look at the alternator first.

Sometimes the rubber will grab for a bit, turning the belt again and making the alternator work temporarily, but if you try to run the car much above an idle it slips again.....

Sound about right?

Moral of the story, if your alternator light comes on, check the harmonic balancer first - all the other issues are cascade events from the harmonic balancer failure.
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Zack »

Harmonic balancer failed. Correct. They have worked on minis before but the mechanic that was doing it hadn't. End result is a new alternator with a bigger cable to boost the electric power they also ran a higher output cable from the battery to the engine bay. They replaced the harmonic balancer which apparently Baron keeps plenty in stock for this situation. Apparently lots of R53's have that part fail. Over $1,000 later it's working pwrfecy and runs a lot smoother. It was probably on its way out for some time and I just didn't notice.
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Former MINI's
2006 R53 Mini Cooper S
2011 R55 Mini Cooper Clubman
2013 R56 Mini Cooper S JCW
2008 R56 MINI Cooper S JCW
2014 R55 MINI JCW Clubman
2017 F56 MINI Cooper S JCW
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Minidave
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Minidave »

Last piece of the puzzle, Mark got some spacers and longer bolts and after a bit more fiddling got it all buttoned up and headed back home to Larry town......

Noel (devil dog) says "Dang, those are some big damn brakes!"
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Hi! My name's Dave!

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IowaM1N1
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by IowaM1N1 »

Minidave wrote:Last piece of the puzzle, Mark got some spacers and longer bolts and after a bit more fiddling got it all buttoned up .....
It still needed MORE fiddling after getting longer lug bolts? Dang.
Greg
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Minidave »

Yeah, we had to double up the spacers to get them thick enough to clear the calipers, so it was difficult to get all the holes lined up so he could get a bolt to start in the threads. I finally found 2 bolts in my pile and cut the heads off to give us a stud to locate all the various and sundry pieces (2 different spacers plus the hub centering rings) while we held the wheel in place and started the wheel bolts. A stud kit would definitely make this easier, but Mark has a plan to get some spacers custom made that will fit correctly.

Then once we got the wheels on and torqued, he took it for a drive and there were nasty noises emanating from the front wheels, turned out the backing plates were rubbing, so back into the shop with a screwdriver to pull them away from the rotors, then one more time on the road for a test drive, and all seems good now.

He still has to bed the brakes in, but that will just take some driving.
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DuManchu

Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by DuManchu »

Minidave wrote:Superchargers rarely fail on these cars, unless it's making awful noises I wouldn't worry about it. We have at least one club member with over 200K on his so far....we changed the fluid at 170K.

I recommend the Valeo clutch kit, it replaces the noisy dual mass flywheel with a solid one, and the clutch is light, easy to modulate and holds strong against any HP a MINI can throw at it..... Way Motor Works sells them. They're also about half the cost of a new OEM kit.

However, a clutch is a bigger job than we can do in a shop day, just FYI.

You can rent a lift at DIY Olathe inexpensively, and it makes the job SOOO much easier when you can raise the car up to work on it, and Dave has all the special equipment (like a tranmission jack) that you'd need to do the job.
I'm not terribly worried about the Supercharger, it sounds "normal" to me, not making any alarming noises that I can tell. I have service records that indicate the SC was making "severe" noises, but I just don't hear it.

I'll probably just tackle the clutch myself in my garage. The lift would be nice, but I'd rather save the $150 and work in the more cramped confines of my own home. I am considering the Valeo kit or the Competition Clutch Kit from WMW. Haven't heard anything about the competition kit (yet), but it seems to come with a beefier throwout bearing and clutch disc than the Valeo kit. However, the Valeo kit is more than $200 cheaper and is a pretty well known piece of kit so it's pretty likely I'll end up going that route anyway.
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Minidave »

No question a competent mechanic with a deep enough tool box can do this job in his garage, it's just the lift makes the job so much easier and faster. Good luck with the clutch job and I hope you catch it before it tears something else up like imabyter's did.
Hi! My name's Dave!

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SWT CHI

Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by SWT CHI »

Minidave wrote:Yeah, we had to double up the spacers to get them thick enough to clear the calipers, so it was difficult to get all the holes lined up so he could get a bolt to start in the threads. I finally found 2 bolts in my pile and cut the heads off to give us a stud to locate all the various and sundry pieces (2 different spacers plus the hub centering rings) while we held the wheel in place and started the wheel bolts. A stud kit would definitely make this easier, but Mark has a plan to get some spacers custom made that will fit correctly.

Then once we got the wheels on and torqued, he took it for a drive and there were nasty noises emanating from the front wheels, turned out the backing plates were rubbing, so back into the shop with a screwdriver to pull them away from the rotors, then one more time on the road for a test drive, and all seems good now.

He still has to bed the brakes in, but that will just take some driving.
Many hands make light work. And two heads are better than one. If I had to do this on the side of the road in the dark to replace a flat, then I would rather not.

The wheels are centered and roll quite nicely. Still bedding these pads in, which is going to take a while on the K-10 commute with just a few braking zones available each day. Can't wait for track time this spring. The backing plate issues are no more.

Five-and-a-quarter turns on wheel bolts makes me a bit nervy, even for the daily commute. Talked to my brah at the machine shop today for some custom 8mm hub-centric spacers... Long story short: I have four 8mm hub-centric wheel spacers on order, 16 40mm bolts, and a some stud conversion kits. Seems like traveling east to get from Phoenix to LA, but this will ensure the wheels are centered and secure on the hubs.

Followed by a 4-wheel alignment. Who do y'all know where to accomplish this?

I'm shopping suspensions this holiday!
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Minidave
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Minidave »

For an alignment? I use Baron....

I had NTB mount my new tires and do an alignment, but it started wearing the rears fairly quickly, so I took it to Shore Tire, they said they couldn't get it into spec, so I took it to Baron, who straightened it out completely ($99 coupon helped!) and it's been fine ever since.

I also had NTB do the wife's Audi when I put new tires on it, last semester I had my students put it on the alignment rack at school and it was off too - we reset it and it's been perfect ever since.

Moral of the story, I know two places NOT to take it to.

Since I have access to the school, I do mine there now.

Fricken lasers, ya know.... :mrgreen:

Image

BTW, you don't need the 40mm for the rear, they probably won't work back there.....cause even with the 8mm spacers (why put them in the rear at all?) you don't have the thickness of the rotors to deal with like on the front.

You decided to go with 8mm instead of the 7mm you have on there now (5mm + 2mm)?

Unless it's wildly off, the alignment can probably wait till after you do the suspension.
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mcconned
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by mcconned »

"Fricken lasers, ya know.... :mrgreen: "

Was that an Austin Powers reference? :shock:
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Re: November Shop Day - 16th

Post by Minidave »

Yes :mrgreen:

We have that Hunter alignment machine with the Lasers....

and I have a Shaguar! :lol:
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
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