To all my mini friends do not buy a ATI crank damper for your mini. mine just spun off the crank after less then a year of use. After talking to ATI they told me I have a $400 door stop. They assume you are going to cut a key way in your crank to hold it on during a rebuild instead of the interference fit that mini use. Pass this along to all mini oweners so they dont lose there motor.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and encouraged to share bad experiences, however I don't think it's fair to tell the community not to buy a product based on your bad experience.

 

I work for a race shop and we use alot of ati dampers but it looks like they have a desine flaw in the mini damper that is why they ship it with a key way cut in it. If you are building a motor and can cut a key way in the crank thats great but i would not trust one on a stock appacation. And when i called them they told me they expect you to cut the key way even when there is no instructions to do so.Plus they would not offer any help at all to me execpt to tell me i should have made sure that the interference fit was to spec. I am sure mini checkes everone that they build instead of making a damper that works on all.

 

Pure B.S....to the op. Sounds Iike a short cut was taken during the install...
Many folks choose not to heat the ati damper... And just press it it...a VERY BAD choice. It is MADE to be press fit with heat...hense the instructions on HEATING IT....then using a NEW bolt...

 

Lol...the oem does have...a...er...flaw...but not the lack of a keyway...
Good luck...but this is THE FIRST ati damper failure report....there have been hundreds of oem failures....
Says it all!!

 

Please feel free to send me info on when and where you purchased it, and who you talked to at ATI. I have a very good relationship with ATI as we've sold hundreds of MINI ATI Dampers and never had an issue with one, EVER. We also run them on our race MINI's with no issue. I'll see what I can do if anything to help you out.

Also cutting is key way is not needed at all as it is a press fit design as the instructions that come with it tell you how to press them on. We have used the key way on aftermarket cranks, but never cut a stock crank to put in a key.

 

Thanks. I did buy the damper from you on 3-5-2013 order#9036.
I have been building and racing cars since 1977 so i am not new at this game. Yes I have made a few mistakes and I try to find out what happened so it does not happen again. When the head machinist and I agree that it probley was a bad part . and I call the manufacture not you because you are just a supplier and I do not have a problem with you but ATI just whants to tell me that I screwed up when all I was trying to do was check if there was a problem with the damber so I new what was going on. The teck is the one that told me that it should be keyed. As we came to the same concoulison at the shop due to the mass of the damper and if the fit was not exactly perfect. Yes the damper was seated all the way on and the bolt tourqed and locktited with red. The bolt was still tite in place as the damper was spinning around. All my motor has is a 15% pully and is a street car that only gets driven a couple thousand miles a year so its not like it is over powered. I thank you for your offer of help. I just hate the idea of someone else lossing a motor over a bad part. A motor does not work to good with the snout of the crank messed up to the point you cant get a damper back on. If they had made any offer of help even if to just check it for a defect so I would know forsure what the problem was I would not have posted anything.

 

If you expect any of us to take you seriously you could start by using proper grammer/punctuation/spelling. That last post makes my head hurt.

Did you mic the ID of the damper when you pulled it off? It's not a common failure so I'm curious what went wrong.

 

THANK YOU v10climber for you reply post.You might not know but people that have DYSLEXIA like me have a hard time spelling and typing. If you did read my post you would have seen that the crank was torn up so a good mesurment is not possable also the post was about the lack of support from ATI to find out what caused the problem. No were in my rants have I mention anythig about looking for any money back or a replacemet part just to let people to know there might be a problem.As I posted I have 36 years building motors and racing sport cars I do have a good idea what i am doing plus i work for one of the best road race machine shops around and when the 2 head machinist agree that it was a part problem not a install problem I tend to agree plus if you have ever installed one of these dampers you would see that it a little hard to screw up. As for ATI saying I should have micked the to parts that is a little hard to do while the motor is in the car plus ther is no listing what the mesurments should be in the instructions. Does the avarge back yard installer have access to the mics that are acuret anoth to do the job right. SORRY FOR ANY MISS SPELLINGs

 

I'm just suspicious of someone creating an account to slam a reputable company's product.

 

My thoughts exactly.....I am skeptical it is a result of the ATI part....
I keep on wondering... If a pressfit/interference fit was good enough for the oem....WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENT?! sure the hole is the same size...pretty basic thing....and one report of an ati failing is just an amnomily....compared to thousands of oem failures....wonder if we will hear of a "new" entrant into the damper market...
Also not speaking to the vendor...who in MANY cases have contacts at the seller to help...let's face it...the guy who has bought 400+ units from his contact is more likely to get action than a "guy" on the phone talking to the producer....in a perfect world yes calling yourself is more expedious....but since you have zero clout, a waste of time...
The oem is interference fit....the prw unit is, and the ati is....that is ALL 3 UNITS...
Not sure what the issue is...
Install? Take a heat gun to the damper or use a hotplate to it before install?
Maybe shaft on the car had prior dammage from the OEM'S removal or failure? Maybe it was so tight getting it on...it was mistakenly lubed...can be done with a keyway unit...but not on a interference unit.
Sorry you had a failure....it is a terrible situation....but with two competing aftermarket replacements using the same mounted method as the oem......it seems odd to hear of a failure like this.....