...or 2wo.

Yesterday I made the opportunity to finally undertake a few maintenance issues that needed to be addressed for some time now.

1. Replace w/new Oil pan gasket
2. 3,500 mi oil and filter change
3. Replace worn belt tesioner bushings with Powerflex
4. New Idler pulley (30kmi one still spins and sounds fine but "while I was in there")
5. Replace 30k mi serpentine belt
6. Install new PS fan (original works fine but "while I was in there")
7. bi annual tire rotation

This was also my first time ever putting my Mini into front-end service mode...



After pulling the oil drain plug, I did a lot of cleaning and disassembly of other components which took up most of the rest of the day and left the engine to drip out oil over night.

Day 2wo:
I'm not surprised to have discovered how much oil (at least 5oz), continued to drip out over night.

I dropped the oil pan first thing this morning...

Dragging a high power magnet around after dropping the oil pan. Happy to discover - No discernible metal particulates.
The crap in the pan are remnants of a disintegrated rubber drain plug O-ring and bits of various crud that had fallen in when dropping the pan.






Oil pan bolted in place and replaced with new gasket. Oil and filter changed. I normally do oil changes every 3,500mi. With new filter changes at every other.


I've had a brand new PSP fan sitting in a new parts box for almost 10 years.
Besides being 15 y/o - Nothing wrong with my old one but I figured I might as well replace it w/new. Left: Original PSP fan > Right: New SPAL


he new SPAL fan appeared to be in exact specs to the OEM. However upon installation, for some odd reason it would not clear my oil temp sending plug .
As a resolve; I had to make a minor alteration by cutting out a notch with a Dremel in the lip of the housing.


While my 6 y/o belt tensioner and dampener were in excellent mechanical condition - the rubber bushings were beginning to tear.
Replaced w/Powerflex. I then also replaced the drive belt and idler pulley with new.

Before actually moving the radiator cooling fan; I had noticed a couple of the small (feeble) taps on both sides of the radiator housing were broken. No cracks just broken tabs...



Although I could find no indication of what the plastic housing was made of - I made an educated guess that it as most likely Polypropylene.
I managed to scrounge up a small piece of PP and plastic soldered the broken tabs the best I could with what little I had on hand.


Last item on the list was tire rotation. I normally rotate my tires twice a year -April & October (depending on miles put on between those months).

Took the Mini out for a 15mi (rndtrp) to the recycling center to drop off the used oil and cleaning solvent. Left the car sitting for 4hrs with a piece of cardboard under the engine.


Unfortunately, only to discover a small 2" fresh oil stain. Significantly much less than before - but something else is leaking.
Most likely the timing chain cover (the crank positioning O-ring was replaced less than 200mi ago).

I'm currently 90% recovered from my illness. The 2wo days spent in an attempt to maintain my Mini was well worth the scrapes and joint pain to finally address some of these issues.

 

Just an oil service on the Recluse (my R55S) this evening. Maintenance time in the garage with him is always a pleasure, though!

 

In this day and age, depending on what part of the country you reside/operate in, navigation is sometimes essential. People drive like morons, cause accidents, and navigation alerts you of this/re-routes you around it. Or, at the very least, you can see your expected time of arrival.

As for familiarizing yourself with the route beforehand and leaving extra time? 100%. As you say, good life skill to practice.

 

H2G, very excellent news on your recovery!

 

Thank you Mr. @slofut !
Yeah - This recovery was a record breaker for me (only 50 days!)
Since my move up here and not being at my job long enough (56 days) I was without insurance.
The hospital wanted $8,000 to initiate treatment.
Having been through this before; I took it upon myself to self medicate w/ OTC (boost/balance my blood levels) and home physical therapy...
But getting up and working on my Mini (although painful) was the real cure to a speedy recovery

Glad to be back.

 

Today I installed one of 2wo O2 sensors in my R53.
Although, I've had no fault codes or SES light; and (currently now @104k mi), I don't recall the 02 sensors ever being changed since I've owned the car when it was new.
I would imagine it was due.

I only had time to replace one of the 2wo. So I started with the pre-cat and PB blasted the post for the time being.


It had been recommended by a fellow NAM contributor that they had good results with NTK.


The NTK replacement (right) is slightly different than the original (left). Only in terms of diameter and mounting slide on the connector to the car.
I know virtually nothing with respect to the what should appear "normal" condition of an 02 sensor.

How does the left one look to you? - Any input would be much appreciated.






As much I dislike seeing zip-ties retaining parts in the engine compartment; It's better than seeing loose connectors laying around unrestrained.


Back as it was. I even took the time to straighten out any misshaped kinks in the heat shield.

Drove the car for a 6mi loop. Occasionally boosted up to 15psi. Ran and idled as normal. No codes.

 

Curious, what was the ailment.......

 

Lupus compounded by RA & edema.

 

Oof, that's rough. Glad you're feeling better!

 

Thanks.
Feeling much better now.

 

This afternoon I took a few moments to change out my post-cat 02 sensor.


The white-sh color on the original (left) post-cat 02, appeared to be the same as with the original pre-cat I'd previously replaced.
Still; the jury is out as to whether or not this (white-sh) condition is normal.


New NTK installed.


It was nice to discover the original connector clip still intact attached to the body of the car after all these years.
Not to having to have to cram that connector up into the body cavity or having to zip-tie it up there made for a clean factory looking install.

The car probably could have gone another 100k (IMO), without really needing to replace these 02's... but who knows?

 

This is very impressive H2G, self medicate and home PT, including working on the mini takes some serious willpower and I'm glad the otc meds worked, I'm sure your doctors are impressed too. Damn if I wouldn't budget a little of that 8k you saved towards some deserved goodies for the mini. Good job brother!

 

Did some much needed maintenance care today. Wash and trim treatment. Dad gave me some Ceracoat trim restore, and I had some Griots Garage tire dressing from a few years ago. The trim restore went on pretty easy. Curious to see how long it lasts. At least it was free.






Also, I recently purchased the new Clear View dipstick from Way Motors. Saying it is MUCH easier to read than the OEM dipstick seems like a major understatement.

 

Clubbie looks awesome.
Black trim & tire dressing really makes a huge impressive difference in the overall appearance of the car

 

Thanks for the pics on the dipstick, very helpful 👍

 

Gee, one might wonder why MINI violated the “If it an’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra with their “new and improved” dipstick when the old-school design worked so well.

 

Wonder if it needs that point to get past the timing chain guide or? One thing for sure, it's almost impossible to read the damn thing.

 

Agree.
There should be a 'stickey' here on NAM titled "Who here has suffered a broken factory dip stick?".
My original one broke in the tube back in 2012. Had to use the stub until my aftermarket braided wire one arrived.

 

Next to impossible to read, AND, it breaks. The perfect design improvement…

I will say that MINI did “improve” on their genius dipstick design with the Gen 3 MINIs. They got rid of the dipstick all together and replaced it with an electronic measurement system that requires the car to have been driven for 20 minutes before the check can be done, and the engine needs to be left running while it take about 2 minutes to do its thing. So, an impromptu oil check now takes about 25 minutes to perform. And, oh, God forbid if you forget to do the oil check before you turn the engine off as you will need to take the car out for an another spin before it will work. You maybe able to trick it by putting it in gear and moving the car a little. But that only works if the oil hasn’t cooled at all.



Sometime I just sit an wonder if the designers of things are ever required use them before they go into production…

 

Something to ponder:

 

Eddie07S - All excellent points.
#1 - Who in their right mind would ever follow the dealers recommended oil change intervals @ 15,000 mi ??? = crazy (let alone the fact that most oils denote "guaranteed for 10,000 mi "
Let's not even get started on dealers "lifetime" transmission fluid
#2 - Attempted to help a coworker pinpoint a minor oil leak on her 2013 Mini after she had taken it to the dealer for routine service. They told her that she still had 3,000mi left before her next (15,000 mi) oil service.
The first thing I wanted to look for was the condition and oil level. I was surprised - Not a dipstick to be found!!!

Brilliant!

 

i installed a full size tow hitch reciever so i dont have to put my work tools inside anny more. Now i just hook up a little trailer and go. ..,

 

Yup, no dipstick sucks! Pull the oil filler cap and look inside at the top of the head to seen the condition of the oil. Next best thing.

There was a poster on NAM who was regularly getting the oil from his MINI tested by Blackstone. What he came up with was 11K miles as the life of the oil. Fits with your quote of a 10k mile guarantee. The R56 turbo really cooks the oil on these cars, especially out on the track, where I have seen reading of about 250 deg F. I have used many oils in my R56S and can tell from the sound from the engine that after being on the track for 3 days there is a difference in the way the engine sounds between oils like Red Line and Motul compared to Mobil 1 and Castrol. Guess which I use. and it will get changed after a 3 day event.

 

I have always changed oil at 5k or less.

 

Yes, NO dipstick is the only thing worse than the N14/N18 dipstick. I absolutely despise the OEM dipstick. At oil change time, I have checked the dipstick and it showed as good. Then after draining, found that I was 1-1/2 quarts low! This new one is well worth the cost just so I can be confident of getting accurate reading.