My car has just about 80k miles on it, and I've been slowly taking care of the service that is supposed to hit around then, posting up questions as I go.

I've already taken care of most stuff like changing spark plugs, wires, cabin air filter, inspecting hoses, flushing coolant, changing tranny fluid, topping off power steering fluid, flushing/bleeding brake fluid, and inspecting suspesion, ball joints, steering components, and brakes. That stuff's all good now.

I also want to change my supercharger oil, which I see is a rather big job. This walkthrough makes it seem like I should plan on taking all afternoon and doing a lot of dissassembly.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ge-how-to.html

I feel like it might be worth changing a few other things, while I'm in there. Water pump? Belt tensioner? Belt? Anything else?

Also, the dealership informed me that I have a leaking "CKP O-ring" when they were doing an alignment. Anyone know what that is and how I can get one?

Thanks for the help, as always.

 

Crankshaft position sensor. The o ring fails causing a leak.
You can replace all these items as long as you are there and you have the extra funds. Nothing wrong with preventative maintenance IMO.

 

Thanks for the info. Now that you mention the exact term, that does ring a bell. I'll have to get a new ring.

I've been meaning to do the belt tensioner. It bounces around a bit and makes my belt squeaky after a rain. Prolly get the ALTA one that doesn't rely on a spring.

I figure the water pump is worth doing. Assuming it's the orginal, it's over 10 years and 80k miles old. Probably worth taking care of it while I'm in there.

Any other bits and pieces folks would recommend replacing?

 

From the walkthrough, it looks like I should make sure I have a few additional seals and gaskets:

- SC Input gasket from throttle body duct (green rubber) 11610020836 - $18.02
- Throttle body o-ring (orange rubber) 13547509045 - $13.04
- Water pump to block O-ring (black rubber) - only need one but come in pack of two 11517509186 - $2.54
(Thanks to ellingtj for the last three)

Edit: Looks like that would also be a good time to replace my thermostat. I have a new one rattling around in my glovebox. Guess I'll throw that in there.

 

The Alta tensioner is a controversial choice. Do your research first.

 

I have seen that, yes. My main reason for wanting it is to never have to replace it again, I must confess.

 

unless you don't mind spending that extra $14 for some reason, you can skip the throttle body o-ring. I've never heard of one going bad and even the one on my 200K mile S is still good. Although, it's only $14 and peace of mind is priceless.

 

I just did a cooling system overhaul, and while I had the supercharger off the car to replace the water pump, I did the supercharger oil change as well.

You have a pretty good list of stuff there. I would definitely do the water pump while you have the supercharger off the car. Might as well do the thermostat as well since you'll have the cooling system drained.

You may want to to do radiator hoses. With 124k on my MCS, they were getting a bit brittle when I removed them from the radiator, water pump, thermostat housing, etc. I wouldn't have trusted that they wouldn't be leaky had I reused them.

Since you have to disassemble the front end, you should check your radiator cooling fan. You're getting to the mileage ballpark where the resistor failed on mine, so that only the high speed fan setting worked. Check RockAuto for a replacement...$80 vs. $300+ for the OEM unit. The quality seemed the same, and it fit exactly like the OEM unit, but $220+ cheaper. A nice savings when you consider that both the aftermarket & OEM unit will fail again someday because that resistor is still exposed to the elements.

Lastly, this project will take you more than an afternoon, especially if you have not done it before. It's not that it is difficult work, it is just time consuming. The most difficult part for me was getting the supercharger and water pump reinstalled as the clearances are tight. To do everything I did, was about 20-hours of labor...spread over 10-days (as I went into a holding pattern on work while I ordered/waited on some additional parts).

 

Thanks for the good info, sdiver.

I actually already had to replace the radiator fan because my resistor had gone bad (due to a bad PS fan), so that's done. And I have a thermostat lying around from when I was doing that job but got too lazy to go through with it. So really, it seems like all that's left is to buy a new water pump and a few other little gaskets and such and I'll be good to go.

I'm not too worried about time. I have a good group of friends that will probably do most of the heavy lifting on this project. They all owe me a Christmas present anyhow.

 

whats going on with the alta tensioners?

 

Not everyone likes their fixed nature. Basically, they eliminate the spring, from what I understand.

Some people don't seem to like that. For me, who is used to Hondas, which don't (or didn't) have spring tensioners, it's no big deal.

Search around on the forum for more info.

 

because im lazy and i don't have the parts that i need if something breaks if i remove the supercharger. i just refilled my supercharger in the front side only heheh...

 

Just FYI...it's typically the backside of the supercharger that runs dry. I know mine was WAY low in the back, and low - but acceptable - in the front. Not to mention, how do you get the old oil & crud out if you're not removing the supercharger?

 

i just instructed my mechanic to put some s/c oil in the plug (almost beside the supercharger pulley) he was able to put 1.5 bottle in that one

 

Here is a great how to


https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/d...153CF8DCCAA0E6

 

Yeah, that's the front reservoir...it should take about 140mL (4.9oz) of s/c oil.

There's also a reservoir back behind the water pump. That reservoir should take about 40mL (1.4oz) of s/c oil. The only way to access the back reservoir, that I am aware of, is to remove the supercharger and water pump. But that oil should be changed as well.

 

yeah. i didn't want my mechanic to remove lots of parts there. i wish that i'm correct that it doesn't hurt to refill the s/c oil hehe

 

I have read walkthroughs for other things that mention topping off S/C oil when you have a chance. I doubt it hurts -- it just isn't as good as a proper flush and fill, of course.

Mini doesn't even recommend doing this work. They just want you to run your S/C into the ground and buy a new one.

 

Yeah, MINI and Eaton call it a maintenance free supercharger. Eaton says that since it is sealed, it never needs to be touched. I know there are more than a few MINI Cooper S owners around here who would disagree with those statements. Because things never run hot and burn some oil, and seals never get old and leak oil...right?

Of course, it's good business for both of them to have you run it dry so it fails, then have you pay $1500-1700 for a new supercharger, and probably another $1000 for labor.