Just got notice that my oil filter housing gasket is leaking both oil and coolant. They are quoting me 950.00 to fix it as it involves removing the bumper. Has anyone ever attempted this? Sounds like the gasket that goes between the housing and the block. 33.00 part and 920+ in labor. Trying to save on labor fees by doing it myself. Any advice would be appreciated...
Thank you!

 

Removing the bumper will only take a half hour to an hour if you've never done it before.

 

Do you have a Cooper or Cooper S? If it's an S you don't have to remove the bumper. Just remove the downpipe and heat shields.
And they aren't $33, we have them here
http://waymotorworks.com/oil-filter-...9-r60-r61.html

 

Check this out...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

 

It's one step more than changing out your turbo oil lines. You should do those while you are in there. Way sells a replacement that does NOT have rubber in it.

I'm proud of myself for getting through it, I am a TOTAL amateur, I would do it again, but a clutch replacement is probably beyond me in this car... Does that help give you perspective?

You need metric sockets, ratcheting wrenches help, and torque wrench. Oh, and you'll need turbo-downpipe and downpipe-exhaust gaskets. Don't try to reuse them. Put the bumper in service mode. Trust me. You can get stuff out without service mode, but I really liked having that extra two inches for putting the heat shields back in.

 

Sorry didnt specify. It is a Clubman S. What is meant by "service mode"? I have a complete set of tools and very comfortable removing and installing parts on my car. The dealer sold me a gasket, looks like one long connected gasket sort of a honeycomb style. The dealer replaced the turbo line(s) a year or two ago as the bolt that held them in place snapped. Sounds like I should also get the gaskets for the oil filter cooling block as well as the exhaust gaskets? I really hate f****** with this car now. Spent over 3k right before Xmas of last year on it for the cracked valve cover, vanos sensors, vacuum pump and timing chain. To get another 1200 quote (reduced to 950) is just too much for a car with only 75k miles that is maintained regularly.

 

Also, just looked at the gasket set I bought and there are in fact two gaskets in there, one a multi passage and one small sort of oval looking one.

 

And slightly off topic but relevant, are there one or two vanos sensors on this car? The parts house said two, dealer service adviser said one but wasnt sure.

 

And one last thing, Way Motoring, if you have the other parts I need besides the rubber gasket which I already have please let me know so I can order them. Appreciate it. Sounds like from the other write up I will need downpipe to turbo gasket and exhaust clamp. And for s**** and giggles, how much are new turbo lines?

 

Should I replace these as well?
http://www.waymotorworks.com/oil-coo...9-r60-r61.html
no point in having to rip this thing down again for the sake of a few extra dollars in parts
Also looking at this:
http://www.waymotorworks.com/turbo-oil-line-set.html

 

Replace everything you can. If dealer did the OEM part for oil line, it has rubber in it, and I'd personally recommend you replace it to avoid doing this job twice. My two cents though. Let us know how it goes!

Youtube r56 service mode and you'll find the instructions. Moves the bumper and radiator assembly forward 2.5 inches for access to the DP and such. You will do it. Haha

 

People, I'm gonna tell you, screw the dealership, they will rip your pockets apart to fix your MINI. Take it to an independent shop or do the work yourself.

But this isn't that hard to do yourself, just take your time and be patient.

 

My biggest regret was not taking it to Kensington Motors in Vegas. I had them do the initial diagnostic on the timing chain but being that it was around 3k and right before Xmas, plus the fact that Mini of Las Vegas had stated they were gonna fix it free of charge (which, 3k later they obviously did not) really soured me on the Mini brand in general. This is my second Mini Cooper, and the second with timing chain issues. Mini USA's response to all the issues I have been having? "your car is out of warranty so we feel no need to render any kind of good will repair". 75k miles and the car is falling apart. But I digress...

 

OK so everything is ordered. got new seals for the heat exchanger, exhaust clamp and gasket, filter housing seals , plus a gallon of antifreeze, and a new turbo supply line set. Will see how it goes....thanks for all your help!

 

Yep...that's MINIUSA for you, a bunch of no good ignorant workers and stupid guidelines.

I'm on my second as well so I know what you mean.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

+1

Keep us updated!

 

You might as well replace the turbo oil return line too,for peace of mind. I just replaced all of the items you are doing without putting the car in radiator service mode. As mentioned before 2 extra inches would have been great but doable either way.Be sure to be patient so as not to forget connecting anything,you do not want to do it twice.

 

Yeah I have a nice little collection of parts I am gonna replace tomorrow morning. Planning on spending the day getting it all torn down and then back together again. I ordered the turbo line kit from Way along with the rest of the gaskets. Fast service too. Had my parts within a few days..

 

OK, got it all apart and back together again. No leftover screws or bolts. Did lose one bolt to the heat shield but not a major ordeal. The write up that mbwicz was pretty much spot on. Noticed a few things slightly different on mine:
I used a t30 tork head to get the screws off the heat exchanger

I would recommend renting an O2 sensor socket. You can break it loose with a wrench, but the top one is a little tight for space because of the heat shield.

You HAVE to change your oil when you are done. When I finally got the oil filter housing off it literally vomited a sexy mass of black oil and coolant all over. Luckily I had a catch basin ready. I used brake cleaner to kinda blast away all the old grime and gunk. Gonna steam clean the engine in the morning

Taking off the oil filter cover and oil filter will greatly help you not wanna beat your own brains in when trying to replace that one bolt holding the aux water pump bracket on. Its still a feel as you go sorta deal

When removing the turbo oil return line, instead of wiggling it out, if you look from the top, you will see the little flange that the bolt threads into. Just take a long screwdriver and a mallet and tap it out from on top.

I used a bit of PB Blaster on all the exhaust bolts before I removed them in case corrosion had locked them in place. That will take a little bit to burn off

When re installing the upper heat shield, try to just start all the screws as you have to kinda wiggle it a bit for all of it to line up properly.

I ended up removing the top and bottom O2 sensors just so I would not have to keep pushing them out of the way. The bottom one is a must, the top one just made things a little easier.

To reinstall the downpipe, make sure you put the lower heat shield in first, but dont screw it in at all. Just slide it up and then put the downpipe in right behind it. Once you get the down pipe installed, you can bolt in the heat shield

I would recommend a little permatex on the gaskets just to keep them in place. They are a fairly snug fit, but since these things are know to leak a little extra protection cant hurt.

I used my 1/4 inch ratchet...ALOT. Most of the bolts were 8 and 10 mm

I would also recommend replacing the bypass hoses coming off the housing and aux pump. If the seals went out in the housing, the hoses may not be that far off. I did not do this and sorta regretting it. When I was told "replace everything you can in that area" I should have listened. I did put in new seals to both the heat exchanger and the housing, plus upgraded the turbo lines.

On the exhaust flange, there is a little sorta metal gasket with tabs on it. The tabs will drive you nuts trying to get the clamp in place until you realize the tabs are used to hold the gasket onto the down pipe flange so you can get the clamp installed. Do the clamp last. Otherwise you will curse everything under the sun until you realize...like I did...that having the down pipe securely fastened would greatly limit the amount of movement between the pipe and the flex hose on the exhaust.

Special thanks to Way Motors who 1. had the parts I needed, and 2. shipped them quickly. It took me about six hours to tear it down and about four to put it back together. I had to wait for the motor to cool the first day, then realized I didn't have enough light so finished it this morning. I also checked and rechecked everything mainly because you don't wanna have to do this job twice.

Have a great weekend!