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(First Mini) 94k miles R53 belt drive system questions.
Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for MINI Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.
(First Mini) 94k miles R53 belt drive system questions.
Just bought my first mini. 2005 r53 94k miles. Serpentine belt looks very worn, want to do it asap but would also like to do other preventative maintenance at the same time. Through searching this forum i have turned up a few common assemblies people agree should be replaced at the amount of miles this car has. Id like to verify im on the right track and also get input on any additional work that should be performed while im working in the area.
0. I bought and already have the tensioner tool.
1. The car has an M7 16% pulley, from what i understand the Gates K060535 is the belt i should use?
2. Not a lot of talk about idler pulleys, nearing 100k miles is this something i should go ahead and do while im in there or can i expect more life out of it?
3. I have read the harmonic balancers don't last a long time on these cars, whats the best way to inspect this pulley to ensure its not on its last leg? I cant spring for the ATI but i may be able to do the PRW if i have to.
4. Is the front crank seal able to be changed once the crank pulley is off? Are there any other seals/o-rings that should be changed in this area?
5. I was fully intent on buying a gates belt tensioner as i have read about the damper failures and the damage that can occur. Upon shopping for replacements i discovered that both ECS and Rockauto carry URO brand dampers for ~$20 and rockauto even has the pulley for 10 bucks. Has anyone had success disassembling the oem tensioner and replacing the damper and pulley? Does the tensioner spring itself get weak? I stumbled upon a few threads discussing the use of a turnbuckle (like alta) to replace the damper and the utilization of stretch fit belts to provide some give to the system, however i could not find a stretch fit belt in the correct size. Has anyone found a stretch fit that works on the r53?
6. Anything else i should consider while working in this area of the car?
Thanks for any advice, happy to be a part of the Mini Community!
2. I would change the idler pulley since they’re cheap, it has high mileage, and you’ll already be right there changing the tensioner.
3. Wiggle it to see if the rubber is breaking down. PRW would be good if you can’t wait for an ATI.
4. Yes, the crank seal is easily accessible once you pull off the pulley. You might want to replace the timing chain tensioner which is around the corner by the oil filter since you’ll have the motor mount and bracket off for the belt tensioner. I’ve read the turnbuckle isn’t good to run. On just replacing the damper, read lots of posts from people trying to find a replacement, even from the manufacturer Stabilus, with no luck.
5. Not sure if I would go with a cheap tensioner. Someone was doing a lot of research in the past on stretch fit belts but never posted a solution.
6. Make sure your fluid filled motor mount is good, or just replace it if it hasn’t been done recently before it fails since you’ll already have it off the car. The bolt is also supposed to be one time use so pick one of those up if needed.
Lookup Modmini’s great how to videos on YouTube and the how to guides on Pelican Parts website which are really helpful for the repairs you’re going to do.
I just did a similar “refresh” recently on my 06 with 96k miles.
The 60535 belt is what I use with my 17% pulley (and stock size crank). I think that size is appropriate for 15-17%.
Absolutely change the idler......they are very cheap and take a few minutes to switch out with the belt off. Mine was squealing and basically seized.
Folks go through harmonic balancer at half your miles. You are on borrowed tim IMO unless someone changed the original out with an OEM. I have used both ATI and PRW on my cars. The PRW is what I went with this time on the current car and the quality is very good and is much cheaper than the ATI (got my PRW from amazon).
Crank seal takes seconds to change out with balancer removed.
I would consider replacing the tensioner completely. Not only is the damper portion a wear item, so are the bearings on the pulley portion. I have found that many of the cheaper brands are actually OEM parts with “MINI” or “bmw” ground off of them. This was the case with the “acdelco” branded one I bough on amazon just recently......turned out to be an OEM MINI part with the ID marks ground off. I’ve seen the same sort of thing done on other part also (engine mounts for instance).
I agree with RB-mini above.....the upper engine mount is very likely toast unless it has been changed recently. If the rubber “pad” on the top is resting on top of the metal canister below (I.e. there is no gap), then the mount is long gone and the mount is not doing it’s job. I can provide a pic of what I mean if it helps.
One more thing that I ended up changing out recently was the timing chain tensioner. Was having some rattling when the car was restarted warm. They are easy to change out and are a cheap part. It is accessible right down where you would be working (look at modmini videos on YouTube).
Everyone above has already given you plently to chew on so I'll only address some minor things in relation to your questions.
5. Yes you can replace the damper on the tensioner with a replacement. In regards to a stench fit belt there wasn't any that were found to be the correct size for the r53.
ECS has just recently started to carry the tensioner damper as I ordered one a few months ago. I called to confirm that it was the correct part to used as a replacement and thats when I was told it was something new that had just recently added. There are numerous threads about the damper failing well before the rest of the tensioner with the only way to get it was with a complete tensioner. I can take pictures of the new damper if need be as it hasn't been installed on my car yet due to my jack and jackstands being on loan to a friend.
If you are replacing the tensioner get upgraded bushings for the damper as the rubber bushings do seam to wear out quickly. They can be changed out in minutes, so just do it before you do the install of the tensioner. I have the delrin bushing that Way sells ready to go when i get to the install.
Due to how many failed crank pulleys we have seen the crank pulley has just become a maint item for the R53 so we recommend if you haven't done it, do it. We always use the ATI damper, but if that's not an option we use the fluid damper. Either way we never use the stock damper as we've seen the new ones fail.
The crank seal is easy to do as you do have to remove the crank pulley to do it so doing them together is ideal.
If the idler pulley doesn't have an issue and feels smooth when you have the belt off no sense and spending the money on it.
For the tensioner don't bother trying to rebuild it. Have to remember the spring on it fatigues over time as we have seen that many times. And when you put the tensioner on you will see how much stiffer it is.
We keep all these parts in stock as I literally did this on a car in the shop today. https://www.waymotorworks.com/super-...ulley-r53.html https://www.waymotorworks.com/fluid-...ulley-r53.html https://www.waymotorworks.com/superc...r-r52-r53.html https://www.waymotorworks.com/front-crank-seal.html
Thanks for the replys! I have added the timing chain tensioner to the parts list. Ordered the belt and idler pulley. Procrastinating pulling the trigger on the tensioner and crank damper. Decided I'll wait to do the motor mount and still researching what else I should get done while I'm in the area. The crank bolt should not be reused so I'll grab a replacement.... I'll do the crank seal for sure. Any special tools required? Any other seals/o-rings I can replace?
I read one thread that someone mentioned the potential to lose camshaft timing when the crank bolt is removed? Not sure I fully understand how that's possible. Are there any precautions I should take to avoid messing up timing while performing these tasks?
Some other things to look at. The plastic expansion tank should be replaced with one of stainless steel. The seam on the plastic has a bad habit of separating with age. Check the front strut tower bushings, they may need replaced. While there check the strut towers for mushrooming and mushroomed or not lay on defender plates to prevent such.
Noted thanks. Suspension will be round 2 hahaha. The car has had an m7 strut tower brace on it since the car was practically new. So there should be no mushrooming of the towers.
As long as you're removing/replacing all of the components that bolt onto the timing cover, I think it would be your best opportunity to replace the oil seals that are within the timing cover. These seals ensure optimum oil pressure within the engine and do get hard and brittle with age, losing their sealing ability.
When I had my timing cover off, they were found to be like hard plastic. It wasn't much additional work to replace these internal seals and gain peace of mind. Of course, also replace the timing cover gasket too.
p/n 11141485162 - Timing Cover Gasket
p/n 11411485173 - Timing Case Cover Seal - Upper
p/n 11411485172 - Timing Case Cover Seal - Lower
Also replace this hext bolt, p/n 07131485184, which inserts at center of the timing cover (hidden behind the crank pulley) and has an integral o-ring, which can, as with other oil-related seals, get brittle and seep oil. There's only one.
Awesome thanks! Got the belt tensioner and prw fluid damper. I came pretty loosely packed and when I opened it up it's completely coated in oil. Is this typical to preserve the part on the shelf or has it sprung a leak?
07-17-2018, 05:40 PM
