Soon I'll be doing supercharger pulley with plugs, new belt, coil pack and wires plus injectors. Heard it's wise to do the crank pulley so I've seen a few of them.

1 OEM
2 craven 0%
3 ATI
4 Alta

Which would be the best to go with. Pros vs cons.

 

Couple more for your consideration:

PRW 2510900 - Fluid filled damper $260

Speedmaster Damper $155


Just make sure you get the right one (R50 is a different damper than it is for R53)

I put in the PRW and it's been working without issue.

 

ATI all the way. Quality is second to none. There is a reason why EVERY NASCAR motor built runs them. I had a stock damper on my race car come apart. I replaced it with ATI and have never looked back. When mine goes on my Mini, I'll be ordering an ATI without thinking.

Don't do a pulley that doesn't have dampening properties whatever you do. It shortens the life of your motor. There is a reason these are a little bit heavy, contain rubber bits etc.

 

When I do my crank pulley in the spring, I plan on sticking with the OEM version, because...

A) I was able to score a new OEM pulley (the updated version) for $60 from someone getting rid of a bunch of brand new parts.

B) The engineers that designed the W11 engine know a lot more about crank pulley design than myself and/or many aftermarket pulley manufacturers.

C) My original pulley is still going strong at 130,000 miles; it's proven it's mettle - so I'm not particularly worried about the new one failing any time soon, as I don't track the car.

 

Are you going to do the crank seal as well? AND while you are at it, going to check on the mini-shock on the belt tensioner as well as the bushings?

 

Was looking into buying a new tensioner. Didn't plan on doing any seals but if needed I have the garage to preform everything needed. I'm trying to get all my parts and install in one day or a weekend. Was looking at getting a way cam also.

I might just hold off and just do a pulley for now and do all the other upgrades in the spring time.

 

The crank seal is a very simple one. Easy to pull out (put a screw in the rubber to pull on) and then can push in with a hammer handle. ModMini has a youtube video.

 

Sounds good. What's a typical mileage it should be changed out ?

 

You change them when they start leaking but it also makes sense that if you have crank pulley off you also change the seal.

 

We never recommend any lightweight crank pulleys that are not dampers like the alta, craven, m7 and so on as they are not dampers so they don't cancel out the vibration on the crank. These lightweight pulleys will end up ruining bearings, causing oil pump gear failures, and mess with the tuning.

As for OEM we don't use them as the new ones are less reliable than the originals. We've had customers that went OEM only for them them fail 6months later just like the originals did. Same thing with MINI plastic coolant tanks as the new ones are not any better either.

We use the ATI Damper as we have found it flat out works the best. After putting on one you can even notice the car idle smoother. The ATI has a weight in it that physically moves to cancel out the vibrations on the crank. The stock is just rubber that shakes back and forth.

As it's been mentioned ATI is what the NASCAR guys, and most the big time racers are using. If it wasn't the best these guys would use something else.

To address the note that the MINI engineers know far more and that is why in theory the OEM is best. Well part of that may be true as the MINI engineers are very smart, but you also have to remember they have a cost constraint to deal with. The ATI engineers are also just as smart if not smarter in the way of dampers as this is the only thing they have to focus on. ATI has made dampers for almost every make of car even new Mclearn guys are using them. And I know that a certain Auto manufacture has already approached ATI to become the OEM for one of their engines because they found it to be such a good part.

As for the crank seal it's so cheap and just takes a few extra minutes while the pulley is off that it's a great idea to go ahead and do it.

 

Gotcha. I've ordered just about all of my parts from you so far. Appreciate everyone's replies. I'll pick up the ATI as most seem to say good things about that one. I would like to call you sometime and ask some questions about your cams you sell.

 

Thanks for your input.

My 'support' for the OEM pulley is based purely upon the fact that my original has yet to fail. Obviously, there are multiple threads in these forums that speak to the OEM pulleys failing in spectacular fashion, when they do fail...

Conversely, I don't believe I've read anything bad about the ATI dampers; folks seem to love 'em, so there's no reason to think that it would be a downgrade of any kind, or not up-to-par with the OEM unit.

So now that you have me thinking , I have a question:

Do the ATI pulleys install/uninstall with the same tools as the OEM pulleys? I have the OEM pulley removal tool and installer tool, along with a selection of M6 hardened bolts, and am curious as to whether it will function with the ATI unit. In looking at photos of the ATI, there are what appear to be three holes tapped into the pulley.

 

They use the same tools to install.
But to remove you need a standard crank puller as the bolts in the ATI are larger. So you need larger holes in the puller to get it off. But you just use the 3 bolts that the heads stick out on the ATI to pull it.

 

Another good point for the ATI is that they are rebuildable or so so I have been told.

 

I replaced my crankshaft pulley on my 2005 r53 a few weeks back, it was in bad shape and messing with all my belt driven parts. (car dying, going into limp mode etc..)

It ran great again until two days ago the belt started bouncing wildly while the ac is on. Now the power steering and battery have failed. Bad smell down there and not rubber. Tension pulley apears ok, no pulleys wobbling or making horrible noises unless the ac is on. Also, don't know if it's me but it seems like the belt is moving slower now (which I've replaced a few times now)

Im definitely not a pro mechanic and hopefully I didn't cause this problem while repairing the harmonic pulley.

Any tips, advice, questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

Maybe the AC compressor pulley is seizing, or the clutch on the compressor is bad. Also, the small shock on the tensioners often go bad and let the tensioner bounce around. Is the belt the right size... how many holes can you see on the small metal tab on the tensioner?

For the power steering issue, check your VIN to see if your MINI is part of the recall for the power steering pump. The recall is for 2002 through part of the 2005 production year.

 

I suppose it's possible that the belts I've been getting are too large but that would mean I have a JCW. How do I know if this car has that kit? Does anything look different?

 

3 holes in the tensioner. These are the holes where I place the tensioner tool right?

 

As for belt length, he's talking about the holes visible on the tab you shove a pin in after releasing the tension.
If it's only an issue with the AC on - 99% is it's the AC. Sounds like the compressor may be seized up.
Did you replace the harmonic balancer with OEM? If the belt seems to be moving slower, it's possible (?) though unlikely that a seized AC compressor jacked your new harmonic balancer.

Check the AC compressor - see if it spins freely (the inner ring, not the outer that the belt is on.) If it does, you're back to the tensioner, but odds are it won't.