'03 R53 - When attempting to replace the two 3 ways and one 4 way, doe anyone have suggestions on how to go about this? Seems like it was installed as one big piece, meaning I have to pull the whole thing out. What can I leave in and what hose clamps should be moved in order to pull the entire assembly out? Any tips/tricks or suggestions on getting some of these clamps off and pulling the hoses would be greatly appreciated. The angled needle nose pliers (11in) work for some but not all. The lowest hose clamp seems to be giving me a hell of a lot of trouble.

On a related note, is this normal? The paint or coating from the clamp seems to have transferred and also permanently indented the hose.


On an unrelated note: saw this little black Bolt(?) Just above the steering linkage(?) Under the airbox. Looks a bit oily, is it of concern?

 

I'm assuming you're talking about the cluster of junctions left side (driver side) that start just under the thermostat and towards the firewall. Best access I found, remove the exhaust manifold heat shield and move over the battery connection for some space. That was plenty for me but as a female I know I have small arms... so if it's not enough space, remove the air box and it should give you more room. The hose connection of the 4 way at the firewall you'll need remote hose clamp pliers of some sort, pneumatic or otherwise. You can pick them up pretty cheap online if not locally. Be ready to exercise your patience, some of those clamps might be in a really bad angle to grab and quite glued on. If you've been hanging with pliers and don't have any hose clamps yet, this is prob a good time to just jump in and get the Clic & Clic-R pliers, you'll use them on anything from cooling and oil through cv boots so it's not a one time tool.

The clamp indentation is going to be related to the long term heat and pressure placed on the hose while the clamp held in place. Ideally, the hose would be replaced as swelling started to occur but on an old hose or one that has been under extra strain (ex running hot/overheating) completely norm. These aren't exactly brand new cars and the only people I know who pay THAT much attention to their hoses consistently track.

Paint/marking transfer I really have no idea. The Genuine MINI hoses are molded specifically and only marked in one place, where the clamp should center. Any of mine, the white marking has basically faded. Although I have from time to time found a place where prior to my owning it someone had marked a place for reference or unfortunately just used a wrong part. For a true transfer, you would have to have high heat to soften the stamp, stick to the clamp, clamp moved then cool to leave the shadow once moved again or have high heat and a 2nd hose pressed against it to transfer it's mark. So really unless you see some wahooa that shouldn't be like that, I wouldn't worry- and I'm the paranoid person.

Your oily black bolt- I can't really see where it is from the pic but off hand I can't think of any fluids your running under the air box that would leak and accumulate like that.

 

The oily black bolt is at the very top of the transmission bell housing just forward of the shift linkage. According to a car guy friend of mine he says it's to relieve pressure or something inside the transmission so it looking a bit oily is completely normal I guess.

Thanks for answering all of my questions. So you basically leave the hoses in place and pull the three-way and four-way connectors out while they are still in the car? Instead of pulling the whole assembly out together?

 

Yup!