at least not today....

So last night I got everthing back together. Including the missing exhaust bolts and even rotating the tires (car was up on stands, why not?). So everything is good. Runs nice and holds temp. Go for a test drive. So far so good. Temps holding steady.

Hit the gas.... Ooop! The dash lights up like a christmass tree, the car starts missing, and I can barly limp the 300 yards home..... Head gasket seems to be shot!

Double crap! I can do the work.... I just can't find the time! And at the consulting rates I'm booking, I may just throw in the towel and take it to a shop.... While I'm sure I could save $1k+ to fix it myself, if it takes more than a day to do I loose money!

But anyway, I'm bummed.

Matt

 

It was cylinder #4..... But I put on a Endyn head, intake and runners. Also found out a bunch about working on the Mini engine. Pretty much everything went OK, but I learned a few tricks....

1) You can take the intake off with the SC on by taking off the engine support on the passanger side. You have to use a jack to keep the motor up, but you can get to the last intake bolt on the passenger side with a box end wrench.

2) That little 19mm bolt for the chain tensioner on the back of the block is a *****! Mine was stuck tight, tight, tight. needed a universal socket (a universal connected to a socket was too long) and I needed a pipe to extend my breaker bar! Like I said, it was tiight!

3) If you grind a bit of the intake flange by the bottom of the passenger side bolt, you can take the intake on and off more easily. That stud is a bit long for taking the intake off....

4) Thanks to El D for some timely pointers on cleaning the old head gasket and installing the new. He's a nice guy who helped me out when I needed it.

5) Thanks to Don (DMH) for some fast shipments (head bolts and some other bits).

6) These motors carbon up fast!

I started the car up today, and let it get to temp. I didn't get to drive it or feel the (I hope) new found power. When I get it shaken out (while it's all back together, I can't help but feel the bottom end has been severely aged!) I'll post impressions of the changes.

Matt

 

Matt, just saw this thread.... and I had no idea. Wow! I guess I don't feel so bad now .

Thanks for sharing what you learned. We've got rain coming, so you might want to go for a spin later tonight... otherwise, it looks like Sunday might be rain-less... Just makes it easier when hammering it....

 

Moved from Off Topic :: Autos to Beneath the Bonnet.

 

Went for the first drive today, everything SEEMED good, but it was wet so I couldn't really see what's up. But so far so good!

Matt

 

i have one of them cooperS with no gauge How would I know it's overheating?

 

then steam comes out all over the place!

There is a way to get water temps on the odo display. I think it's at Mini2 or motoringfile.com.....

Matt

 

after putting everything back togehter and doing a test drive, the coolant was low again! So I did a driveway test of going to temp with the cooling system closed up so it would get pressurized, and low and behold, all the water leaks were from the hose clamp at the bottom radiator on the driver side. What's interesting here is that the problem got progressivly worse. When I worked in that area last, the clamp was on the hose (but not far enough, for sure!) and there were no leaks. I drove for over a month before I starting loosing coolant, and when the car overheated, the rate of coolant loss was pretty good!

So, that little clamp cost me a head removal, and a water pump (That's what I thought it was originally). And a lot of aging to the motor. I was going to do the head anyway, so that's not such a big deal, but this forced the timing, and I was without a car for about a month!

Anyway, alls well that ends well. Lesson I learned was to splurge on extra hose clamps. Why reuse something so cheap that can have such bad consiquences!

Matt

 

Don't ya hate it when the problem turns out to be a $.50 part...

 

Good cautionary tale to us all, Matt. Sorry about your inconveniences, but thanks for the update.

 

The spring style hose clamps are never to be reused. We all learn the hard way. Dispose of them and invest in Wurth clamps and their nut driver.

 

Seems technology would have been better utilizied by keeping your car from overheating..

 

Ouch! Glad everything worked out (except for the timing). Eager to hear your impressions of the new parts.

 

Matt, that's a heck of a story! Glad you are back on the road. Lessons learned, and shared with us all