Intimidated - Need Maintenance Advice

"RyanFrew" (ryanfrew) 08/01/2014 at 09:48 • Filed to: help me

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I have a confession to make. I've conducted basic maintenance on my '05 MINI Cooper S such as oil changes, but have frankly been neglecting it since buying it as a college freshman in '10. The car has been a total trooper. Finally, she gave a couple of months ago when the passenger rear caliper seized up on the rotor and, upon inspection, the driver's side was about ready to go as well. Embarrassing, especially since I autoX. So, I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as well as rotors and pads all around. A couple of days ago I got a thumping noise in the passenger rear. Not rocket science - definitely a broken rear sway bar end link. Good for the car for sitting outside in Cincinnati winters and getting autocrossed and holding up that long.

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So, fresh out of school, it's time to give the car the attention it deserves and desperately needs. I just ordered:

Alta V2 adjustable sway bar end links (I'll get a new sway bar soonish)

5w-30 full synthetic engine oil (Havoline, because it was discounted)

Manual transmission fluid

Oil Filter

Oil drain plug

Cabin Air Filter

Engine Air Filter

Alta 15% pulley

Alta lightweight crank pulley

Belt tensioner

Serpentine belt

Techron fuel cleaner

Coolant

NGK Iridium IX Spark Plugs

Plug boots/wires

My question is threefold. First, can you guys think of anything important to add to that list? Second, what would you recommend allowing a shop to do, versus doing myself? I'm definitely going to hand off the belt/pulley. Flirting with passing off the coolant flush and end link jobs as well. Finally, can you please please help me when my car is stuck on jack stands and I f*ck up?! Okay, that last question is mostly begging.

Thanks for any help and sorry for the long post.

TL;DR I neglected my car. Now it needs some love. I'm intimidated and need a little help.

mr_gofast > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 09:50

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welcome to Oppo - we dont judge and where we love people who wrench on their own - even if their maintenance is abit lax :P

Party-vi > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 09:51

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Fuel filter.

McMike > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 09:55

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New flex lines to the calipers aren't a bad idea if you're still running the 9 year old brake fluid.

And brake fluid, because you probably are.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Party-vi 08/01/2014 at 09:55

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Seconded. Better to get it now and not at the side of the road.

E92M3 > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 09:57

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That's all very easy work to DIY. Why not do all of it yourself? Unless you live in an apartment where they frown upon having cars on jack stands.

JGrabowMSt > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 10:09

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Battery. in the ballpark of 4-5 years old, through rough winters? The battery may be coming to it's time. Replacing with a gel battery will reduce weight, and give you great cranking amps for the cold weather.

Plug wires shouldn't be a problem at this point. Coolant as well. I wouldn't even worry about either of those unless the car can't idle, or is overheating. Trans fluid could definitely be done. Follow exactly what it says in the manual. Many manual transmissions do use ATF, so make sure you don't put the wrong fluid in. It will run horribly if you do.

Reason for oil drain plug? Just being curious.

Also for the plugs, see if other people are using those plugs, and what their experiences are. There are plenty of engines that don't run better with higher end plugs, because they're just not meant for it. You may find that Platinums are just as good for your use, and half the cost.

Other than that, I think your list is fine. If you have a Turbo in your mini, I would say the High Pressure Fuel Pump, but if you don't have the turbo, you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Mattbob > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 10:12

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Is the serpentine belt really that hard to do on those things? I've never done a belt on a FWD so I honestly have no idea, but belts are usually something you can do yourself. While you are in there, check your rad hoses for deterioration, and replace if necessary.

RyanFrew > Party-vi 08/01/2014 at 10:13

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God, you're so right. But they're a HUGE pain on these cars apparently.

Mattbob > JGrabowMSt 08/01/2014 at 10:14

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depending on the coolant type, you should change it at least every 5 years or so. Bad things happen when the additives fail over time, and it gets more acidic.

Mattbob > McMike 08/01/2014 at 10:16

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seconded. Brake fluid gets real nasty. Its not the black stuff that you can see either (thats usually just a bit of the seals from the MC), it's the water which you can't tell is in there.

mr_gofast > E92M3 08/01/2014 at 10:19

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he mentioned he does..nosy neighbors would narc on him

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 10:19

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Wait, those aren't coil on plug? They still have spark plug wires and boots?

RyanFrew > JGrabowMSt 08/01/2014 at 10:22

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Wow - Thanks for the well thought out response. The battery was replaced 2 or 3 years ago so it should be alright. The original one actually lasted from '05 - '12, which I found pretty impressive.

I'm doing plug wires because they're easy and I might as well spend the $40 if I'm getting these high end plugs. It's an easy job and will give me a placebo effect, if nothing else. If you don't think coolant is necessary, I will gladly not swap out the coolant. How often do you replace yours? Actually looking forward to swapping the trans fluid. MINI claims it's good for the life of the car, but my trans has always been pretty notchy so I'm excited to see if there's a difference. Cheap easy job anyways.

Drain plug probably won't get swapped this time around. It was $1.50 on Rockauto and I feel like it's a good thing to have around, just in case.

People LOVE these spark plugs. They list for $10 a pop, which I find absurd. I'm getting them because they came in a well discounted package with the supercharger pulley and the serp belt.

RyanFrew > Mattbob 08/01/2014 at 10:24

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Rad hoses - good thought. I think the serp belt is pretty tough. The fact is that swapping the S/C pulley requires a special $70 tool that I will never use again. So I might as well just eat it and let a shop do pulleys, tensioner, belt at once. Plus, if I were to fuck it up...well...I'd cry.

RyanFrew > McMike 08/01/2014 at 10:26

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Haha no sir! I might have neglected my car...but I didn't neglect it so much that I swapped the old calipers a couple of months ago and left the old fluid in. It's got brand new fluid. The lines looked alright when I checked them out but I'll probably upgrade next summer.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 10:31

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Get the shop to change your supercharger oil also, preferably front and rear. The water pump drive gears like to burn up, those are on the back of the supercharger. Check your power steering fan, if it moves freely it's good, if not you need to replace it. Check the #3 post on your coil pack, that one likes to rust. Look at the tops of your front strut mounts, they like to "mushroom". So if they're not flat that's a bad thing. But it can be fixed and installing a front strut tower bar helps prevent it from happening again. Also, Alta stuff is mediocre, I recommend Mini Madness. BTW, I on occasion service a C63 (I think tthat's what it is, can't remember for sure) that belongs to the owner of Alta.

RyanFrew > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 08/01/2014 at 10:34

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Noted.

I love Oppo.

RyanFrew > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/01/2014 at 10:36

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Single spark plug coil that sits on top of the valve cover.

RyanFrew > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/01/2014 at 10:37

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PS - If you're into beer and pizza, I'm happy to volunteer you to help me with this stuff haha

JGrabowMSt > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 10:40

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Oh, you're supercharged? You have the high pressure fuel pump then. I would strongly recommend thinking about replacing that. Those pumps have a nasty habit of just failing. Your car will run for a few minutes, and stall, and start up and run for a few minutes and stall again. It's bad, but well documented. I think there might have even been a voluntary recall on it. If you know any of the service guys at a dealer, you can have them look it up for you.

I'd definitely keep a spare drain plug around, but you're more likely to strip the threading on the pan than need a new plug, so always work slowly, and hand thread everything to start.

I just replaced the coolant in my Magnum because I did the radiator. Car is nearing 10 years old, and has 145k on it, so it's more than time. To the best of my knowledge, the car had factory fluids in it. The car didn't run hot, but I had other reasons for doing a ton of front end work on it. The Zerex G-05 coolant isn't a tough job to do if you were to do it, but I don't hear of anyone having problems with it over time. Stuff comes pre-mixed and everything, which is convenient. When I bought fluids for the Magnum, I think I spent around $200 for fluids. Positively ridiculous, but I don't need any problems (that $200 was for 7qts of oil, fresh coolant, ATF+4 for power steering and trans, and gear oil for the rear). You could do power steering fluid as well, might be worth it to keep the pump happy.

Manual transmissions are typically just set it and forget with the fluids. New fluid will absolutely make the car drive a million times better in every case, but it's more noticeable in an automatic than a manual. The mini is German, and therefore likes it rough. The mini transmission is what it is. My sisters Cooper 6spd is pretty rough as well, and it's a DD with absolutely no track use.

McMike > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 10:40

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Good for you. Lots of people neglect brake fluid.

RyanFrew > McMike 08/01/2014 at 10:49

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To change calipers and leave the fluid is straight up scary.

RyanFrew > Party-vi 08/01/2014 at 11:30

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Just checked it out - don't know why I thought the filter was so bad. Shouldn't be that bad at all. Fuel filter added.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 11:55

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Oooh, a fellow R53 owner! Guten tag.

Considering its age, you'll definitely need a new battery. Our family's R53 is also an '05 and it's gone through two batteries already. Things that have also gone kaput on ours is the alternator, fuel pump and power steering pump, so it might be wise to take a look at those. A recall was issued for the power steering pump but we never got that notice, so keep an eye out for a whining noise even when the ignition is turned off. Other small niggly things might also be the electric window motors. We've replaced the driver's side on ours and the passenger side is going to go soon.

Another known fault, which occurs if you drive more often on bumpy roads, is the "mushrooming" of the strut towers, whereby they bulge due to impact from the shocks. At first it's imperceptible, but over time, a definite lump appears in the sheet metal. Fear not however, there is a company that provides anti-mushrooming strut braces. You'll solve two problems at once - you'll stop the mushrooming and improve the handling of your MINI!

RyanFrew > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/01/2014 at 13:23

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Yep - excited about all of the things you mentioned (except the window motors). I'll replace the window motors when they go bad - not going to do harm by just dealing with slow ones. I got my 2nd battery a couple of years ago. Power Steering pump qualified for the recall (thank God). My PS had failed a couple of times and it was pretty dangerous. The pump has actually been replaced twice. My alternator and fuel pump have been good to me. Pretty sure I have the most reliable r53 ever. 107,000 miles...60,000 with me...and I've had to deal with the ps pump and a rusty exhaust outside of routine maintenance. The brakes were my fault and the sway bar end link is virtually to be expected. I drive over potholes pretty gently because of the weak strut towers, but won't mind getting that strut brace soon enough.

Mattbob > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut 08/01/2014 at 14:51

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That sounds just like what happens to e36 rear shock towers. Gosh, you think BMW would have learned.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > JGrabowMSt 08/01/2014 at 21:31

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R53. Supercharged. The good version of new Mini's. All others are stupid.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > JGrabowMSt 08/01/2014 at 21:46

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The fuel system on this car only runs about 55psi at the rail. So no high pressure direct injection stuff. I've never encountered any fuel system issues on these, turbo motors yes, but not this one (never worked for a mini dealer though so I don't know about recalls, but I have worked on tons of r50/r53's.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > RyanFrew 08/01/2014 at 21:51

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Wait on the coolant until you have a cooling system failure, because you will at some point. Probably water pump.