Update on the Mini

"Desu-San-Desu" (Desu-San-Desu) 01/02/2016 at 20:57 • Filed to: None

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The teardown has begun.

(Yes, these are long updates. I am aware of this. If you don’t want to read them in their entirety or even read them at all, that’s perfectly fine. I’m just keeping a record of recent events for those who do want to keep up.)

For those who missed the previous entries in this saga, you can catch them !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Last night we were able to map out a route from my house to my friend Ian’s house (his garage and lift are pictured) that eliminated as many stop signs and stoplights as possible. We waited until late at night when traffic was light and babied the Mini over there, shifting as little as possible and being sure to keep the RPM’s low. The throwout bearing voiced its displeasure more than once during during the 8 mile drive, but it made it there safely.

This morning myself, Big Kyle, Little Kyle (Daender here on Oppo), Ian, and our friend Harlan began work on my 2006 R53 Mini Cooper S. Harlan’s father has an R53 Cooper S, so he had some experience on taking off the body panels which proved to be very helpful. Throughout the day we referenced manuals, articles and Mod Mini videos and made steady, careful progress. We made sure to bag and label nuts, bolts, washers, etc. and and sort individual pieces together based on what they went to.

Note to others: Roll the windows down before unhooking the battery. Otherwise you can’t open or close the doors without risking breaking the frameless windows. Luckily we caught this before we shattered a window, but we had to have Little Kyle crawl through the driver door and back to access the boot of the car, hook the battery back up after we hooked up the battery box. We unhooked it again after we were able to roll the windows down so we could close the doors all the way.

Since space at the front of the shop was at a premium, Big Kyle and Ian focused on that, since they have more experience, and myself, Harlan, and Little Kyle began working on swapping out the rear brake rotors and pads, since I’d already had the new pads and rotors in my garage awaiting install before all of the transmission issues began. That’s actually on hold until Ian can get to Harbor Freight to grab a caliper piston retraction tool, which is something he’s been meaning to get for a while. Turns out the ol’ needle-nosed pliers approach doesn’t really work with Mini Cooper S brakes. We’ll get it taken care of another day, along with installation of some factory splash guards I got months back from a fellow Mini club member.

Overall we made good progress throughout the day, but eventually we hit a wall at the upper bell housing bolts, along with issues getting the throttle body loose so we can continue removing the supercharger. At this point we were all getting tired and decided to call it a night. We were able to get the front subframe off the car and most of the bell housing bolts loose, so the transmission should be out of the car by the end of the day tomorrow. Since Harlan and Little Kyle drove 2 hours from Columbia to help today, they went ahead and made their way back home, but the rest of the teardown should be able to be done without them.

Right now, we’re not rushing, as none of the parts we need will ship out until Monday morning anyway. Once the transmission is out and we have a look inside, we’ll have a better idea of what the damage is, but right now we’re anticipating needing to install a new clutch kit (93,000 miles) altogether since we’re already so deep into everything. If that happens, I’m going to convert to a single mass flywheel in order to save cost and maximize reliability.

We’re also planning on flushing the supercharger with fresh oil and checking all the seals. The oil leak I suspected to be from the Crank Position Sensor o-ring was very much confirmed so we’ll be replacing said o-ring as well. The entire front of the engine will need a thorough cleaning, thanks to that stupid thing. A minor leak from the power steering reservoir supply and return hoses was revealed, but it’s not at all major and is common enough that we’re not particularly worried about it. I’ve only need to top off the power steering fluid once in the year I’ve owned it. We’ll see what a pair of new hose clamps does and go from there. We may also need to replace a chunk of rubber hosing for the throttle body coolant line, but that’s just a 5” length of basic rubber hose that can be had for a couple of dollars from the local parts store.

In the process of the teardown, it was also revealed that my air filter needs replacing, as well as my upper long radiator hose. I can hardly be surprised or even mad about the air filter- it’s a wear and tear part, after all. Neither part is particularly expensive, but it’s still an expense we didn’t account for. I didn’t have much of a choice but to grin and bear it, but with finances being what they are, it didn’t do much for my current stress levels.

As it stands, thanks to the help I’ve received from a very kindhearted few, I’ll be able to get the parts for the clutch assembly, supercharger, air filter, and radiator hose so long as nothing else reveals itself as needing to be replaced, as well as just barely make my car payment this month, but it’s still going to be touch and go in regards to the rest of our bills after that. I’m working short hours right now due to the car situation, so my paycheck isn’t going to amount to much, but at least it’s some sort of income whereas the week of Christmas I had no income at all.

First thing Monday morning I’m going to call the Unemployment Agency and see if they’re back from holiday yet. They’ve been out of the office ever since before this began and I need to see what I need to do to claim the one week of unemployment I qualified for before I got hired as a delivery driver at the pizza place. I’ll also want to discuss with them the fact that I’m currently only employed part time and at half of the pay rate I was at 2 months ago. I doubt anything will come of that, but if I can at least get the one week’s worth of unemployment, that will help us stay somewhat afloat until I can get some level of steady income. Hopefully the Windstar will sell for SOMETHING fairly soon so that I can put that money into getting caught up on bills.

(UPDATE: I’ve found out that I can NOT get any sort of compensation for the week I was out of work because I wasn’t unemployed for long enough. Wow....just....wow.)

Once the Mini is on the road reliably again, I’ll be pulling the Audi into my garage and pulling the front end apart to find the source of the prodigious oil leak. If I can find that, replace the battery and distributor, and find the source of the unhealthy level of play in the rear suspension, the Audi should be roadworthy enough to give my fiancee something to go run errands in. She’s been house-locked ever since the van went down and the cabin fever has not been good for her.

Between the 25 year old, 260,000+ mile Audi quattro and the 10 year old, 93,000 mile Mini, the Mini is undeniably the more reliable vehicle of the two, but with the aformentioned issues taken care of, the Audi should be okay for short trips around town. Big Kyle and I jumped it off and let it idle for a while the other day and aside from the oil leak and the distributor, the engine seems to be fine. I’ll investigate the throttle-related suspension ‘clunk’ once it’s in the garage. I replaced the transmission mounts, diff mounts, lower control arm bushing, and ball joint a while back when I did the clutch and those didn’t fix the issue, so it’ll probably be a fun little mousehunt.

For those who are currently placing their fingers on the keyboard in order to type the words ‘Corolla’, ‘econobox’, etc., please know that myself and those helping me have discussed that issue and the options available to me up and down and we’ve all come to the conclusion that it’s not really feasible with my current resources. Please also remember that other than this, the Mini hasn’t been even remotely unreliable in the least. It has been first-crank reliable since the day I bought it. As for the current situation? Clutches go out. It happens. They’re a wear item just like brakes, bushings, and filters. This was just a case of bad timing.

The course of action we’ve decided is the most responsible is to fix the Mini and keep up on my payments to help build my auto credit, sell the van for whatever we can get for it, get the Audi back on the road to replace the van for the limited amount of driving my fiancee needs to do, and just save every penny we can to work towards getting caught up on our back utility bills and make progress on paying off the Mini.

It’s obviously not going to be easy or fun, especially with two autistic little boys at home, but it’s not impossible, either. We’ll find a way to make it work and we’ll press on.

P.S. - It’s been asked a few times, but no, I don’t have a lot of aftermarket stuff on the Mini. I’ve only done a resonator delete, put in a used aftermarket stereo head unit (for Bluetooth), and installed strut tower reinforcement plates. I have no plans for doing any major modifications (limited slip differential, expensive suspension bits, major power mods, so on and so forth) either until the title is mine free and clear. It’s as stock a 93,000 mile R53 as you’re likely to find and were my employment situation not what it is, we’d probably be fine right now, even with the clutch repair, broken dryer, and junker van. Again, it’s just unlucky timing.

As it is, we’re focusing on seeing the silver linings and taking this opportunity to go ahead and do some preventative maintenance in acknowledgment of the mileage. At some point in the future I will need new front lower control arm bushings, shocks, and strut tower top mounts, but those items are just now getting to the point where you can even recognize that they’re getting worn and can last many, many more miles before they become an actual repair need.

I think if we can get through this month, get the Mini and the Audi back on the road, get caught up on bills, and get me some full time hours, we’ll be okay. We’ve been through worse as individuals- this time we get to survive the fires of the crucible as a family. As it is, we probably would’ve been much worse off if it weren’t for the fact that I have such an amazing group of friends and the love and support of an awesome community of fellow Mini-loving gearheads.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 21:13

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maybe your better half can use public transport?

assuming it exists where you are?

Desu-San-Desu > pip bip - choose Corrour 01/02/2016 at 21:28

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It exists here and we’ve discussed it, but with the boys it’s not much of an option. Jett, the 9 year old, would probably be okay as his autism is not overly significant (he’s on the level of your typical person with Asperger’s). Dax, the 7 year old, however, is much more severely disabled and would not really be able to be trusted to ride a public bus without major issue.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 21:29

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fair point.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 21:32

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This poor car

I hope you know that you really sealed the deal on me never touching a Mini... Especially a used one out of warranty

bob and john > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 01/02/2016 at 21:40

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Its got 93k miles. Shits doing to need to be replaced on a corolla or a mini. Its just part of using things. Dont like it? Take a taxi or the bus

Desu-San-Desu > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 01/02/2016 at 21:44

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It’s a clutch job. It’s something that has to be done at some point with every manual transmission car. The Mini is more complex to work on than some cars and less so than others. No car is perfect and every car has its quirks (Saturn shift linkages and Subaru head gaskets, anyone?). Again, if this has happened at another time when I wasn’t without gainful employment and dealing with a broken dryer and a busted van, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad an issue.


I suggest you drive a Mini- particularly an ‘05 or ‘06 Cooper S with the 6-speed Getrag. Drive one on a good twisty road and then ask yourself if a clutch job that can be done for $500 in parts over a weekend is really that unreasonable. One reason it’s taking us longer is because we’re also taking care of some other preventative maintenance items.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 21:49

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Fair enough. Just at least from your updates it seems like one little thing after another

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 21:55

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Nice progress!

Desu-San-Desu > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 01/02/2016 at 21:58

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Not really. This has been the first time I’ve needed to do more than check the fluids, change the oil, and rotate the tires. The one-thing-after-another feeling of the updates is because we started out by chasing things that weren’t the core issue. I don’t regret replacing the master and slave cylinders at all, though, as they probably were getting a little worn and the bleeding process was a valuable learning experience.

Desu-San-Desu > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 01/02/2016 at 22:06

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Thanks! We’re anticipating most of the parts arriving on Wednesday, so reassembly can begin then.

Cash Rewards > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 22:50

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Don’t know what the state of things are now, since I sold my r53 5 years ago, but I remember being able to upgrade parts in the aftermarket for considerably cheaper than mini stock. For example, the cost for brembo discs and hawk pads were much less than genuine mini parts and performed better.

Good luck and have fun! I live my GTI, but I still miss the cooper s!

E92M3 > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 22:52

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Hang in there man, sounds like you’re making progress. You’ve got some good friends, and that makes you richer than a lot of people. Maybe you’re already doing it, but if not have you tried to apply for some assistance for food given your temporary situation? At least that would be one thing you don’t have to stress about.

Beau-chan > Desu-San-Desu 01/02/2016 at 23:27

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keep your head up! I’ve been there and the perseverance during these times is what make us the people we are.

Desu-San-Desu > Cash Rewards 01/02/2016 at 23:29

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I compromised and got Centric rotors and Brembo Ceramic pads. It came out only a tiny bit cheaper than OEM, but I am only willing to scrimp so far on things like brakes and tires. At some point, one can be cheap to the point of being unsafe.

As for the clutch assembly, yeah. The entire Valeo single-mass conversion kit is only $365. The OEM dual-mass flywheel alone is $750.

Desu-San-Desu > E92M3 01/02/2016 at 23:32

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We’re working through the progress of food assistance, but there’s a few hangups due to paperwork snafoos.

DoYouEvenShift > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 00:01

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Been there lol

nafsucof > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 00:58

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That’s crazy expensive. An oem focus SVT clutch kit from Sachs I believe is around that Valeo unit price including the dual mass flywheel. They use the same trans, wonder how close the clutch kit is...

AM3R shamefully returns > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 01/03/2016 at 01:15

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Surprised by 10 year old car with almost 100k on it needing maintenance - drives a Volvo

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 01:55

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Hey man, I read your last post about this series of events. Just wanted say that I hope things get better for you. It looks like things are moving forward and you’re making some good progress. Hope the upcoming year is a lot better for you man. Oppo’s here for when you need some venting support.

Chasaboo > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 02:12

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Nice lift. All this talk of Minis has me looking for a chili red Mini for myself. Keep on keeping on.

Spazburn1966 > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 03:19

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Go, Desu-San-Desu GOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!

bullfrog75 > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 03:48

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I had a similar issue with my 2004 Cooper S several years ago. I tore it apart in our little one-car garage on the Air Force Academy where we were living at the time. Just me an one of our chihuahuas. (She wasn’t very helpful, but kept my spirits up.) Anywho, I got the entire front end of the car pulled apart and the transmission removed (I think you have to loosen the driver’s side motor mounts) only to find that that *@$% plastic throw-out bearing had MELTED to the spline shaft. That was a hoot to remove... After many busted knuckles and shouted expletives (I’m a sailor, after all) I got it off, replaced everything and drove the wheels off that grand little roller skate for 6 more years.

There was a funny moment for me shortly after I got everything apart. All the parts were laying on the garage floor like so much battlefield carnage when my wife came out to check on me. She surveyed the scene and burst into tears. I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “You killed my Mini!” Heheehehe! Poor, sweet, gear-headed woman!

Desu-San-Desu > Chasaboo 01/03/2016 at 11:09

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If you have any questions about an R53, feel free to ask me. :-)

Desu-San-Desu > bullfrog75 01/03/2016 at 11:11

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LMAO. I love the wife’s reaction.

And yeah, we’re assuming the throwout bearing is going to be in some pretty bad shape once we get in there.

Desu-San-Desu > nafsucof 01/03/2016 at 11:14

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Well, the Valeo kit includes a single-mass flywheel, a pressure plate, throwout bearing, clutch disc, and a centering tool along with the usual small bits. I honestly think the price isn’t too bad.

If you really want to choke on your cheerios, go check the price of an OS GIken clutch kit for the R53 Mini Cooper S. ;-)

Desu-San-Desu > DoYouEvenShift 01/03/2016 at 11:17

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What car? Obviously not a Mini. Guessing RWD from the parts I’m seeing. And that box says BMW...

DarrenMR > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 11:42

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I skimmed your posts so Im mostly caught up with whats going on. I did a clutch job on my 02 r53 myself in my garage on 2 jackstands. I needed to replace my clutch slave since they are so damn fragile. Was a PITA, but I love the car.

Desu-San-Desu > DarrenMR 01/03/2016 at 12:03

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It can be done on jackstands, I know, but I simply don’t have enough of the right tools. Ian offered up his space and it seemed like a no-brainer. Glad to see you accomplished it on your own, though. :-)

And yeah, I’ll definitely be investing in a Greene Performance slave cylinder in the future.

nafsucof > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 13:19

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Yeah the ford kit is complete too. I've bought spec clutches and the like before they get soo super expensive, best of luck with everything, I read your recent posts, and wish you warm positive success. You have a new year ahead of you and it can only get better!!

DoYouEvenShift > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 13:21

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Cooper S turbo

nafsucof > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 13:25

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I know money is tight, consider doing your rear main seal while you have the trans off. Also, check your oil cooler because those tend to fail and let hot oil into the coolant making a peanut butter smoothie consistency. Also ford flywheel bolts aren't reusable, you might need new flywheel bolts, old ones won't torque the same. Make sure you spray down the clutch and flywheel with brake parts cleaner too!*wink*

DoYouEvenShift > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 13:25

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The machine shop said they dont like resurfacing dual mass flywheels. They recommend replacing it, but at $400 for a new one, the owner decided to risk it. It worked fine though.

nafsucof > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 13:26

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That's a mini subframe and exhaust right there!

Desu-San-Desu > DoYouEvenShift 01/03/2016 at 13:34

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What year Cooper S? The exhaust looks totally different from mine. And yeah, we’d researched the possibility of resurfacing the dual-mass and ruled against it.

Desu-San-Desu > nafsucof 01/03/2016 at 13:38

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The exhaust threw me off. It looks totally different than mine, lol.

DoYouEvenShift > Desu-San-Desu 01/03/2016 at 14:09

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08 I think, around there. Yeah, I recommend a new flywheel lol.