Fixing to tear into an 08 Mini Cooper base model - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

engatwork · #1 04-06-2015, 06:20 PM

I'll be damn. I thought I had seen everything till I got this Mini in that is designed where the timing chain sprocket at the crank is "sandwiched" between two hubs. There ain't no crank keyway

. Man, whoever designed this jewel was thinking way outside the box

. Has anyone ever seen this type design in other applications?

With all that said it is a pretty fun car to drive but that is about the only positive thing I can say about it.

mytmousemalibu · #2 04-06-2015, 06:37 PM

Used to work on a lot of Mini's at the indy BMW shop I worked at. Some things are a pain to fix on them. The 1st gen cars were notorious for the harmonic balancers failing, I don't know what your task is but would recommend changing it while you are that deep. As you may or may not know, that is a Chrysler engine, same basic engine (but 1.6L) as the Neon's/PT's. You can find the pentastar on some parts. We had run out of stock of valve cover gaskets before but ordered a Neon gasket in a pinch. Control arm bushings are fun to do and common, I have some tricks for working on these cars. Despite all that, the older ones are more reliable than the cars with BMW built engines. Auto/CVT trans sucks though.

tjts1 · #3 04-06-2015, 06:44 PM

The second gen new mini has Citroen/Peugeot engine in it. Have fun with that frog motor.

mytmousemalibu · #4 04-06-2015, 06:46 PM

Oh and if it is an automatic, drive it in the DS sport mode once and a while. Once in a while they can experience some transmission adaption value issues and then they need to be cleared and the relearn calibration procedure is a PITA! Driving in sport mode once in a while changes the adaption values a little and keeps things happy. There was a TSB on that. Our shop had a BMW GT1 tester and all the OEM equipment to do this stuff.

BAVBMW · #5 04-06-2015, 06:48 PM

Well, if it's still driving, it can't be too far out of time. Yeah, the no keyway/no positive positioning thing seems like a bad idea. And as it would turn out in practice, is a bad idea. It boggles my mind that in this day and age, basic cam timing is something that is failing left and right.

MV

mytmousemalibu · #6 04-06-2015, 06:58 PM

Ah yeah, just realized this car is the Prince engine....

Lot of troubles with those. With the timing components. Bad habit of nasty rattle noises from the chain. Bad tensioners.. Broken chains...

I should pay more attention...

engatwork · #7 04-06-2015, 07:20 PM

You still recommend replacement of the harmonic balancer while in it?

Thankfully it is a six speed transmission. It has some death rattle going on if you let it sit for a couple/few days and surges during initial cold start.

97 SL320 · #8 04-06-2015, 08:02 PM

Deutz ( industrial diesel ) uses a keyless crank timing belt sprocket on the oil cooled engines. These engines look like a water cooled engine except oil is pumped through the "water jackets"

I think the Toyota V8 does this also.

Other engines do the keyless thing on the cams.

The keykess pulley is used to get valve timing exactly right and not having to worry about a build up of tolerances. It also simplifies assembly, lock the cam and crank into position, throw the timing components at the engine, tighten the bolts.

engatwork · #9 04-06-2015, 08:09 PM

So, infinitely adjustable timing adjustment.

mytmousemalibu · #10 04-07-2015, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by engatwork

You still recommend replacement of the harmonic balancer while in it?

Thankfully it is a six speed transmission. It has some death rattle going on if you let it sit for a couple/few days and surges during initial cold start.

That was only an issue on the older Chrysler based engines. So as long as it appears to be undamaged and in good shape, I would put it back in service. Unless it happens to be reasonably cheap, then I might consider it. On those engines, if the horrible rattle was caught soon enough, replacing the timing chain tensioner took care of it. If it went long enough, we had a couple where the chain wore through things from being slack, If I recall the timing case, causing an oil leak. But with them that loose, they had a habit of killing the engine, skip timing and lunch the valves, shear cam sprockets off, all kinds of carnage. Quick way to tell if the chain was slack was give the gas a fast rev and after the engine begins to drop rpm coasting back to idle they would start making a racket. Lot of issues with the turbo & induction system of the Cooper S. Trouble averted there! Same with the trans, glad its a real transmission, the car of the 3-pedal variety

engatwork · #11 04-12-2015, 04:30 PM

Finished up changing out the timing chain, tensioner, new sprocket and fasteners this afternoon. Turned out to be a pretty straight forward job.