[JimR]

I have just had my cylinder head skimmed on my early cooper. My BMW dealer forgot to put the clamp back in place on the lower radiator hose after a warranty radiator replacement, after about 18 months of running about like this the hose worked it's way loose and finally fell off (on a cold snowy morning) and all the coolant fell out, to cut a long story short(ish) it overheated and needed skimmed. Given my now total lack of faith in dealerships and a bit of knowledge I decided to do the head removal/refitting myself. I decided to have the head ported and polished while I was at it. It did take a long time to get the head back from the machine shop as it is obviously a laborious job but they did a fantastic job. The rebuilt was straightforward and after carefully checking the valve timing etc I started it up. It fired up straight away and after burning off the oily residue settled down to normal. I have been running the car for just under a week, it seems to be more responsive off the mark but it seems hesitant when accelerating almost as if it is needing more fuel or air. I don't know if the ecu needs to re learn the driving pattern or if I am just imagining things. Any thoughts. I am thinking about a bluefin remap. Also the yellow runflat light won't go off no matter how much I try and reset it any thought appreciated.

[MINIMANIAUK]

Its a bit tricky to get an exact answer,but I would suggest re check the carefully checked timing
and make sure good octane fuel used if head skimmed a lot, and check for obvious leaks or loose bolts and sensors
bluefin would not really help as its not mapped for ported heads,

[JimR]

Thanks for that, I recon the timing is ok, I took the timing case off and checked the alignment of the copper links top and bottom and used a new gasket on the throttle body. I will recheck the connections etc. I was going to try good octane fuel next fill up it is running on Morrisons best at the moment. That's interesting about the Bluefin not being compatible, would any remap be beneficial? Thanks Again

[MINIMANIAUK]

depending how much they skimmed,the octane requirement may be very high !!!!
is there any knock? or pinking

[roland2003]

Hi, dont be surprised if the camshaft snaps in half ,a head thats bowed needs the camshaft journal tunnel line boring (a lot of work when you get a sh head easily). Even 0.1mm warpage will put the journals out of line enough. We would never skim a warped head on the Mini OHC engine. If in doubt assemble on the bench (no valves) with the bearing caps fully tightened , then ensure the cam rotates full 360 easily.
Best Regards Roland GTT

[JimR]

Thanks Guys, appreciate the feedback. It doesn't pink or knock and to be honest sounds normal. Maybe I am just being paranoid, it did seem ok today, and I suppose I hadn't driven it for two months. I will keep a close eye (ear) on things though especially after what you said Roland. Apparently there was hardly any material skimmed off but 0.1mm is a miniscule amount though, the machine shop I used specialise in cylinder head rebuilds and have been around a long time so I am confident although time will tell.

[oldmots]

Quote: Originally Posted by JimR (original)

I have just had my cylinder head skimmed on my early cooper. My BMW dealer forgot to put the clamp back in place on the lower radiator hose after a warranty radiator replacement, after about 18 months of running about like this the hose worked it's way loose and finally fell off (on a cold snowy morning) and all the coolant fell out, to cut a long story short(ish) it overheated and needed skimmed. Given my now total lack of faith in dealerships and a bit of knowledge I decided to do the head removal/refitting myself. I decided to have the head ported and polished while I was at it. It did take a long time to get the head back from the machine shop as it is obviously a laborious job but they did a fantastic job. The rebuilt was straightforward and after carefully checking the valve timing etc I started it up. It fired up straight away and after burning off the oily residue settled down to normal. I have been running the car for just under a week, it seems to be more responsive off the mark but it seems hesitant when accelerating almost as if it is needing more fuel or air. I don't know if the ecu needs to re learn the driving pattern or if I am just imagining things. Any thoughts. I am thinking about a bluefin remap. Also the yellow runflat light won't go off no matter how much I try and reset it any thought appreciated.

Hesitation after a head replacement points to a vacuum leak. I would start by pulling the intake and verifying the gaskets, clamps and boots are right, then look at all vacuum hoses and connectors. This is a very common occurence.

[JimR]

Ahh, the connectors I had a good check last night, first chance i've had and to my embarrasment found one of the connectors to the fuel injection rail wasn't connected properly. Car is now running like a dream, I am actually amazed it ran at all.

[Yellow/Black OneD]

RESULT!!!!!!

It is a surprise, but at least she is running fine now - Well Done!!!!!

Is your run-flat light still on??? That could be a dodgey ABS sensor, I presume you have checked all your tyre pressues???

[JimR]

Yes, the runflat light is still on, I will have to check the ABS connections although I didn't disconnect any of them during the engine work, the light is on continuously and not flashing so resetting after setting the correct tyre pressures makes no difference, I don't know if there is any way to check the sensors are working properly