latest cooper s in and started today , history behind it the thermostat to water pump plastic pipe had cracked very common fail point north of 8 years old it seems as plastic goes brittle from heat over time and the plastic where the O-ring sits in rear of water pump pops into the water pump and then starts leaking coolant,, as its nearly the lowest point of coolant system about 30mm above the oil filter hosing and bottom of cylinder block its really not good when do fail,, as with this car the piston rings over heat loose tensile and the valve stem seals get meted hard as well and add to the oil burning after effect, I did notice the coolant header tank after a 350 mile trip to me was under the min mark so will be digging in to it and check through it all see where we might have leaks from head gasket and turbo chamber as well,, i suspect the oil filter housing seals will need replacing easy job with head off nightmare job when not so worth doing ,, within the refresh I fit new oil rings in to the camshafts end journals for vanos system ,, i also fit the master kit timing chain kit will everything full kit on all of them for piece of mind not cheap but rather give it the best chance going forward,, I've also got to have a look at suspension on this one as its very hard might be down to springs fitted wrong way around or just cheapy china ones dont know yet but time will tell get engine sorted first then get in to that, this one had a timing chain 8 months ago i put locks tools on found it was slightly out maybe not done right the first time or chain as stretched already ,, anyway I always fit all new on refresh, also this will mapped from 184bhp to 228nhp so real treat for owner when its run in, and drops the hammer in anger lol these n18 engines are just so much more torque mid range ,
below pic of the brass rods i use to find when all 4 pistons are at same height to help find the locking pin hole in flywheel, it also helps me tell if timing out from the top with out pinning the crank ie when they are both at same then cam locks should drop on,, this one is 2 teeth out crank to camshafts,
below pic bonnet up covered over ready to go
more tomorrow think I got half day on it tomorrow should have head off at least
below pic of the brass rods i use to find when all 4 pistons are at same height to help find the locking pin hole in flywheel, it also helps me tell if timing out from the top with out pinning the crank ie when they are both at same then cam locks should drop on,, this one is 2 teeth out crank to camshafts,
below pic bonnet up covered over ready to go