2009 mini cooper clubman, timing chain and valve seals

[mattthemuppet2]

that's a bear! I replaced the accessory belt tensioner wheel thing on a colleague's Mini and that was a misery. Had to use a long pry bar to lever the engine over far enough to slip it past the frame rail.

Be careful about posting close up pics of oily engines though, or someone will come along and tell you to pressure wash it at every oil change

 

[great white]

that's a bear! I replaced the accessory belt tensioner wheel thing on a colleague's Mini and that was a misery. Had to use a long pry bar to lever the engine over far enough to slip it past the frame rail.

Be careful about posting close up pics of oily engines though, or someone will come along and tell you to pressure wash it at every oil change

Just pics grabbed off the internet. Not my missus’ mini cooper.

I’m also going to change the pump drive wheel, belts and hoses while I’m in there.

Nothing wrong with them, but they are original 2009 parts. Figured if I’m going to tear it down that far to do the timing chain, might as well replace all the “wear parts” while I’m in there. That area pretty much all comes apart to do the timing chain, so why not?

 

[GoceKU]

Just another day dealing with french design. Be careful torquing the crank pulley bolt, you need to lock the crank very tight because those engines don't have key in the pulley. The engine is in taming only by friction from the bolt.

 

[great white]

Just another day dealing with french design. Be careful torquing the crank pulley bolt, you need to lock the crank very tight because those engines don't have key in the pulley. The engine is in taming only by friction from the bolt.

Yep, more stupid engineering. Like having oil control rings with plastic spreader elements on a piston.

Or wheel bolts instead of wheel studs. Try changing a flat tire at night in the rain on the side of the highway and those wheel bolts (instead of studs) go from just an aggravation to a real safety hazard.

Or how about an oil dipstick that you can’t read the oil level on. WTF is up with that?

I do quite enjoy how the car feels on the road, its nippy and fun.

But the engineering in it?

Just stupid.

NA cars are certainly not immune from ”stupid” engineering, but they’re usually only saddled with one or two issues. But this thing? Stupidness abounds. Its proof that the sum is greater than its parts. Somehow, despite all the stupid engineering, it manages to be a great car. Fragile, expensive and highly prone to breakage, but still lots of fun….when it works that is…

 

[GoceKU]

Wheel bolts is standard for me, all my cars except the russian lada are with wheel bolts, the trick is to put one bolt in the wheel , center into the hub and just turn it till the bolt fells in a hole. About the dipstick that is a BMW ting they make them from black plastic and are very hard to read, i've changed them with universal ones just shorten them and mark the level with an angle grinder. Yeah the plastics on piston ring is something i simply can't understand, worst design ever.

 

[mksj]

At least you have an oil dipstick, newer BMW motors have no dipstick. You have no idea if your oil level is too high or too low until it is gone. Modern cars/trucks are a nightmare to work on these days, with all the stupid plastic covers you often can't even see the motor, let alone figure out how to do any service on them. At least for me, the days of doing my own servicing on my vehicle's is long gone. Kudos for your effort to do it yourself.

 

[great white]

Yep, more stupid engineering. Like having oil control rings with plastic spreader elements on a piston.

Just stupid.

Wheel bolts is standard for me, all my cars except the russian lada are with wheel bolts, the trick is to put one bolt in the wheel , center into the hub and just turn it till the bolt fells in a hole. About the dipstick that is a BMW ting they make them from black plastic and are very hard to read, i've changed them with universal ones just shorten them and mark the level with an angle grinder. Yeah the plastics on piston ring is something i simply can't understand, worst design ever.
View attachment 448830

Yep, the wheel bolt thing is a european deal. Seems they all use wheel bokts instead of studs.

only thing you’ll find those on on this side of the pond are some older trailer axles and most guys convert those to studs as well.

I deal with the eurooean “wheel bolt” issue by taking a longer bolt with the same threads, cut the head off, round the end and use that as a “stand in” stud so I can hang the wheel, install 3 (or four) wheel bolts, untheead the temp stud and install the last wheel bolt.

A bit ginky, but it works without having to fight the wheel into postion and hokd it whike you try not to cross-thread a wheel bolt.

As an added bonus, I leave it in the mini and should the missus get a flat tire she (or the roadside service guy) has a half decent chance of changing the tire without stripping something.

 

[great white]

At least you have an oil dipstick, newer BMW motors have no dipstick. You have no idea if your oil level is too high or too low until it is gone. Modern cars/trucks are a nightmare to work on these days, with all the stupid plastic covers you often can't even see the motor, let alone figure out how to do any service on them. At least for me, the days of doing my own servicing on my vehicle's is long gone. Kudos for your effort to do it yourself.

Yep, dealer visit to “add oil” to some of the newer bmw’s. I was under the impression the dash light told you if oil was low though…

 

[great white]

Well, finally down to the valve stems:



I think I’ll call it a day (ie: quit while you’re ahead) and get back to the valve seals in the am.

Once you get all the peugot proprietary stuff off, its still just a basic ICE design.

It’s all the crap they have hanging off it and the fact that the engine is (obviously) completely built off the car and then swung in as a unit. Likely with the whole engine cradle as well.

You don’t have to design the damned thing to be serviceable inside the car if you buikd it up on a bench and then swing it all in as an assembled unit.

Thats a lot of the reason you’re seeing more and more “remove engine” of price quotes. No other way to do some things on these little buggers other than pull the engine….or rear axle, or….well, just about anything has to cone out to do further work on it. One of the many great “plusses“ of making something quicker/easier/cheaper to slap together on an assembly line…

 

[pdentrem]

Unfortunately the engine designer is doing his job, just like the transmission/driveline designer and in the end the car designer does not care where the “have to access to service parts of either one” end up.
I just did a spark plug change for my neighbor with a ‘09 Ranger with the 4.0l and AC. The back two plugs on the right side are covered by the AC dryer and air box. The transmission dipstick tube is also in the way from coming in from the wheel well. So push/pull and squeeze to get hands and tools into place. Install Iridium plugs and done for the far future. The old plugs were Motorcraft regular with a worn gap of over .150”. Likely original or nearly so.
Pierre