R53 MINI Cooper s, pulley and coolant/heater help!
Discussion
Not long purchased a Mini Cooper s r53, overall really happy but I’m after some guidance please;
1) The heater (climate control model) blows cold when cruising and at low speed but a few fast WOT runs gets hot and then cools again once settling back into a cruise. I thought it may be a new stat, but the coolant temp warms up from cold sits bang in the middle of the gauge and (touch wood)never changes once up to temp (I always believed on a steady cruise it would drop if the stat was faulty)?
2) I’ve purchased a 17% reduction pulley, modified OE bypas valve by 1320mini and 2 steps colder spark plugs - these are being fitted during a major service any ideas what bhp it will run and is it worth remapping after the additions?
3)As above its having a major service plus a few bits I’ve been recommended anything I’ve missed - car has 95k miles on clock full history
Coolant
Water pump (as a precaution whilst supercharger off)
Supercharger oil
Spark plugs
Oil
Oil filter
Bypass valve
(Air filter won’t be touched as cold air intake on the cards imminently)
Anything else to look at, cars running well if a bit thirsty. Thanks in advanced.
1) The heater (climate control model) blows cold when cruising and at low speed but a few fast WOT runs gets hot and then cools again once settling back into a cruise. I thought it may be a new stat, but the coolant temp warms up from cold sits bang in the middle of the gauge and (touch wood)never changes once up to temp (I always believed on a steady cruise it would drop if the stat was faulty)?
2) I’ve purchased a 17% reduction pulley, modified OE bypas valve by 1320mini and 2 steps colder spark plugs - these are being fitted during a major service any ideas what bhp it will run and is it worth remapping after the additions?
3)As above its having a major service plus a few bits I’ve been recommended anything I’ve missed - car has 95k miles on clock full history
Coolant
Water pump (as a precaution whilst supercharger off)
Supercharger oil
Spark plugs
Oil
Oil filter
Bypass valve
(Air filter won’t be touched as cold air intake on the cards imminently)
Anything else to look at, cars running well if a bit thirsty. Thanks in advanced.
It sounds like you may have airlock in your coolant system, mention it to 1320 & they should be able to help.
The power you will get will depend on which engine you have, there are 163 & 170 bhp versions of the R53.
Assuming the 170 you should end up with approaching 190 maybe a touch more, although if your intercooler is standard the air inlet temperatures form fitting a 17% pulley will peg the power back. Really you need a better intercooler to help this.
A remap shouldn't really change anything unless you go for bigger injectors at some point.
These are a bit thirsty due to the supercharger taking power to drive it & therefore increasing the fuel consumption.
E-bmw said:
275 is possible (just) but you will need serious head work complete with BVH & cam replacement along with the injectors & intercooler that you mention.
And probably ARP bolts and a raised rev limit. It's what I'm aiming for eventually, currently at approx. 250 at the flywheel.
Are you aiming for a fast road or out and out track car?
As E-bmw says, getting to 275bhp is a stretch, lot of work, deep pockets required. With the fierce cam, ported and flowed head, sports manifold, probably de-cat, 550 injectors, serious map it will be quite lumpy for general road use and extremely loud. You’d need a JCW cat back IMO to keep it vaguely civilised noise-wise and out of ASBO territory.
The temp gauge is only a rough indication of temp. I have an Ultragauge and have the engine temp displayed. When my car gets to about 65°C the standard gauge is already reading on the middle marker. And when the car gets hot in crawling traffic and climbs to 110°C, it hasn’t moved. So I estimate it is only accurate to about +/-25°C.
Unless you are really banging it (i.e. tracking) you should be OK with the standard intercooler and a 17% pulley. If the inlet temp gets too high it won’t blow your engine up. It will just start ‘clipping’ – that is the ECU will reduce power until the inlet temp comes down.
Do you know about the Hidden Codes’? You can watch the actual engine temp as opposed to the rough approximation the gauge gives you by doing this:
[b]Display Actual Coolant Temp[b]
1. With the key in the ignition, but in the off position, press and hold down the odometer reset button with one hand.
2. While holding the button down, switch the key in the ignition to position 1 (first click) with the other hand. The screen will have a number and the word “TEST”.
3. Scroll through the numbers by pressing the odometer rest button, through to 19 and wait a moment. (Note: the number order is: 1, 2, 10, 19)
4. The message will say 19 "L i-off", flash to "L i-on", and back to "L i-off" again. When "log i-off" appears, press the odometer rest button again.
5. You are now in the system.
6. Scroll through to 7.0 Actual coolant temp.
7. Start the engine and actual temp is displayed and you will see the temp fluctuation as the thermostat opens and closes.
As E-bmw says, getting to 275bhp is a stretch, lot of work, deep pockets required. With the fierce cam, ported and flowed head, sports manifold, probably de-cat, 550 injectors, serious map it will be quite lumpy for general road use and extremely loud. You’d need a JCW cat back IMO to keep it vaguely civilised noise-wise and out of ASBO territory.
The temp gauge is only a rough indication of temp. I have an Ultragauge and have the engine temp displayed. When my car gets to about 65°C the standard gauge is already reading on the middle marker. And when the car gets hot in crawling traffic and climbs to 110°C, it hasn’t moved. So I estimate it is only accurate to about +/-25°C.
Unless you are really banging it (i.e. tracking) you should be OK with the standard intercooler and a 17% pulley. If the inlet temp gets too high it won’t blow your engine up. It will just start ‘clipping’ – that is the ECU will reduce power until the inlet temp comes down.
Do you know about the Hidden Codes’? You can watch the actual engine temp as opposed to the rough approximation the gauge gives you by doing this:
[b]Display Actual Coolant Temp[b]
1. With the key in the ignition, but in the off position, press and hold down the odometer reset button with one hand.
2. While holding the button down, switch the key in the ignition to position 1 (first click) with the other hand. The screen will have a number and the word “TEST”.
3. Scroll through the numbers by pressing the odometer rest button, through to 19 and wait a moment. (Note: the number order is: 1, 2, 10, 19)
4. The message will say 19 "L i-off", flash to "L i-on", and back to "L i-off" again. When "log i-off" appears, press the odometer rest button again.
5. You are now in the system.
6. Scroll through to 7.0 Actual coolant temp.
7. Start the engine and actual temp is displayed and you will see the temp fluctuation as the thermostat opens and closes.
Edited by R53rider on Tuesday 30th October 13:52
Thank you for the response I will look at the gauge later on. I wanted to go for a fast road setup - track days are potentially on the cards but not in a serious capacity. The cars usage is daily driver currently but will become a 2nd car/toy in the new year.
- the water methanol is what I had been looking at to prevent the “clipping” of the Ecu and keeping the engine safe. The side benefit was a small bump in power but not mapped so it has to be run all the time.
And if you are not on it already may I suggest you get yourself onto the R53 Owners Club on Facebook. Currently 3,800 members and rising. All with R53s. So quite focused! It is not the normal FB free for all. It has 20 admins/moderators. Any untoward posting/comments and you are off.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
Idiot88 said:
Tried the test mode on the gauge cluster. All worked fine car reached 85oC really quickly and then did touch 91oC. Once the heater was on and in steady traffic dropped to 87oC but still didn’t blow hot.
Engine temp looks all good then. Maybe running a little cool compared to some, certainly mine. The heater matrix probably clogged up with crud. It happens. Or the flap that diverts between cold incoming and hot through matrix isn't working.Gassing Station | New MINIs | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff