A (real) Mini in need of some attention
Discussion
Hi All,
Some advice for a not particularly mechanically minded person would be much appreciated if anyone here is kind enough to oblige :)
I have a 1998 (S-reg) Sports pack cooper that has been off the road for about two years. Originally it was off the road due to a slight mis-hap with a patch of diesel on a bend in the road. Slid sideways into the offside curb - crunch - and then slewed onto the wrong side of the road into the other curb - crunch.
Over the course of the following few months I paid a mechanic a few hundred quid to sort it out. It passed it's MoT but felt very strange at anything over 30 mph... like it was ready to drive me off the road at any moment.
It then got left on the driveway and, not least because of a load of personal stuff going on at the time, stayed there untouched until now.
So, three things...
ONE... getting it running again... I have a new battery waiting to go in, but what should I do before i attempt to turn the key in the ignition?
TWO... Assuming I get it running again, what's likely to need replacing?
THREE... What could be causing the handing issues since the unfortunate meeting with the curbs? It's been mentioned to me that the replacement of the front and rear subframes might be in order. Any ideas what that's likely to cost?
Any help that anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
Some advice for a not particularly mechanically minded person would be much appreciated if anyone here is kind enough to oblige :)
I have a 1998 (S-reg) Sports pack cooper that has been off the road for about two years. Originally it was off the road due to a slight mis-hap with a patch of diesel on a bend in the road. Slid sideways into the offside curb - crunch - and then slewed onto the wrong side of the road into the other curb - crunch.
Over the course of the following few months I paid a mechanic a few hundred quid to sort it out. It passed it's MoT but felt very strange at anything over 30 mph... like it was ready to drive me off the road at any moment.
It then got left on the driveway and, not least because of a load of personal stuff going on at the time, stayed there untouched until now.
So, three things...
ONE... getting it running again... I have a new battery waiting to go in, but what should I do before i attempt to turn the key in the ignition?
TWO... Assuming I get it running again, what's likely to need replacing?
THREE... What could be causing the handing issues since the unfortunate meeting with the curbs? It's been mentioned to me that the replacement of the front and rear subframes might be in order. Any ideas what that's likely to cost?
Any help that anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
Hi skim,
This is what you do:
1. Take out the plugs and put some thin oil into the bores. Put the car in gear and push it backwards and forwards to ensue the upper cylinders are lubricated.
Change the oil for some good quality, not cheap 'weasel-piss', 20/50 or 15/50 (see current thread about oil) and fit a new oil filter. Make sure you prime the oil filter before fitting it.
Fit the new battery and spin the engine over on the key until you get oil pressure (i.e. the oil light goes out or the gauge gives a reading).
Fit NEW plugs and fire it up. It will smoke a bit at first due to the upper cylinder lubricant, but that will clear in a minute or so.
Before starting it you might consider a new fan belt and a re-setting of the tappets.
2. With regard to the handling and possible damage it's difficult to guess at the problem without knowing the accident mode. That is to say, did you hit the kerbs sideways or frontwards with lock on?
The front subframe is really very strong, but you may have bent a tie-bar or sheared off a sub-frame mounting rubber. You may well have bent a steering arm. Check the tie bars and sub-frame mountings and change them as required. If it's a mounting, then I would go for solid mounts all round on the front. I recently, on a major rally, hit a kerb with the front wheel on lock and the impact sheared the inner pin on the lower arm, but the sub-frame didn't bend at all and the handling is perfect still.
If you hit with the back wheels whilst going a bit sideways, then you could have bent the sub-frame, in which case there is nothing you can do except fit a new one. It's not too difficult, but you do need the right tools and the brakes have to be bled afterwards as well. To check for this, I would take the car to a good tyre shop and have an alignment check done. The rear should toe-in about 1/8" and the front toe-out 1/16" (or whatever that is in metric).
If I could see the car I could probably tell by looking if the rear is bent - where do you live?
I hope this helps,
Peter
This is what you do:
1. Take out the plugs and put some thin oil into the bores. Put the car in gear and push it backwards and forwards to ensue the upper cylinders are lubricated.
Change the oil for some good quality, not cheap 'weasel-piss', 20/50 or 15/50 (see current thread about oil) and fit a new oil filter. Make sure you prime the oil filter before fitting it.
Fit the new battery and spin the engine over on the key until you get oil pressure (i.e. the oil light goes out or the gauge gives a reading).
Fit NEW plugs and fire it up. It will smoke a bit at first due to the upper cylinder lubricant, but that will clear in a minute or so.
Before starting it you might consider a new fan belt and a re-setting of the tappets.
2. With regard to the handling and possible damage it's difficult to guess at the problem without knowing the accident mode. That is to say, did you hit the kerbs sideways or frontwards with lock on?
The front subframe is really very strong, but you may have bent a tie-bar or sheared off a sub-frame mounting rubber. You may well have bent a steering arm. Check the tie bars and sub-frame mountings and change them as required. If it's a mounting, then I would go for solid mounts all round on the front. I recently, on a major rally, hit a kerb with the front wheel on lock and the impact sheared the inner pin on the lower arm, but the sub-frame didn't bend at all and the handling is perfect still.
If you hit with the back wheels whilst going a bit sideways, then you could have bent the sub-frame, in which case there is nothing you can do except fit a new one. It's not too difficult, but you do need the right tools and the brakes have to be bled afterwards as well. To check for this, I would take the car to a good tyre shop and have an alignment check done. The rear should toe-in about 1/8" and the front toe-out 1/16" (or whatever that is in metric).
If I could see the car I could probably tell by looking if the rear is bent - where do you live?
I hope this helps,
Peter
Could be that the front and rear subframes are out of alignment and that the car is crabbing. this means that instead of all the wheels facing forward and in line on both sides they are offset and so the car goes slightly diagonal. It would have to be quite sever to make it feel like it want to leave the road though. Its easy to check. Just make sure on both side s the front and back wheels are in line.
If it is crabbing, whereas it wasn't before the accident, then it is clearly something bent. If this is the case, then I would suspect a bent rear subframe, with one of the back wheels 'toeing-in'. This does mean a new sub-frame on the back.
Of course, it could be something as simple as a bent steering arm which can be changed in 10 minutes followed by a re-tracking.
At this time it's all conjecture as the only way of checking is a full alignment check, including caster and camber and tracking all round. This needs to be done by a really well-equipped body-shop or tyre specialist rather than your average 'quick-fit' type tyre retail outlet.
Of course, it could be something as simple as a bent steering arm which can be changed in 10 minutes followed by a re-tracking.
At this time it's all conjecture as the only way of checking is a full alignment check, including caster and camber and tracking all round. This needs to be done by a really well-equipped body-shop or tyre specialist rather than your average 'quick-fit' type tyre retail outlet.
Thanks to you all for all the advice so far! Hopefully going to have a go at getting it running this week when my dad gets a chance to come over.
Peter (Cooperman), in answer to your question, I'm down in mid-sussex.
Regarding the handling, I'll hopefully be able to give a better description of what's happening once it's running as i'm speaking from memory of 2 years ago.
Is there anything else that might need attention or replacing after a long time off the road? Brakes? Oil anywhere in particular?
Cheers
Simon
Peter (Cooperman), in answer to your question, I'm down in mid-sussex.
Regarding the handling, I'll hopefully be able to give a better description of what's happening once it's running as i'm speaking from memory of 2 years ago.
Is there anything else that might need attention or replacing after a long time off the road? Brakes? Oil anywhere in particular?
Cheers
Simon
Sounds like you have given yourself some rear tow out. Would I be right in thinking it now goes around corners really well, like it's begging you for more. Get a supermarket car park at night and go and do some sharp turns, try and get it on 3 wheels (lift a rear wheel), if you turn and it feels less willing to turn than usual, that's rear tow in, if it tries to do a 360 or violently swerves, that's tow out. Obviously relevant to each wheel. It's improbable that you will have tow out on both wheels but the net result will be that there is overall tow out. I suspect it's crabbing as well. The radius arm mounts are where it would have been shagged. Get your steering dead ahead and run a piece of thread around all 4 wheels, you'll be able to see any significant deviation. You could buy some rear tracking/camber brackets and set it up properly if the deviation is small (which it sounds like it isn't) or the rear subframe is bent to hell and back.
Tell us how you got on.
Stu
Tell us how you got on.
Stu
Well! Nearly 3 months after my original post the Mini is finally running and has been driven around the block for half an hour or so.
As mentioned before anything over 30mph starts feeling unstable. It's a difficult feeling to describe... a bit like driving on ice maybe but the car never quite goes out of control, just feels as though it's about to.
Time now to start following the various bits of useful advice posted above. If anyone has anything additional to add then any help will be (and has been) greatly appreciated!
As mentioned before anything over 30mph starts feeling unstable. It's a difficult feeling to describe... a bit like driving on ice maybe but the car never quite goes out of control, just feels as though it's about to.
Time now to start following the various bits of useful advice posted above. If anyone has anything additional to add then any help will be (and has been) greatly appreciated!
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