R53 Mini Cooper S repair resources?

I'm about ready to dive into what I think is going to be a timing chain/guide replacement on my wife's '03 Cooper S and am shocked at how hard a time I am having finding guidance online. Am I just spoiled by you guys here? Have I spent too little time on a MINI specific forum? Anyone have recommendations for good forums to search or join? Any Links to DIY guides? Thanks.

Try www.motoringalliance.com/

I think I still have the giant Bentley manual for the R53 in print. If I do and you're interested, I'll make you a deal on it.

Here's a few I've used:

North MINI

timing chain tensioner

I'll try to find some more. I've got an R56 but it's only a matter of time (timing...) that I'll be doing the same.

ultraclyde wrote: I think I still have the giant Bentley manual for the R53 in print. If I do and you're interested, I'll make you a deal on it.

We plan on keeping this thing awhile, definitely interested!

Thanks everyone for the links so far.

I'll dig into the shop and see if I can find it. I've got a couple other R53 parts too, I think. maybe a full-control ipod adapter for the factory radio?

The Bentley forums can be a good resource as well.

I found the manual and one oil filter. Mr Joshua, I'll send you a PM.

My MINI made some funky noises that could have been mistaken for timing chain slap....turned out to be the harmonic balancer. Just FYI.

Tyler H wrote: My MINI made some funky noises that could have been mistaken for timing chain slap....turned out to be the harmonic balancer. Just FYI.

This is true. Other potential sources are the alternator, AC compressor and supercharger. Unfortunately, noises from that area can be tough to pin down.

I've been reading up a bit on the potential causes. The harmonic balancer looks good upon a quick visual inspection, but I haven't dug into the other possibilities yet. It has 200k and a glowing exhaust manifold and a report of starting to run worse after the challenge autocross several years ago. I didn't find any obvious intake leaks. The nasty sounds combined with the high mileage and glowing manifold make me suspect the timing chain jumped a tooth. Not sure though. All guesses until I start actually working on it.

edit-I appreciate any and all suggestions. Thank you and please keep sharing your thoughts.

From experience... The harmonic crank pulley does not last very long once it starts to go. And it makes the s/c sound off.

rustysteel wrote: Here's a few I've used: North MINI timing chain tensioner I'll try to find some more. I've got an R56 but it's only a matter of time (timing...) that I'll be doing the same.

Mod MINI is a good YouTube channel resource. He does some things a little different than I would, but I'm more of a tool-junkie and bought some of the special MINI tools he doesn't use, so his how-to's are probably more realistic for most folks. However, definitely get the Bentley manual before starting anything. It will have the torque specs and whatnot.

The big downside of Bentley (not just for MINI) is the manuals are essentially very slightly watered down print versions of the BMW-TIS (Technical Information System) the dealer techs use. We learned this when we bought CD bootleg copies of the BMW-TIS off eBay years ago (for about a year, my ex had her '03 R53 and '97 M3 at the same time and the BMW-TIS covered both). The dealer info covers a bit more, but not much. Procedures are shown with a certain assumption of factory training and special tool access. It's show what needs to be done, but can be rather vague at times on the specific "how", so the DIY'er will often have to figure things out on their own, which is where forums and YouTube can help.

Good luck. So far, the timing chain service is one of the few R53 service items I haven't done yet and probably won't until if/when I get my own car. All previous work I've done on MINI's was on my ex's '03 R53 and friends' cars from our old MINI club. Part of me wants to buy one of these cars solely because I already know so much about and own so many special tools for working on them...

The harmonic balancer on our R53 failed at about 52k. The outside metal pulley cover sheared loose from the rubber underneath. When it happened my wife was driving and said it suddenly made a lot of racket and stalled at a light. She was able to recrank and make it the 5 miles home with rough running and lots of lights on the dash. When I cranked it at idle to diagnose you could hear the pulley contacting something so you'd get a metallic ring every few seconds, but other wise it idled okay. Revving the throttle would cause the pulley to bang around more, made a real bell-clanging sound.

I replace it with an ATI SuperDamper because putting the same horribly-designed factory part back on seems like the definition of insanity.

Mine was making a mid-load slap / tick / knock ~3k rpm. ATI isn't cheap, but is the right way to go.