This one followed me home yesterday.....
2006 Cooper S, 6 speed auto with flappy paddles, sunroof, leather interior, all the bells and whistles, 87K
Taking it for VIN inspection today (Missouri title and I'm in Kansas) and tomorrow (hopefully) to get it titled and plated. Our DMV works on an appointment only basis, and to get in the queue you have to start calling when they open - at 7:30am. I've done it before and even calling at that time my time in line was 4:30 (they close at 4:00!) then they update you via text during the day, when you get within 30 min of your appointment you'd better be on your way to the office - it's a 20 min drive for me. Sometimes depending on staffing you get bumped to another day - the car bidness in Johnson county must be good! There are only two places you can get your plates/title work done in the whole damn county too.....
I'm having to relearn how all the controls work, last time I had an R53 was 20 years ago!
Looks really nice. Keeping all the other cars or downsizing?
One will have to go, probably the green one after the trip to Asheville this summer. She's decided she wants her car back in the garage, and both classics have to be garaged for insurance reasons - so if one goes, she gets her parking spot back!
I'll still have the classic hot rod and we'll both keep our respective Audi wagons. As much as I like my MINIs, driving one sure makes me appreciate the Audi!
Got a small surprise when I went to make an appointment at the DMV "Current wait time - 10 min"! So I hustled down there and the place was empty, maybe 5 people in the whole place. Usually it's absolutely packed! I asked the lady if it's been like this long and she said the last three months or so......how to tell we're in a recession - or about to be.
10 min and I was in and out and legal to drive.
The car drives really nicely, everything seems to work, but I'm still relearning the controls. There are a few things about the R55 I liked better, it was quieter and smoother on the road and I liked that you could program a LOT of the features using the turn signal switch button - can't do that on the earlier cars.
I'll do basic maintenance on it, oil and filter, air filter, cabin filter, hood struts, front shock mounts and then my plan is just to drive it.
Nice, always liked the earlier ones but the roads are so terrible around here any sort of "performance" style car/suspension just ends up beating the car and you to death so never pulled the trigger on one.
Congratulations! Looks like a great car. This past Sunday I realized I had been neglecting my R53 so I took it out and buzzed it around country roads for about three hours. After not driving it for probably a month I did come to some of the same conclusions that you did. The ride is rough and unsophisticated. There is road noise and wind noise.But who cares? It handles so good and it is so much fun to drive. I absolutely love the supercharger whine, and there is nothing like dropping it down into fourth or third for a quick overtake as the supercharger screams.
Dave, since it's probably been a while since you've worked on a first gen MINI I want to give you a heads up regarding a potential problem during an oil change. The plastic pressure relief valve in your oil filter housing is probably original to the car and quite old (relatively speaking) and brittle now. I had one break on me during an oil change a couple of years ago. Of course, the only way to get new OEM one is to buy a completely new oil filter housing assembly which includes that part for many hundreds of dollars. But OutMotoring has a 3D printed one for under $50 that seems to be working pretty good. Here's a video that shows where the parts sits.
Thanks, I AM familiar with that issue, Don wound up buying a $300 filter assy a while back because of this issue - thanks for the refresher.
Today I ordered $150 worth of filters and misc stuff to get this project started.
I also found the right rear muffler is toast, so I'm on the lookout for someone who may have removed a factory exhaust in favor of an aftermarket (as was common when these were new) and is tired of tripping over it in the garage that I can score for cheap.
I found a well recommended local Dr. De-Dento who said he'd come by and see what he could do about a couple of dings....this one in particular.....
I even visited an old website I hadn't been on in well decades (my sign in and password still worked!) called North American Motoring. It used to be THE place to go for MINI insight.....
I got a pile o parts for Red today, but tomorrow it goes to a shop to have the trans service done and maybe an exhaust repair done.
So in this pile are air filter, oil filter (I already have a cabin filter) a set of plugs and the socket (I only ordered one but got two), some bearing plates for the struts, a pair of struts for the bonnet (already installed) a serpentine belt kit with the tensioner and idler included and some brake calipers for the hot rod. I bought all this stuff thru Ebay sellers, I haven't been a big Ebay buyer in the past but their prices were better than anything I found on amazon and of course shipping was "free"....
I went over to the local Chevy dealer and bought a bottle of supercharger oil as I'm planning to do that as well - that stuff has tripled in price - used to be $6 a bottle, now it's $18! I probably should have gone ahead and ordered a water pump, but we'll see what it looks like once it's torn down. Planning to get into it early next week....
Picked Red up from the Shop today, it got mostly good marks, def some deferred maint. Today I lucked into a deal, a guy was selling a complete front end kit for MINI, it has pretty much everything, control arms, ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends and a new pair of coilover struts. His car was totaled the day after he bought all this stuff for it....
Red also needs all the motor mounts in addition to the stuff I already have. I bought the right one, but will need to get the others. So I have a whole passle of work to do next week.
It also needs an exhaust, so I'll noodle around and see what I can find. Too bad I can't find a new car take off, those were around up till a few years ago.
I've known the young man in the beard since 2006 when he got his first Mini at age 15, he's come a long way!
Not seen in this pic is an 80's Testarossa in for some work. The shop does a fairly large variety of work, including an M5 V-10 engine in for an overhaul. The Jag is a one year 1968 Series 1.5, a very rare car as they only made them for a few months to use up the stocks of Series 1 bodies and engines before starting production on Series 2 cars which had completely different bodies, carbs, engine detail like lower compression and other emissions equipment.
They also do alignments on all the local classic Minis now....the orange one is a Canadian Mini in for some front end work - it has a D series Vtec in it too.
I did a 100 mile run with the MINI club today and the car ran sweet - no issues. Sure is nice to have a quiet car on the highway at 75 mph!
The drive today helped highlight the work I need to do still in the suspension and motor mounts, but I'll get those sorted in the coming weeks. For now I'm pretty happy with it, and once I do get all the worn out parts replaced it should drive even better!
We had a nice turnout on the run today, 10 cars, several were JCW's eager to run. The road was smooth and fun, but being Saturday there was traffic, so we didn't get to hoon like they wanted to. I was happy to just cruise.....
Oh, and I paid $4.59/gal for gas this morning......<sighs> I've seen $5 plus around town already. My average for the trip today was 31.3, so not too bad. I don't think my 03 JCW ever did over 30, even on a long run.
I decided not to keep these very blingy front coil overs, I'll put them up on FB marketplace and spend the money on a stock set.
Lot of parts arriving soon, including a center console! I have a set of new struts on the way and I think I've decided to just find a new stock exhaust system rather than one of the cool looking SS aftermarkets setups. I found a video that had sound clips or pretty much every aftermarket exhaust available and I didn't like any of them! So.......stock it is. I probably would have been fine with one of them 20 years ago..... :rolleyes:
You kids get off my lawn!!!
I decided to just get regular old stock struts for Red, and put the blingy ones up on Craigslist and FBM to see if I can get a nibble.
The front end kit is pretty complete......control arms, all ball joints, new bushings, inner and outer tie rod ends (I'll probably leave the inners alone) and even the sway bar links. Odd that there are no sway bar bushings but I happen to have a set languishing on my shelves!
Does anyone know if the front wheel bearings are the same between the R53 and the R56 cars? I have as set I bought for my 09 Blue Clubby that I no longer have - if they fit this car I'll keep them, if not I'll put them up on FBM or Craigs too.
I ordered a complete set of motor mounts today, I think I'll do those first as the trans end one is torn and hanging a bit low, once those are in then I can drop the subframe and do all the suspension bits. It's been a long time since I've dropped the front sub on one of these, might need to go to the YouTube Mechanics Academy for a refresher course!
OK, I got the answer on the wheel bearings - the bearing itself may be the same, but it comes as an assembly with the wheel flange, and the wheel bolts used on an R56 are larger than those on the R53, so I'll bet it will fit but I would need R56 wheel bolts.
Ordered some more parts for Red today, cam chain tensioner, struts all around, water pump, oring for the crank sensor, oil pan gasket set and a new drain plug. Most of this is either because it's time or just in case sort of stuff....
I already had all the filters and fluids, new complete front end parts (all the ball joints, control arm bushings etc) a complete new SS exhaust system from the cat back, and supercharger service kit, tensioner, idler and belt. I'll change the engine oil and I've already serviced the transmission.
I think that should do it for deferred maintenance stuff. With all this installed I should have a fully correct functioning MINI for a good long time.
That's a whole bunch of parts to change out on this car, more than a few days worth of work, but I think that should get me ready for the 2K mile trip to West Carolina in June.
Edit: Dang it, still need the left side transmission mount - the ones for Automatics are WAY more expensive....
Edit 2: Found one! Thank you Google.....
1st to arrive.....shiny new SS exhaust! That got here fast....I only ordered it 2 days ago, on the 5th, and it came from Va.
I also shot some black Rusty Oleum on the new suspension parts that were unpainted. Planning to start in on this sometime next week. The radiator for the green car should be here Monday so I can get that buttoned up and off the rack. I think putting this exhaust on while the car is on JP's drive on rack would be a lot easier, so I may do that.
More goodies arrived late this afternoon, a center console and armrest from a friend of a friend. He used to go to the scrapyard any time a MINI came in and look for stuff - he had 2 MINIs of his own then. So he scored this years ago and it had just been sitting in his basement - he was happy to send it on and I was happy to get it! My blue Clubby had one and I missed not having it in this red car. I don't know if I'll do it but I know a company that puts a leather cover over these, right now it's just hard plastic.
My new radiator came in late yesterday, so the first thing I did today was test it! It held 13psi for 1 hour.....I think that'll do. I won't get it installed probably till tomorrow.
My back is still killing me so I'll give it one more day to see if it improves - it's been 4 days now and I'm tired of it, if it's still a problem tomorrow I'll head to the Dr.
BTW, I really didn't want to spend the money on the pressure tester but I have to say this one really works easily and well. It has enough different gizmos to hook up to any cooling system so I think I will keep it after all.
Left side transmission mount came in for Red today, look at the size of this thing! I'm surprised that it failed.
Dropped Red off at the Dr. De-Dento guy today to get a nose job, while he's in there he'll see how many of the other dents he can take out too.
It won't be perfect but it should look a LOT better.
Still a few more parts due to show up today including new struts, a few gaskets and o-rings and so on.
I'm still trying to get my back in shape again, I haven't really been able to get anything done in the shop since this time last week, time is growing short as we need to leave for West Carolina on June 21st, so basically one month from now. Several people have volunteered to come help and I appreciate the offers and will take them up on it if my back doesn't improve quickly.
I have a new pan gasket and I'm thinking maybe it might be a good idea to replace the rod bearings while I have it off....I can get std size bearing right down the street at Autozone - good brand too. I'll pop one of the caps off while the pan is down and see what they look like.
I think the last few bits for Red showed up today, front sway bar bushings, a new drain plug with copper washers, some touch up paint, a couple more gaskets and such....
A guy is coming in the morning to pick up the Maxpeedingrods "blingy" front struts on his way thru town to his home in Knoxville, I'm glad they're going to a fellow MINI enthusiast (I mean, who else would buy them? :grin: )
I had a number of enquiries about them but they all wanted all 4 not just the fronts.
I'm excited to see how the dent guy does on it tommorow....
That is one hell of a transmission mount! It looks like a slightly smaller version of a massive generator in an electric power station.
I know, right? :017:
We'll see what all I have to strip off to get to the bolts.....
Just need my back to get better first....the Doc gave me a steroid pack and it seems to be helping already - tho the one thing they won't want me to do is be bending over and working on a damn car!
Wow, it's been a minute......I was down for almost 3 weeks with my back issues, I'm starting PT on Monday after getting steroids then injections, then MRI's....bottom line, I'm old and my back is messed up. Tho they think this will get me OK again eventually without having to resort to surgery.
However that really put a dent in the work on the Red MINI, I did a little here and there, but eventually I had to call for help. Both Don and my MINI Buddy Carl came over and gave me a ton of help along the way. I also got held up at times waiting for parts.
So, to catch up.....I took it to the dent guy and I was absolutely amazed at what he was able to do. The big softball sized dent in the bonnet is gone, the smaller but worse dent up by the left headlight is almost imperceptible. The dent above the left door handle is gone - even when I had pics and knew where to look I still can't find it! It was expensive but way cheaper than paint and I'm super pleased with the results. Here are a couple of before/after pics.....there were a bunch of dings and dents he fixed. Like I said, super pleased with the results.
The next job I tackled was to install my center armrest - I got used to having one with my 09 Clubman S and when a friend offered me one for this car I jumped at it. It was a fairly straightforward job, tho there was one or two wrinkles along the way. Getting the old one out was easy enough, a couple of screws and unplug some wires and it was out.
The new one was a little different, first there was a base to install, and to get that to fit I had to cut a hole for some kind of electrical device, easy enough to do with a skill saw and it fit fine. Then it was just a matter of fitting the new one in its place and screwing it down, hooking up wires etc. It fits perfectly - as a factory part should - and I'm happy to have it. While I was in there.....
The center switch panel was loose and moved anytime you used one of the switches, getting it out was a little more involved as you have to remove some of the dash covers to get the tops of the downtube legs out of the way to remove the retaining screws that hold the switch panel in. I just used some super glue to reattach it to the holder and put it all back together. Job done.
For some reason I can't seem to post the pic of the dash all apart, just to one where it's all back together....
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I was still having issues with my back at this point but I decided sitting on the couch wasn't helpful either, so next I tackled the rear struts as they're fairly easy, and I don't have to get under the car to change them. I bought "fully loaded" struts that came assembles, springs, shock, bearing tops etc. It's just two bolts on the top, one on the bottom and a couple of hoses and wires to move to change them, you don't even have to remove the sway bar links. Probably the hardest part was lifting these heavy ass wheels off and back on! That and I could not get the right rear wheel off, fortunately my neighbor across the street was home - he's a BIG guy, he gave it one swift kick and off it came. I made sure to wire brush all the rust off the hub and put a light coat of silicone grease on it before I put the wheel back on.
The fronts were a whole nother story!
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Next up, front struts. Again, loaded struts so I didn't have to disassemble them, just R&R. However.....
I had loaned out my ball joint tool, which isn't usually an issue as the lower ball joint bolts into the hub....this one was rusted in solid. I finally got my zip gun with a fine blade in between the flange and the hub and it started to move - but it still fought me. You have to get it loose so you can move the hub out far enough to get the end of the strut up and out of the hub. Once you get it out it's easy street - but you do have to remove the sway bar link which is a total PITA as they use a locking nut and you have to hold the bolt with an allen wrench while you unwind it with a box end wrench. It took a while.
I cleaned up the hole that the lower end of the strut fits into in the hub and gave it a coat of grease. I also wire brushed the hole that the ball joint fits into and greased it too. putting it all back together wasn't too hard, tho I had to use a bottle jack to push up on the hub so that the strut would slide down into place.
Then it's just a matter of putting everything back, I held off installing the sway bar links as I have new ones. The next challenge was to remove the subframe so I could change out the lower control arms, bushings, sway bar bushings and all the ball joints. Don came over and gave me a hand with that....
The lower control arm bushings are liquid filled, and these were completely trashed, the ball joints and rest of the bushings seemed pretty OK, but since I had new ones and it was all apart I went ahead and changed everything.
The bolts that hold the sway bar and lower control arm on were tight, even my 600ft lb air wrench wouldn't budge one of them so I got out my 3ft long 3/4" drive breaker bar, and put my foot against the subframe while I pulled HARD.....it finally broke loose. Going back I realized the air compressor had been off a while and the pressure was down, so I was able to get them plenty tight again once it pumped up to full PSI.
The steering rack comes down with the subframe along with the reservoir and you have to carefully feed it down thru the back of the engine.....using the lift table really helped with this job.
So while that was off, we took the front of the car off to gain access to the next few jobs, swapping out the motor mounts and pulling the oil pan.
I wanted to drop the oil pan for a couple of reasons, first being it looks like it's been leaking at the gasket, plus I wanted to take one rod cap down and see what the bearings looked like....I'm glad I did as they were well worn. I mic'd the crank and it showed fine so I ordered a set of bearing off Amazon - bad idea. When they got here they didn't even fit the rod cap, so back they went and I found a set of proper King bearings, they fit perfectly but then I found out the next mistake I made - when I went to look up the torque spec for the rod bolts I found they were single use. I looked online and wasn't finding any so I called the dealer, this was Thursday afternoon and they of course didn't have them but claimed they could have them by Sat morning, and their price was reasonable so I said go for it.
Sat Am came and I went down to pick them up only to find they had been shipped from a different warehouse and wouldn't be here till Tuesday or Wed! Normally this wouldn't be an issue but I'm leaving to a MINI event in Asheville on the 22nd and this would be the 9th or 10th before they got here! Not much I could do so I waited. They did get here Tuesday so I was able to button it all up.
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By now, this was where I was, before pulling the pan - you can see how the crank sensor has been leaking too. This is a common issue on these engines but you have to take so much stuff off to get to it that most people just let it go.
There were a few more evidences of deferred maintenance - check out the air filter and cabin filter!
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So, jobs still needing to be done, change out the motor mounts - the one on the driver's side required removal of that big aluminum bracket - and to get THAT off I had to remove the fuse panel, air box and a whole bunch of other bits....swapping it is just a matter of unbolt and bolt, but like anything on one of these it's getting to it that's difficult.
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I decided to hold off changing the right side mount as there wouldn't be anything supporting the engine, the pan was still off waiting for rod bolts.
So the next job in line was to remove the supercharger to service it. That required even more stuff come off the front of the engine.....
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When I drained the oil out it didn't smell as bad as some I've done, and there appeared to be plenty of oil in it. I found out I had only bought one small bottle of s charger oil 118ml and it holds 190ml. so I had to buy another from the local Chevy dealer - $18 a bottle now!
While the supercharger was off and out of the way I replaced the tensioner, idler and belt - well I tried to replace the belt!. my brother was in town so I drafted him to help and we struggled for almost an hour and could not get it to fit. So, I dug the old one out of the trash - 1390mm vs the new one at 1371mm - no wonder we couldn't get it on!
Good news, the Autozone right down the street had the right one in stock, so we finally managed to finish that job too. I did go ahead and replace the right mount by balancing the engine on a bottle jack and a chunk of 4X4!
There are a couple of plastic tubes that fit onto the big black tube and as can be the way with any 20 year old plastic part, one of them broke. I didn't think anyone would have that as it was part of the vacuum feed for the brake booster, but Pelican parts had it along with the lower radiator hose that I managed to put a hole in trying to pry it off the thermostat housing nipple! Local dealer wanted $85 for that lower radiator hose, and no one I checked had it any cheaper - Pelican had it for $23 and the plastic bits for 60, so about what the dealer wanted for just the hose.
The plastic tube presses into the red fittings on the black tube.
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I also had Pelican sell me a set of spark plugs, I have no idea how old these are, they could be the originals. They looked OK but.....
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I also replaced the water pump that bolts onto the back of the supercharger.
So while waiting for the rod bolts to come along with the Pelican parts, I drafted Carl and Don in to replace the exhaust. That kind of work is not so easy on my lift since it runs down the middle of the car, but We got the old one out with a minimum of curse words, but the new one presented its own challenges when we realized the hanger rods weren't anywhere close to where they needed to be. After a LOT of conversation we decided they were just bent, so I applied a 3lb hammer and whadya know, things lined up nicely!
I wasn't sure what it was going to sound like as I could not find a sound clip for this brand anywhere on the WWW, but now that I've had it running I like it - it's quiet!
When the rod bolts finally got here I pulled the rest of the bearing caps off and here's what I found.....
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I replaced them all, lubed them with assembly lube and bolted the pan back on. With the pan in place the supercharger and A/C compressor went back in too, along with the engine steady which is under the motor and bolts between the subframe and oil pan.
That done Carl came back for more punishment and helped me put the subframe back in, bolt up the struts, re-attach the steering rack to the column and generally just put stuff back on.
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Still a very long way to go, you don;t realize just how much you took apart till you start putting it back together!
So I started in on the remaining bits for the engine, all the plumbing, coolant hoses, wiring, reinstalled the air box and fuse panels and all the associated stuff - that was another day and left me here....
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Next up the front bumper, radiator, bumper cover, inner wheel well covers etc. I had to kinda learn as I go as I wasn't the one who took these apart, plus there were fasteners missing and they were assembled wrong by the last person who worked on it.....it took a while but I finally got it all together. Turned the key and it fired right up and ran sweet!
Took it for a run around the block and so far I'm happy with how it sounds.
Tuesday I have an appointment for an alignment, it has new tires and I don't want to eat them up on a 2K mile trip.
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Finished at last!
I took a clip of the exhaust sound but it sounds a lot deeper and throatier than it does in this clip....
You have been really busy!
Yeah and I wrenched my back again yesterday.....this is getting old. I'm supposed to start PT this week.....
I understand about wrenched backs/joints. A couple months ago I wrenched something in my ribs and diaphragm and I am still feeling it.
Drove way downtown to the shop I'm now using for alignments and got Red straightened out, drove perfectly on the ride home. When it was up on the lift I took a look for oil leaks and didn't see any, so that was good. I'm going to check all the fluid levels again to see if the coolant is still where it should be before I go on the road again.
Exhaust is def louder than I expected, tho it does not drone and makes a nice little burble on the overrun - no pops and bangs like Don's JCW.
Thursday we're driving about a 200 mile round trip up to Prather Racing's shop night, I need to put some miles on it to build confidence before we hit the road for Asheville next Monday, but so far so good.
When we left the alignment shop it didn't seem like the A/C was working, it took about a mile or two, then it seemed to start cooling and has worked fine since. I forgot how much heat gain there is with these sunroofs!
200 mile + trip today and the car did everything it was supposed to and nothing it wasn't. I did have to top up the coolant before we left as it probably worked some air out of the system over the last two short in town drives. When I got home it was still full.....
It was as much a confidence builder as anything else, but I'm happy to have a good first run. Leaving Monday early for Asheville.
Exhaust is louder than I wanted in town driving but once on the highway it mellows down and you can barely hear it, so that will be OK.
Quote from: MiniDave on June 15, 2026, 08:15:52 AMYeah and I wrenched my back again yesterday.....this is getting old. I'm supposed to start PT this week.....
Random thought. In the UK do they say they "spanner'd their back"? :grin:
Hope it feels better soon Dave.
Regarding heat coming into the car from the sunroofs, I got some covers years ago and it really makes a difference. Not sure if these are the same ones, but look around.
https://a.co/d/030ObB54
I really hate sunroofs.
I wish I'd seen these before, but I'm leaving in the morning......I also hate sunroofs, which is why I didn't order one when I bought my Clubby!
Don had a medical issue that will prevent him from making the trip so I'm on my own for the drive down and back.
I'll drive to Lexington tomorrow, then the rest of the way on Tues.....
So I made it to Asheville, great turnout for this event, no issues with Red on the week so far so I'm not anticipating any problems on the ride home.
2400 mile roundtrip with no issues of any kind. Car ran super, got over 30 mpg average, including all the city driving and hooning around on the dragon and the "rattler".
There is one annoyance - it has a terrible wind shriek in the right window - I found that if I hit the recirc button it stopped - so my theory is maybe something to do with the blend doors in the HVAC or something? At any rate, about as far as I'm going to get into it is to check for bad vacuum lines, maybe borrow a smoke machine for that as the A/C works just fine.
It didn't seem to use or leak any oil, never saw any spots under the car, tho I haven't had it up on a rack to get under it and really inspect it.
The exhaust is......well....."sporty". Hasn't seemed to get any louder, still does the burbling on the overrun, but only for a second or so....doesn't go on and on. On the highway it's not annoying.
My sunroof shades came in yesterday, they don't fit perfectly but they have got to help! It was a bit of a problem occasionally when the sun was really bright and just in the wrong place as I drove, so I had to wear a hat.
If putting the air handling on recirc stopped the whistle, my guess is that when it is open, the cabin is being pressurized and air is escaping at some location producing the noise. Some cars have a relief vent somewhere in the back, to let air out when the fan is pulling fresh air in. At speed you may be getting a ram air effect. Find the relief and make sure it isn't blocked. Also check the door and window seals for inadequate contact.
Yes, that's my theory too. I did check both the flaps in the rear, they're free and unobstructed. The seal appears intact and undamaged. I'm hesitant to try and make the window fit tighter to the seal as on these cars the window drops when you open the door, and goes back up when you shut it - it don't want to make it so tight that it can't move properly.
One other thought I had was to put a small foam tube inside the seal to stiffen it a bit, if nothing else as a test to see if it improves.
The only time it's an issue is on the highway of course.
Did you try resetting the window regulator to ensure the glass drops and raises in the right positions?
Yes actually.....one of those things you learn when you own an early MINI! :grin:
That and the Fonzi move on the door panel when they quit working. Mine go up and down just fine tho.....
Keys.....the car came with one remote key and one with no electronic functions except for the recognition chip that lets it start the car - that one is the "problem". It works, but when you drive the locks cycle about every minute or two.
Someone recommended Dr. Bruce, the Mini Key Doctor so I contacted him and sent him a pic of the two keys. His recommendation was either do nothing and use it for a backup key or I could use a program he linked to "remove" both keys from the car's computer and reinstall just the one. He said "use at your own risk" so I decided to take option 1 and make that one my backup key and just use the "good" one!
I sent him a later note to ask what it would cost for another one of the remote keys but haven't heard back, I have a feeling it will be more than I want to pay. We do have a key shop here in town that can do a lot of these fancy keys, I might touch base with him too just for fun.
There is an old locksmith around here, probably in his 70's I'd guess. Walking into his shop is like a blast into the past with tools, keys, safes etc... On my 2010 GMC the dealership wanted something like 80 bucks for a key, then when I handed them the key they guy said, oh we dont cut double keys anymore. Told me to go to this locksmith. He took my key, did some odd counting sort of out loud sort of in his head....mumbled a bit jotted down some notes on a piece of paper and cut me a key.
I looked at him like "do you seriously expect me to believe this is going to work". He just said ,dont worry it will work, that will be 28 dollars. I handed him a 50 and walked out. I'll be damned if I didn't walk out, put the key in the ignition and off it went. No idea what voodoo magic he had going on in his head to just come up with the key but its the only place I go for keys anymore lol.
I was supposed to go to a Mini Club ice cream social last night, it was too hot to drive the classic so I jumped into Red, hit the A/C and headed out. About 2 blocks down the street I knew something was wrong....I pulled over to check for loose wheels or flat tires and found nothing, so I turned around and went back home. I'll put it on the rack today and see what I can find...
The issue is when I accelerate it goes left, when I let off it goes right - significantly. It just feels like the steering's not connected somehow, even tho turning the wheel feels normal. We drove it to dinner the night before and I don't remember it doing that at all, tho we didn't go very far. It sure didn't do it on the 2500 miles I drove a week or so ago!
Possibilities include bad lower control arm bushings (new), torn upper spring plate rubber mounts (also new), or maybe a loose steering rack (I didn't have to unbolt it from the subframe, so I doubt that's it)? One of the guys at the ice cream thing (I drove the Audi) suggested a bent steering arm. I don't think that's it but I'll know more once I get it in the shop later today. It's always some damn thing......
Hmmmm.....car is up on the rack, I can't find anything wrong with it, everything is tight, bushings are all good including the LCA and top mount rubbers, nothing's bent, broken or unattached.
I guess I'll put the wheels back on and go drive it again and see what I see.
Puzzling.
Just that particular road perhaps? But I assume its one you regularly traverse.
Does it on every road, but def easier to feel on Antioch because it's smooth and fast enough to get on it and off to see what it does.
Alignment?