The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33536
from the backside. Just position the screwdriver and tap them out with a hammer or mallet, working your way around in a circle. They will eventually “pop” out. I inserted the new grommets by hand and then used the hammer to gently tap them into place, again going around in a circle to insert them evenly into the valve cover. The new valve cover gasket can only be installed one way, so lay it out first matching the pattern of the valve cover outline with the gasket and then pushing the new gasket into the channel on the cover. Work your way around the cover and go backwards if it does match up properly and install it again until you get the spot-on fit. The rest is simply reversing the steps I t’s not that I’m cheap; it’s just that many of the repairs the dealer recommends I can perform myself for considerably less cost and satisfaction I get from doing it myself is just a bonus. For example, my local MINI dealer wanted over $500 to change out the valve cover gasket on my R53, with $421.20 of that cost being labor charges. The gasket wasn’t leaking much, just seeping a little, but once it starts leaking the oil soaks into other rubber components under the hood causing their premature deterioration. I took a look under the hood and decided that I could easily do the job myself, saving some serious bucks. The MINI dealer’s parts by Neil G. Chirico department recommended the valve cover gasket (called the profile gasket by the dealer) PN#11-12-1-485-838 with a list price of $29.82. There are also four round gaskets/grommets (simply called “seal” by the dealer - PN#11-12-7-513-066, listing for $9.53 each) that insert into the valve cover at each of the four spark plug holes in the cover. A part the dealer did not recommend replacing, but I do, are the collar screws. They hold/tighten the valve cover to the cylinder head and each of the collar screws has a grommet as part of it. The grommet prevents oil leaks at each of the screw’s attachment points. They are PN#11-12-1-487-179 and list for $4.69 each. Twelve of them are required. The gasket replacement job is pretty straight forward. Only simple hand tools are required, and the usual Torx bits are needed. Start out by removing 40 MC2 Magazine www.mc2magazine.com the supercharger intercooler plastic cover and then the intercooler. Keep the cover’s bolts in order as they are specific to their location. Next up is the bracket under the fuel rail. You only need to loosen the bracket, not the fuel rail. A single bolt holds a sensor onto the top left of the valve cover; remove it and pull the sensor out. Then loosen the squeeze clamp on the top right of the valve cover for the ventilation hose and pull off the hose. After that, remove the four bolts for the coil pack and the plug wires at the spark plugs. I left the spark plug wires attached to the coil pack and wiring attached to the coil pack and simply moved it to the back of the engine compartment and out of the valve covers way for clearance. I next removed the twelve valve cover gasket bolts. To get to the bolt at the front of the valve cover on the driver’s side I had to loosen the attachment bolts for another bracket. I removed two of the bolts and left the third in place merely swinging the bracket out of the way for clearance to the valve cover bolt. With the bolts removed, lift off the valve cover. Pull it up from the rear, near the engine compartment bulkhead and then swing it up and out of the engine compartment. Once the part wass off, I used Simple Green to clean it up inside and out. Remember to cover the valve train components so that no debris gets into the uncovered machinery while you are removing the grease. Once the cover is clean you can then remove the original four spark plug cylinder grommets. I used a flat edge screwdriver and pushed them out 3. Four bolts hold the intercooler inlet/ outlet tube hoses in place. I removed only the ones closest to the intercooler. 1. The new gasket and grommets laid out and ready for installation. covered for removal. The complete job took me an hour or two, including the taking of photos, so your time on this project should be minimal. As long as you take your time it can be easily done at home, saving you hundreds of dollars in labor costs from your dealer, and you get the satisfaction of doing the job yourself at home. 5HPRYH WKH 7RU[ EROWV LQ RUGHU WR remove the intercooler’s plastic cover/ diverter. No Drips! C ha n g i n g t e h e R l l5 e3 vaal sv a k e co v nd o i e vr g ea ysk o s e nd s a t cu m u roens e t yo. p easy diy