Mechanical Adventures
One night, minutes from home, my Mini's engine suddenly stopped. As I looked at the temperature gauge, it was reading 250°F and rising... overheat! I immediately got out of the car and pushed it to the side of the road to get it out of traffic. (A driver stopped by and offered his cell phone for me to use - there are plenty of nice people around still) I waited for the engine to cool down, then I drove home carefully.
Cut-to-fit Thermostat Gasket
What caused the overheat? My first guess was a bad thermostat, so I checked it, and sure enough, it only opened partially in boiling water. I thought I heard a strange noise from the water pump, too (I was wrong - the water pump was OK) so when I went to Mini Mania, I bought a new water pump, a thermostat (160°F), and appropriate gaskets. It's pretty funny that the thermostat gasket needs to be cut to shape, as it's designed to fit many engines (rumors have it that it can fit on a 454 Chevy!). Kudos to British engineering :-)
Pushrods and Rocker Assembly
Note that the pushrods are punched into a cardboard
sheet and numbered so that they won't get mixed up.
I replaced the thermostat, installed a new water pump, and started the engine. The coolant temp climbed to 190°F, as expected, but it kept on climbing, so I had to shut it off. Now what? I waited for the engine to cool down, then restarted it, looking at the exhaust this time. As soon as the thermostat opened, I noticed some moisture coming out of the exhaust... uh oh, is it a blown head gasket or cracked block?? I also noticed some drips of coolant and oil on the floor. Where did they come from? After careful inspection, I saw oil and coolant seeping out between the head and the block. Must be a blown head gasket! I also noticed a crack next to the weld at the "Y" joining the LCB exhaust header. Off to Mini Mania I went, to buy a new header and a head gasket.
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