Name: Mini R56 - No drive to water pump, not turning friction wheel, not working - how it sounds if failed
Uploaded: 2025-02-21T21:50:31.000Z
Duration: 7 min 29 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi there, this is Spencer from BMP Conversions.

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I thought I'd make a little video just explaining how the actual friction wheel works on this mini R56 N18 engine.

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So the the car came in with a horrible knocking noise that actually sounded like very much like the death rattle noise that you hear from the timing chains but it was a pronounced knocking noise and it seemed like it was coming from the inside of the engine it's it actually sounded like a little end bearing to me.

So after what we actually done was we we spoke to the customer said we didn't exactly know where the noise was coming from so the only thing to do really was to do the the thing which is most common on them so we carried out the the timing chain we replaced the timing chain kit the tensioners, the guides and also the vanos units the full kit we fitted and started up and still found there was a noise.

Now in doing that while doing that repair I'd obviously removed the friction wheel so the friction tensioner that basically is located on this engine in the inner wheel arch you can this plastic item just up there that is a friction disc and what they call that so what that does as you start the engine the water pump which is just up there I'll try and get a shot of that there you go is your water pump up there and that that tensioner.

Now as you start the engine the engine crankshaft this is the crankshaft this will be spinning in a clockwise motion that crankshaft is turning the air conditioning and the alternator there's an alternator belt which is connecting them three this actual item here this actually moves in and out electronically so the ECU controls that item and it moves it in and out to turn it on and off so what what it's actually doing to apply to emissions regulations they actually stop the water pump from turning when the engine is cold so on first startup this water pump won't turn until the engine reaches operating temperature and then as soon as it gets to critical temperature near boiling point that the wheel will then retract back on a worm gear it will basically pull it back and it will then turn the water pump off the crankshaft so that that wheel which is you know is connected at the minute and once I start the engine this would go out outwards and it wouldn't be in contact with these two pulleys anymore once it reaches temperature again it will then retract back in and this crankshaft will start turning the water pump via this you know connection so if you've done a brand new tensioner and obviously that that tensioner they do make like the death rattle noise so obviously it was it was a very very pronounced noise it sounded like a little end bearing to me and you know I was concerned that the engine was damaged in one way or another but since doing the actual item when I when I've done the chain so I've done the chain I've done the guys I've done the tensioners I've done the vanos units itself there was no fault I couldn't find anything wrong with those items and once I'd done that I put it all back together put the belt on put that friction wheel in and sure enough the noise came back but quite severely so the noise was that pronounced that you know it sounded like the engine was gonna fly apart and what actually happened was the friction wheel had actually seized up and you can see it actually seized up finally finally let go and and done that damage to the war pump pulley so the water pump pulley has a rubber face to it all the way around and that's how them to grip onto each other and yeah so that friction wheel this item this is the item that had actually seized up you can see there the bearing had gone the item had seized up so initially when it was going it sounded like the death rattle on everyone else's videos then it seized up after I'd done the chain I then pulled the actual so on this on this item let me try this little lever here and try and do it one-handed you can actually pull that and you see that see that it feeds in so again when you pull it can't do it one I'm afraid but to take the tension off of this wheel so let me just explain in the wheel arch on that item there this little tab here you can pull that tab out right when you fit in a new belt you pull this tab out all the way and hook it onto the little plastic nub just up there what I'll do is that will actually release the tension off this so that will allow this arm to go downwards that will move this wheel away from the crankshaft and that'll allow you to put a new belt in now what happened on mine is my tensioner had gone and obviously they were jumping and knocking against each other knocking between each other and making a you know pronounced noise so if you've done a brand new water pump on this item on this mini or any work on this mini and you've noticed that the actual water pump isn't turning which is the main reason I'm making this video I was concerned that the reason why the water pump wasn't turning and the friction wheel wasn't engaged but it is actually meant to be like that and it is actually ECU controlled so going back to the meaning of this video the friction wheel won't engage until the car reaches its operating temperature alright so don't be concerned you can run it up I've bled the car out so now I put a new water pump in there there's my reservoir bottle and you can actually see just down there that that little pipe coming off all the way up here there's a little flat edge down there and that little flat edge is what you feed your screwdriver in and you twist that a few times so just down there twist that around a few times that'll allow air out and allow the water to go in once the water comes out of this bleed nipple the engine should be bled alright so I hope that helps and yeah don't be concerned