Just subscribed to your channel, thanks to your videos which are very well explained, its allowed me to be able to have replaced my gates belt on the r53 (it broke whilst driving near home the other day), I know nothing about mechanics etc, but thanks to you I've already saved a lot of money on garage bills, thanks everbso much! Best wishes to you and your family at Christmas and beyond! 👍🎄🎄🎄

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this amazing feed back. Glad we could help. Means alot. All the best to you and your family too. Merry Christmas. 🎅🏻⛄️

@Dessla

2 жыл бұрын

Video helped alot, n very informative. Now I searching one the same to change my supercharger oil

did my tentioner today, watching your video made it so easy! absolutely subbed. thank you for brilliant videos!!

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you. really appreciate your comment. 🙌🏻

Thanks for the demo on how the tensioner actually looks like outside the car. Very helpful 👊🏼

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Glad it helped you. 👍

Great video....these Mini's are such a pain in the arse to work on, but watching your very thorough video made things a lot easier. Much appreciated!

Excellent video.One of the best for detail at every step.Very easy to follow.Cheers buddy.

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Andrew Saunders Thank you for your excellent feedback. appreciate it. 🙌🏻

Great video, clear and easy to follow 👍

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Lisa J Thank you very much. 😬

Very good video Descriptive and easy to see and follow. Thank you

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! 🙌🏻

All I've to say is thanks alot you saved me a lot of time and money 🙏

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

So glad to hear it! Thank you very much! 🙌🏻

Looks like you can also change out the alternator this way as well. I’m about to change out both using your video.

Just got done changing mine from the bottom without removing anything but the tensioner. Took me a bit to find just the right way to wiggle it in there but it is possible if you don't want to take anything else apart. When I first put it in the belt was all of a sudden too loose. Thanks to your video I realized I needed to pull the pin out to allow it to put tension on the belt. Appreciate you taking the time to put this info out there :) Surely saved me a lot of time as I was about to pull the tensioner back out to inspect.

@Drivewaybuildz

Жыл бұрын

ah ok cool. good to know for next time. Glad to hear the video helped you. Thanks. 🙌🏻

@cspreach1963

5 ай бұрын

What exact year is your mini? My 2004 Mini Cooper S has developer a whine that i can hear over the supercharger. Replaced my idler pulley, hasn't gone away. I installed a new remanufactured bosch alt so it might be bad but anyways.

@alvinpalacios-lopez7041

5 ай бұрын

How'd you do it? What part did it come out from?

For anyone doing this job alone, you can 100% do it alone without the second person to put the pin in. I have had to release the tension on my mini by myself an uncountable amount of times. I dont know why your need someone else to do it for you. You de-tension the belt with one arm, amd out the pin in with the other arm. Lol It helps to have someone do it though. This is a good video. Not trying to debunk the video. Thanks for the upload!

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe it was worded incorrectly. 2 people are not 'needed' but easy with 2. 🤙🏻 Thanks for the comment. 👍

@_alltheseprettylights_

3 жыл бұрын

@@Drivewaybuildz forsure! I really appreciate the upload. I'm literally about to walk out and change mine. I might need to upload some videos myself because mod mini and bmw doc can do it all lolol

@SuperExige

3 жыл бұрын

@@Drivewaybuildz I don't think you worded it incorrectly at all. I have the same tool as you, cheap and cheerful, you need two people with this tool as it slips, so you need both of your hands to align the tool as you pull back. The other person needs to then put the pin in. However, I've used a more expensive tool, borrowed from a friend, the first time around I was taking the supercharger off, and that tool fit perfectly without slipping and I managed to do it alone.

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

@@SuperExige Thank you for your feedback. I guess it is possible alone with this tool but much easier and quicker with 2 people. 👌

@JohnCarlyle

Жыл бұрын

I too have the simpler version of the tool, you definitely should have two people, as the tool easily slips.

Thanks! Nice video. I'll change mine tomorrow. I'll probably be a lot quicker because of watching this😁

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Thats great to hear! Thank you very much. 🙌🏻

great video sir

Good video!

Thanks for posting this

@Drivewaybuildz

2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou for watching and supporting the channel 🙂

great video, helped alot. i did mine without jacking up the engine 4inches to remove the bolts

@Drivewaybuildz

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Yeah it can be done but its a bit fiddly to do. Easier to jack engine up abit. Also made it easier to film with better access. Glad the video was helpful and you got it sorted. 🤙🏻

@alvinpalacios-lopez7041

5 ай бұрын

How did you get it out?

Great video. Your belt tool was different than the one I bought on Amazon that has two pins to engage the two holes in the tensioner, but both seem to work. My old tensioner broke in half so it came out in pieces, but I found that if I put the pivot bolt through the new tensioner pivot end before wiggling the tensioner into place, I did not have to raise the engine as high to get the bolt started in the block. The bolt also had come out with the top piece of the tensioner without removing the bolt all the way first - just unthreading it from the block and removing both together. I did have to use a crow foot on my torque wrench to tighten it because there was not room between the bolt and the frame for even a short socket on the torque wrench. I do need to get an alta limiter like the one you used and install it because when my old tensioner broke it trashed the ATI Super Damper and I had to get it rebuilt. My next problem is that even with a new tensioner, belt, and damper it is making more noise than seems right.

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Good to know there is another way without raising the engine so high. Regarding the noise you still have...it might be worth checking the crank pulley and idler pulley as both do make a noise when they are on their way out. Also maybe double check the new belt is the right size for the super charger pulley as each % size requires a certain size belt. You sound like you know what you are doing so if you have already done all this i apologise. Thank you for your comment and glad you enjoyed the video. We have also linked in the description our video on fitting the alta tensioner stop and powerflex damper bushes to the tensioner if you need any guidance. 🤙🏻

@philwarner6604

3 жыл бұрын

@@Drivewaybuildz Thanks for the tip on your Alta stop video; I just watched it, but I'll be doing mine with the tensioner already in place and I guess I'll be removing the fender liner again to do it. I bought a Gates K060535 belt to fit my ATI 2% oversize damper and Alta 17% undersize super charger pulley and it seemed to fit OK with most of the top hole in the tensioner's metal strip showing. The damper was newly rebuilt by ATI. I didn't replace my flat idler pulley because it felt OK spinning by hand, and after the belt was on I listened to it with a mechanics stethoscope and it was relative quiet while running as was the alternator. The pivot end of the new tensioner produced the most noise through the stethoscope followed by the body of the super charger just below it. I am suspecting the super charger bearings now. Not a happy thought. BTW, I bought a Gates tensioner because the one that broke was a Litens, but when it arrived it was a Litens tensioner in a Gates box.

Great video. but audio stopped at 7.55 it helped in the repairs for this awkward little car..

@Drivewaybuildz

10 ай бұрын

Thanks. yes the song in background was copyrighted months after uploading this video so had to mute it.

Hi there do you know how to remove the bottom bracket octopus wiring harness that is attached to the gearbox. There is a bolt holding it down on one side but the other side I can't think how to get it up as I don't see any nut or bolt

I purchased a Gates Belt Tensioner kit from Autodocs....Yesterday I went to fit the tensioner , pulling back on the spring to relieve tension..the whole thing snapped!!!!! the piece of sheet metal that rises with the two holes for you to place the pin into, as you pull on the tool, literally snapped. The spring let go and the whole thing crashed down onto a brand new ATI crank pulley I had just fitted. Thankfully theres no damage to the crank pulley. Now if that had let go whilst I was driving the car, thats another matter. Really surprised a brand new item let go like that. Autodoc are great for prices but not the best to deal with on returns and refunds. Still waiting to hear from them. As I need a new tensioner asap, I've ordered a brand new INA one off CarPArtsForLess. Used them before, so lets hope the INA lasts better than this new GATES one. Thanks for all the videos by the way, they're really helpful, having never worked on a car before, let alone a Mini!!!

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Damn that sounds like a pain. Atleast the pulley is ok. Hopefully you get it sorted and running again and get a refund. Sounds more like a faulty product So hopefully they resolve it eventually. The tensioner failed on our blue r53 and did exactly that taking out the crank pulley etc. Hence in our other video we fitted the powerflex tensioner bushes and ALTA tensioner stop to hopefully prevent this from happening in the future. Several people have said the tensioner stop is no good but it can't do any harm. 🤷🏻‍♂️. Thank you for the support of the channel. Fingers crossed yours is back on the road soon. 🙌🏻

The part where you put the locking tool into the spring came off and was loose inside the spring, and I was able to pull it out. Is there a way to fix this, and will this affect my car?

i'm looking for some info on the actual damper, the black linear damper. Is it and hydraulic damper? How much travel approx is compression and how much is traction?

Can the bad alternator cause the power steering to be stiff

8:09 to about 11:20 has no audio. other than that, fantastic vid

I have a 05 Mini Cooper S with 135000miles I change one alternator last month and now it went bad again What u think 🤔 and what type of pulley should I buy factory are off market ?

How were you able to jack the engine that high up without disconnecting the bottom engine mounting??

Nice video, do you know the size of the all the bolts which hold that belt tensioner ? I literally lost mine on the freeway and it's impossible to find which bolt I need to fix the new one. Thanks

@Drivewaybuildz

Жыл бұрын

I'm not 100% sure tbh. best off to go to a mini dealership and ask them. they can tell you from the parts diagram. hope you get it sorted 👍

Two questions; did you go with OEM components or aftermarket? And what was the bit when the audio dropped and you had the pin in hole #2 still on the new tensioner with the laugh emoji. Should that pin have been removed earlier when reinstalling or?

The piece of metal inside the spring is rattling around freely on mine. Do I need to get it changed asap

@Drivewaybuildz

4 жыл бұрын

Rowan this will rattle around as the tensioner is constantly vibrating and adjusting via the spring and the damper trying to keep correct tension on the belt. if it is overly moving it may be because the spring and damper has weakened. for piece of mind i would recommend changing the tensioner, as stated in the video if it does fail it can cause a £200-£300 worth of damage taking the crank pulley etc out with it. watch the link in the description of the powerflex bushes and ALTA tensioner stop as a precaution to decrease the chances of the new tensioner failing in the future. Thank you for your comment. I hope this helps.

@mazdamx5v8project92

4 жыл бұрын

@@Drivewaybuildz ah okay ... I will look into getting this done asap along with an oil change as I dont have any service history.. the metal strip looks as if it has sheared around the hook at the top.

Is it just me experiencing no sound from just over half way through? Just before you get to changing the idler pulley?

@Drivewaybuildz

4 ай бұрын

The music i usel is royalty free. However that section of music was copyrighted after this video was posted, So i have to silence that section of video or remove the whole video altogether.

Hi my belt snapped driving R52s What's the belt number?

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

It depends on what supercharger pulley you have. for example 17% pulley is different size to stock pulley. so belt is different.

Can be done without removing engine mounts and can be done one person but if you are able to jack the engine up and have a mate it’s a lot more ideal lol

@alvinpalacios-lopez7041

5 ай бұрын

How do you do it? That upper bolt is long

Got to stop mumbling. Otherwise good vid. Your misses speaks very clearly. Especially when discribing your tools 👍👍

@Drivewaybuildz

3 жыл бұрын

Yes i do mumble a bit. 🤦🏻‍♂️ just added an external mic to the camera for this very reason moving forward and to reduce wind noise. Hopefully this will be better now. Thanks for the comment. 🤜🤛

I definitely need to do this soon. It’s nice because I actually need to replace that upper motor mount anyways so I may as well kill two birds with one stone 🤷‍♂️

insulating the grd cable........... lol

Terrible cars to work on

@Drivewaybuildz

2 жыл бұрын

Can't argue with you there pal. 😂🤙🏻