8 replies to this topic

[mini-Ash]

Got a bit of a problem with my mini,

The engine stabiliser is eating bushes like no tomorrow,

I only replaced them in the summer and its gone again, this time the whole engine is rocking back and forward when I rev the car, as a result the 2-1 bit of the lcb has pulled itself loose from the downpipe and its hanging off and blowing really bad!

Could this be a problem with the engine mounts as the car has only done literally 1k miles maybe less as I have another car.

I dont drive it hard either! Im gonna try a polybush and hope that helps it!

Anyone got any ideas, could it be the engine mounts causing the rocking??

[Brett]

hi mate,
this happened on my 998 couldnt for the life of me figure out why it was doing it...
but when i removed the engine i discovered theres (well was on mine) another steady that comes forward from the gear box and atatches the the subby that on mine had snapped off, probably causing the upper steady the do the job of 2 steadys.

not 100% positive this is the cause of the problem but is good place to satrt looking
good luck

[m1n1]

I have to add that there are quite a number of absolute rubbish bushes out there! I have had the same problem as you about 5 years ago. When I was at southern mini days I picked up some of the red polybush replacements, as well as an ultimate engine steady and a lower rearward gearbox steady. A bit overboard but everything is still as it was when i put it on 5 years ago and I my mini drive every day.

[mini-Ash]

Cheers, yeah Brett that sounds about right, Its the one at the top is struggling!

Need another bush before Ace Cafe tomorrow otherwise i cant really go!

Anyone know the best place for polybushes??

[taffy1967]

Don't fit hard poly bushes because they'll cause your top steady arm bolt to shear in the block. Flaming happened to my Mini and I've heard it's happened to dozens of others too.

So Polyflex are usually good, but some enthusiasts on Minifinity reckon their useless too and it's far better to fit O/E Rover steady bushes and the later Twin-Point/MPi Mini type is a one piece affair which is supposed to be good?

Still your supposed to replace them every so often anyway, but Polyflex should be okay because they have a bit of give like standard bushes.

[Brutus]

wow everybody seem to have this problem. i had it too mainly cause u buy cheap bushes u get cheap bushes so i learnt, but i also seen that if u can solid poly bushes that it can rip the engine steady from the bulkhead let alone snap a bolt.

[Dan]

I have been using a one-piece Superflex brand bush for years now and it's perfect. I don't have any Ultimate steadies any more, just the standard upper and lower ones with the Superflex bushes in the top bar and a Deflex poly set at the bottom. They work very well, to avoid the danger of the bolt snapping in the block it is a good idea to replace the standard bolt with a socket headed cap screw of the strongest grade steel available and the correct dimensions. Copper grease it up, thread it in and forget about it. Also make sure all the steady rod components are present. Lots of Minis I see are missing the outer half of the steady rod bracket or the large spacer washer and isolating plate which in turn increases the load on the screw.

And yes, the engine mountings play a very important part. The rod is only there to prevent the engine rocking, if the mountings are torn it will move however good the steady rod is.

[rozzer!]

i dont have an upper engine steady as when i was building fifi the bulkhead plate apparently couldnt be purchased seperately so i made do with an ultimate engine steady which was a pile of C**p and was quickly replaced with a wood and pickett item, after changing the water pump pulley to a smaller item all was well. after i had finished i found out you could actually buy the bracket after all. shows how much "just minis" in benfleet actually know about minis. i uprated all of the bushes in the upper and lower mounts to orange poly as the standard items wore out rather quickly and i havnt had any problems since. just need to tighten them up every so often as they try to make a bid for freedom!

[furikuri]

Well,

I had the problem of engine lumping too.
I think its safe to say every mini owner ever has had the problem at some stage.

As the other guys said just get some form of new bushes, just read up on them and see which are best for your engine.
might be worth putting an ultimate engine steady on while your at it.

http://www.avonbar.co.uk for the one that i got, it fits every mini and uses the waterpump and the bulkhead to mount to.
Has pretty much sorted mine now and the only one ive got that has actually fitted my Mpi.

hope this helps