MINI - 08 1.6 Losing coolant

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Mon 8 Feb 2010 20:45
08 1.6 Losing coolant - brakenoodle
My brother has a (BMW) Mini, petrol auto with about 20k on the clock. Recently, in traffic, the coolant temp warning light came on and the fan cut in to cool things down. He asked me about this and I advised him to check the coolant level. We found that the header tank was empty, and the level had dropped to just inside the attached pipe at the bottom of the tank. The oil has no evidence of water/coolant contamination and there is no 'mayonaise' around the oil filler cap. There is also no obvious leak, although there is some dried up deposits around the header tank cap that have been dripping down the outside. Obviously the coolant is going somewhere, but my question is: are there any weak spot with these cars in this area? Are they known for this fault? My brother drives like an undertaker and the car is totally standard but driven around London a lot. The car is always serviced when required.
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Mon 8 Feb 2010 21:54
08 1.6 Losing coolant - Peter.N.
Sounds like a leaking head gasket, could have been caused by the engine boiling, if it has. You can check by putting the end of the overflow pipe in a recepticle and see if it fills up with coolant. Is there any pressure in the system when you remove the cap? Could of course be that the seal has failed, a visual check should prove that.
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Tue 9 Feb 2010 09:43
08 1.6 Losing coolant - ex-Triumph man
It would appear that your brother may not be mechanically minded as he had to seek an opinion first. One thing that should be established is when he last checked the levels.
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Tue 9 Feb 2010 10:04
08 1.6 Losing coolant - Dynamic Dave
One thing that should be established is when he last checked the levels.


And if fairly recently, and the levels have suddenly dropped, it's time to use the remainder of the 3 yr warranty to get it sorted.
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Thu 11 Feb 2010 14:50
08 1.6 Losing coolant - brakenoodle
Yes - I did ask when the levels were last checked and it was.....a year ago, oh dear. You're right, my brother is not mechanically minded and like many people with newish cars just relies upon the 'service' light to come on before contacting the garage. I have impressed upon him about regular level checks under the bonnet which only take a few minutes.
Thanks for the responses
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Thu 11 Feb 2010 15:08
08 1.6 Losing coolant - WorkshopTech
In the normal course of events the car should not consume any coolant and the level should not noticably drop from one year to the next (there will be a tiny amount of loss due to evaporation etc).
If the coolant tank is empty then there is a leak, either internal or external. Get it pressure tested.
I am Mini specialist by the way, so this is proper advice.
Older engines did occasional let go on head gasket, but not heard of so many problems with newer ones, although we dont normally see them until they are three years old or more.
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