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I bought this 2012 Countryman for the wife a few months back. Since it has recently gotten cold, we noticed with the heat it was nice while driving but at a stop it will cool down. Once you drive again it would warm back up. The temp would be set on max. The coolant is full. The engine does not overheat. Obviously the water pump spins more with the high RPMs but either way the heater core doesn't seem to clogged if it will heat up going down the road.
I have noticed the windshield wipers will slow down at a stop ans the radio volume will lower and these seem to be automated responses so is the heat the same or something else?
My guess is the thermostat hosuing is leaking or has air in it. Mine did the same think then i found the leak on top of the transmission housing "pooling".
Check the date of production, if its never been changed you will need to get the new adapter also.
We've recently noticed a similar symptom with my wife's 2013 JCW CM. On most days cabin heat is constant and as required. On other days, it starts heating, then out of the blue we notice the air becoming cool. I've looked for coolant leaks and haven't found any and the coolant level in the coolant expansion tank looks good too and is not fluctuating. I'm starting to wonder if the thermostat is on its way out.
First, just as an FYI..... I am not trying to sound condescending or tell you things you already know. The radio volume is speed sensitive, this can be adjusted and or functionality turned off in the settings menu.
The wipers are speed sensitive too, mine does this as well and it took a while to get used to it. The button for intermittent wipers is on the end of the stalk, push it in to turn on/off (I know, but my buddy did not know this about his).
Now the heat..... No it shouldn’t get cooler when you are stopped. If the coolant is full, i would try bleeding it like stated above. There is a bleeder screw on top of the thermostat, it can be hard to find, but it’s there. You probably will have to move the wiring harness out of the way a bit to see it (I’ll include a photo for you)
If that doesn’t fix the issue, it’s probably time for a new thermostat. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes. It’s down there That’s it circled
Long thick Phillips screwdriver works, just back is out slowly. Too much and the screw in plug pops out. You just want to back it off till you see the thing bubble. Keep the screw driver with a little pressure on it as you work it out to the end threads,
Long thick Phillips screwdriver works, just back is out slowly. Too much and the screw in plug pops out. You just want to back it off till you see the thing bubble. Keep the screw driver with a little pressure on it as you work it out to the end threads,
^^THIS^^
Absolutely follow this advice! Speaking from experience, if you turn it out more than 4 or 5 full turns, it may pop right out under pressure and you will never find it again. Not to mention the stream of coolant now shooting 5 feet past the front of the car! Lol. About three full turns is all you need to go, roughly.
Thanks MrGrumpy. I kind of figured the wipers and radio where automated but just wanted to make sure. I hooked up my super fancy sophisticated ODB scanner they just so happen to have lab Diagnostics and I've watched my coolant as I'm driving and when I get to a stop sign or red light and my coolant temperature really doesn't change a lot. Also have noticed that I have had to add a little bit of coolant in the reservoir. I have actually done this twice since we've had the car. So this does lead me to believe there's a coolant leak in the coolant flow is a little bit low which is why it cools off when we're at a stop when RPMs are less versus when we're driving RPMs are higher. So overall I don't think the thermostat itself is bad but I do believe I have a coolant leak.
Suddenly the heat is not working and when I turn the car off I hear a bubbling noise.. it’s not overheating and the AC works great.. the coolant is full, no smoking or smells.. any idea what should be checked first?
