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2014 Countryman S All-4 leaking coolant from oil cooler
Purchased for my wife new in 2014 Countryman All 4S and car has been awesome/fun since day one, about 33K on the clock now. Recently started to notice coolant under front center of car AFTER the car sits (heat soak) from use and thought for sure cracked/leaking plastic thermostat housing. Didn't see any coolant on top of transmission and using inspection camera no signs of leak there and only loosing 4-8 oz's coolant per incident. Thought it was coming from behind the turbo but what could possibly be leaking there. After enough searches on the forum here and Google I found a pretty common leak point is the gaskets on the oil cooler which bolts to the side of the block behind the turbo heat shield. Watched two YouTube videos on how to do the repair and while I am a competent DIY type of guy hate the idea of cramming my BIG hands inside that teeny-tiny engine compartment. In one video the guy mentions putting the car in Front-End Service Mode, which I thought was like a ECU mode of the engines computer....much to my surprise it looks like it's removing the front bumper cover, wheel well liners, and 4 bolts to allow you to slide the bumper/radiator/inter-cooler forward to give you more space behind the radiator and under the turbo. That video also had a good recommendation IMO to replace the turbo oil return line which is a known leak point.
Two questions if anyone can help: First how likely is this to catastrophically fail IF I don't address this in the next two months? Have some other projects in play and would like to tackle this at the end of June. Wife wants to drive 2.5 hours across the state of FL to see grand kids and while I think she'll be ok for a trip or two, I don't want to leave her stranded in the middle of the state. In the old days when we had a heater core or radiator leak we'd run with the radiator cap loose so it would not build up enough pressure to leak out. IDK if that's as easy on this more modern cars given they are designed to run as a sealed system and the turbo has to add some heat load. Second question: Who has had this repair done at a dealer or Indy shop and what did you pay? My threshold for pain is $1K and/or more than a days worth of my time doing the work. My impression the gaskets and oil return line/new coolant/oil/beer is less than $100 and a day to day and half of my time depending on much beer is drank. IF others say it's a piece of cake been there done that I might just do it but if a shop can do it for $6-800 I'd drop it off in an instant. Nearest Mini Dealer is 70 miles away and will be multiple round trips to drop it off, get picked up, etc. Found local BMW dealer that says they work on Mini's so my next thought is to ask them to quote the fix. I know there are Indy shops around me just need to start looking....
For those that think they may have same problem, other's descriptions of the problem has me 95% confident I've identified the source of the leak....here are a few pic's. I added Yellow Arrows to show the Coolant Dripping off the edge the block/transmission housing onto the exhaust downpipe under the cat:
Coolant leak dead center front of car
hoses all dry up top, seems to come from behind oil filter housing
Last edited by sailingmagnus; May 12, 2022 at 01:34 PM.
If it is coming from the oil filter housing, I would get it taken care of right away. If the gasket for the filter housing goes, it can let the coolant and oil mix, which would not be good for the engine. If you need to take it to a shop, I would make some calls to find a place that has done the gasket swap before, and ask for cost. Be aware that the cooling system ahs to be drained for that service, and some have found it troublesome to refill and purge the air from the cooling system.
I had the exact thing happen. A 2014 R60 All4. I found the issue in the fall but waited several months to fix it. I do not have a garage and needed a nice weather window and a long weekend to work on it.
I guessed that the stealership would ask well over $1500 for the work. But the local one is really bad. They wanted $400 for a new HID bulb!
I have done a clutch job on an R53 so it was not too intimidating. I checked the coolant level every couple days and topped it up if it was down. Surprisingly slow leak. It was fall / Winter so the weather was cool and wet not a big load on the cooling system. I had to wait anyway. I also checked the oil regularly to be sure no milk shakes.
You have to replace two gasket sets. Mod mini shows how to do the gasket from the block to the oil filter assembly. You need those gaskets(Oil filter adapter gasket). You also need the gaskets between the oil filter block and the heat exchanger ( Oil cooler gasket). You also need the turbo oil feed line in SS braided type, and the oil return line as it has to be removed and might as well replace with new when you are in there. You also need a new turbo to downpipe gasket. I bought the gaskets from rock auto. I bought the braided line from ECS. Not very expensive actually.
So I took a long weekend. I slid the front subframe forward about 3 inches. That was one subframe bolt position. If you have those long (8mm?) bolts like mod mini you can get more room. It was barely enough. Oh be sure to unplug the AC control wire before you slide it too far! And be sure to disconnect the battery before you remove those heat shields.
So I had the whole thing out. The little turbo cooling pump is bolted to the assembly so a stupid little electrical plug must be undone.
It took me 6 hours as I was trying to be so very careful. It was quite messy catching all the coolant. Draining the rad only gets a bit of it. The rest falls out when the assembly comes off. I had to keep all those little bolts separated. It was a pain I tell you. But once in you gotta keep going.
The leak was one of the funny gaskets for the coolant had a tiny crack. So it only leaked sometimes. It was on top of the heat exchanger. Had the assembly all apart and put it back together. Everything is aluminum so be careful about cross threading. I managed to get the assembly back on the block but had a problem with the bolt that hold the oil return line to the turbo. I called it a day and caught that the next morning. A good light helps.
I also changed the oil after it was all back together and yes there was a bit of coolant in there. Reassembly is not simple as it should be, lots of wires to not forget. 4 more hours.
So would I do it again? Hmm. I figure I saved $1200 and have a war story. If the dealer could be trusted I would have them do it frankly. If you have time and another car and all the parts it is an experience.
I totally appreciated MrHump's input as I felt I could tackle this job myself AND it was not super urgent BUT other pressing projects meant I wanted to put this on the back burner for 2 months. Worried my Wife might have a problem I checked around to see what my local repair options were given our local Mini dealer is 70+ miles away. Local BMW dealer on their website says they repair Mini's but a quick check with their service department about this problem and they claim they don't repair Mini's. A local Indy shop called Rob's EuroWerks had a decent website and references so I reached out to them. The service tech Phil worked for Mini for 15 years and knew exactly what to do for this problem including the Turbo oil line upgrades. Basically $900 for labor and $300 for parts and a days time (2 year 24K mile warranty) so I went for it vs loosing one of my weekends doing the work in the summer heat. Place was awesome well run, electronic invoicing, service reports, parts cost break down. One thing they noticed and recommended was replacing one of the engine mounts because the Mount Oil leaked out? I'm old school rubber engine mount guy. I can imagine some sort of new fangled oil damped, oil floating isolation damper type engine mount but I have not seen anyone here posting about this failure. They sent me this picture as evidence of the oil leak....any comments? First they left me a voice mail so I asked to send a picture the response with the picture said "It is the engine mount. Photo was taken. It was hydraulic fluid from the mount." Have not had a chance to chat w/them about this more but I'm mystified so thought I'd ask here.....
Parts list for reference in case anyone wants to do this themself in the future. YES parts can be had cheaper this is just what Rob quoted so it's an FYI:
Rein Turbo Oil Return Tub - MINI (green cabinet 3rd drawer) - $89.82
HJS Exhaust Clamp - $41.27
Elring Cat Converter Gasket - MINI - $28.87
Genuine Exhaust Heat Shield - $26.36
Elring Oil Filter Stand Gasket - $39.65
Elring Oil Cooler Gasket Set - $39.65
Aftermarket Braided Turbo Feed Line - $67.95
5W40 SYNTHETIC OIL - $23.75
Rowe Hightec Antifreeze - $29.99
We just picked up my Wife's Mini and all good. Got a better explanation that the motor mounts are viscous/liquid filled rubber isolation chambers that sometimes rupture and loose the liquid. Kinda like a shock absorber it helps to further soften the vibration felt/transferred from the engine to the frame of the car. I did some Google and found this Engine Mount How It Works.... link that I thought was pretty good. So my wife's top engine mount has leaked some fluid but it still has the rubber there for vibration isolation it's just not working as well as a brand new mount. $129 for the part $160 to replace I said I'd wait as I'd like to see how hard it is to install one of these myself. After getting home and looking under the hood I see a cross/frame brace from the top of the shock tower frame to the back of the radiator cross brace/bracket that seems to be part of what the engine mount attaches to or is under. It looks tight and I'll start Google'ing and searching this forum for others whom have done this replacement. Kinda disappointing to have such a basic component fail on an 8 year old car with 32K miles on it that is NOT aggressively driven except by me occasionally!
A quick search on Amazon leads me to believe it's the
That's awesome and I'm interested in DIY.....have been looking for videos or instructions on how to install the Upper Engine Mount. I found one that mentions putting the car on jack stands, removing the wheel well liner on the passenger side, removing the lower wishbone mount and then using a jack to lift the engine to remove load from the upper mount. Open to any more guidance your or others can offer. I have a lift at my house so that make so many things easier....but removing the wheel well liner seems no bueno to me but I just started looking for solutions so if that's it I can handle it. We don't race or drive crazy so I'd say OEM motor mount is fine but if they fail after 32K miles I'd rather put something better in so it doesn't happen again. THANKS!
Thats the way i would do it, the jack helps as you can move the engine a little to angle it right to take the load off. Close to the R56 motor mount repair, Just more room in the engine bay. If i come across one for an R60/R61 specifically i will post up.
Purchased for my wife new in 2014 Countryman All 4S and car has been awesome/fun since day one, about 33K on the clock now. Recently started to notice coolant under front center of car AFTER the car sits (heat soak) from use and thought for sure cracked/leaking plastic thermostat housing. Didn't see any coolant on top of transmission and using inspection camera no signs of leak there and only loosing 4-8 oz's coolant per incident. Thought it was coming from behind the turbo but what could possibly be leaking there. After enough searches on the forum here and Google I found a pretty common leak point is the gaskets on the oil cooler which bolts to the side of the block behind the turbo heat shield. Watched two YouTube videos on how to do the repair and while I am a competent DIY type of guy hate the idea of cramming my BIG hands inside that teeny-tiny engine compartment. In one video the guy mentions putting the car in Front-End Service Mode, which I thought was like a ECU mode of the engines computer....much to my surprise it looks like it's removing the front bumper cover, wheel well liners, and 4 bolts to allow you to slide the bumper/radiator/inter-cooler forward to give you more space behind the radiator and under the turbo. That video also had a good recommendation IMO to replace the turbo oil return line which is a known leak point.
Two questions if anyone can help: First how likely is this to catastrophically fail IF I don't address this in the next two months? Have some other projects in play and would like to tackle this at the end of June. Wife wants to drive 2.5 hours across the state of FL to see grand kids and while I think she'll be ok for a trip or two, I don't want to leave her stranded in the middle of the state. In the old days when we had a heater core or radiator leak we'd run with the radiator cap loose so it would not build up enough pressure to leak out. IDK if that's as easy on this more modern cars given they are designed to run as a sealed system and the turbo has to add some heat load. Second question: Who has had this repair done at a dealer or Indy shop and what did you pay? My threshold for pain is $1K and/or more than a days worth of my time doing the work. My impression the gaskets and oil return line/new coolant/oil/beer is less than $100 and a day to day and half of my time depending on much beer is drank. IF others say it's a piece of cake been there done that I might just do it but if a shop can do it for $6-800 I'd drop it off in an instant. Nearest Mini Dealer is 70 miles away and will be multiple round trips to drop it off, get picked up, etc. Found local BMW dealer that says they work on Mini's so my next thought is to ask them to quote the fix. I know there are Indy shops around me just need to start looking....
For those that think they may have same problem, other's descriptions of the problem has me 95% confident I've identified the source of the leak....here are a few pic's. I added Yellow Arrows to show the Coolant Dripping off the edge the block/transmission housing onto the exhaust downpipe under the cat:
Coolant leak dead center front of car
hoses all dry up top, seems to come from behind oil filter housing
Sailingmagnus, I have EXACTLY the same leak in my 2015 MINI Cooper Countryman S ALL4. Can you tell me, specifically, what you found was the cause of the leak? From what I can tell, it is the oil cooler gasket....am I right? Your pictures look exactly like the underside of my car. Any help is appreciated!
Look at my parts list I posted, you need an oil cooler gasket set as that's where the leak is, BUT in the process of taking everything apart to replace those, there are a ton of other parts that are suggested to be replaced also. Some may desire to reuse old parts but I'm a fan of doit once and doit right. Reusing old parts sometimes yields problems. The shop I used said the Turbo oil return tube and feed line are prone to failing so he always replaces those.
Rein Turbo Oil Return Tub - MINI (green cabinet 3rd drawer) - $89.82
HJS Exhaust Clamp - $41.27
Elring Cat Converter Gasket - MINI - $28.87
Genuine Exhaust Heat Shield - $26.36
Elring Oil Filter Stand Gasket - $39.65 Elring Oil Cooler Gasket Set - $39.65
Aftermarket Braided Turbo Feed Line - $67.95
5W40 SYNTHETIC OIL - $23.75
Rowe Hightec Antifreeze - $29.99
