Hello ladies and gents, I had a misfortunate incident today that I wish to share and hopefully get some replies. I took my 03 cooper s to a local lube shop for an emissions test. Car passed but as i approached it i noticed it was steaming and coolant was leaking on the ground. I guess my fan didnt kick in and the car overheated to the point that the needle was all the way to the red and flashing. The coolant had leaked out from the overflow cap and was steaming pretty good. I figured these guys would hook up a fan when doing this but that wasnt the case. I told them i wanted a report written up but they refused. Anyways, just wondering if i had done perminant damage to my car. Car has about 125k miles on it too. Im pretty worried, and quite annoyed with another government money grab that may have cooked my mini especially since it was fine up until now.

 

Don't have much to say other than that really sucks. I am in Canada and I agree "government money suck".

 

Depending on how long it was overheated for, you could have blown the headgasket and/or warped the cylinder head

 

Look for a crack in the expansion tank, I've read on these forums that it is a common occurrence with series one MINIs.

Dave

 

I doubt this was the fault of the shop. First gen cooling problems are rather common, and I think yours unfortunately coincided with this test. How long have you owned the car, and how many miles have you put on it? I've been nursing a bad thermostat gasket, and I have to top off my coolant every other month or so. The leak is absolutely undetectable. It's evaporating before it accumulates anywhere.

As far as damage done, how is the car? I do compression tests at every tune-up with all of my cars. The combination of a cylinder compression test, and a coolant system pressure test will tell you what you need to know. Be advised that the car will fail the coolant test for the original problem as well as a bad head gasket or cracked head, so if you have a leak, repair it first. The suggestion of a cracked overflow by Dave is the first thing to check. I don't know if Cooper S have the same thermostat gasket issues that Coopers have, but that would be another thing to consider. Best of luck. I'm thinking you will be fine.

 

Thanks for the replies, I'll definately keep an eye on things and check the overflow tank for cracks. As for the blown headgasket and warped cylinder heads... Well it passed the test so no initial blown head gasket i umagine. Luckily my fiance was with me and witnessed all this BS so this may pave the way for me getting into an 09 135i... Lookin on the bright side I guess. Will keep an eye on puddles and fuel consumption, may give some indication as to how the car is running. Engines are not my forte.

 

I'll chime in on the coolant bottle separating issue. A few years back my '02 ran up the temperature as in your first post while I sat in line at McD's. I shut it down, then when the line finally moved forward I pulled out into a parking space to investigate. The coolant bottle was dry as a bone. The bottle seam is horizontal around the middle of the bottle. Hot water returning from the engine pumps in and blows at the other side hitting the inside of the seam. You can go through your coolant until the engine doesn't have enough to recirculate and then the temperature climbs. The leaking coolant drips down on the heat shield over the header and out without leaving a trace unless you're looking for it. Inspect the bottle closely even pulling it out to check that it holds water. Don't even try to fix it, just go buy a new one. They aren't that expensive. Then again, go for one of those pretty aluminum jobs to brighten up your engine bay.

 

Thanks guys you've been quite helpful. I have had the car for about 5 years and havent had to top up the coolant at all, just the typical oil consumption problem. I put over 85k miles myself.

 

My car came with the leak (over one year ago), but they have to start some time. It sucks that the shop seems to have a poor attitude, but I think this issue was bound to happen at one point or another. An interesting point about the R53 expansion bottle (if you aren't already aware) is that it is pressurized along with the rest of the cooling system, which is not altogether unique, but different from my car. THAT is considered to be the reason why these bottles fail. But if yours failed, it took 9 years to do so. I'd have no problem using a brand new OEM bottle as a replacement, versus an alloy can. You could replace the OEM two more times, and still be about even on price.

 

I was just annoyed that they allowed the gauge to shoot up like that and they leave the hood closed with no fans. What a bunch of idiots. My fiance was shocked that they brought the car to me steaming and pissing out coolant, atleast hide the damn thing for a couple minutes. I 'm aware that this all happened because my fan failed and it was inevitable, but I like to think that i would have and they should have caught this sooner. I guess I'll find out soon enough the extent of damage if any.

 

Never seen fans used when smog testing.
The fan should have kicked on which would cool the engine.

I guess if the tech was paying attention,he could have shut it off sooner.

 

Don't know what state you're in but here they have emission testing stations. As you pull in-park, big fans are located on both sides of the car, directed at the engine. As has been pointed out, maybe it was a problem waiting to happen but no matter how confident I've ever felt about a vehicle, emissions tests here, terrify me and without fans it would be agony just waiting.

 

You may be lucky and there is no damage. But you should find the root of the problem. On a high mileage R53, your low speed fan is probably shot but that should not have caused this as the high speed should have kicked in with plenty of headroom. But if it didn't then it needs to be replaced quickly.

If the radiator fan is working then look at the P/S Fan. It frequently goes bad and will cause overheating as well.

If you nave never changed your thermostat, that should be done as preventative medicine. And you should check your plugs any time you overheat as well just as good practice.

Keep us posted. And again, if you caught it early, you may have no major damage.

Rich