Hi everyone. I dont know how often are you supposed to add coolant. This may be really stupid but Ive never checked it once in the year and a half Ive had the car. I havnt gotten a service from the dealer in probably 7 months. I had my oil changed last at pep boys (just broke right now) I dont know if they usually check your fluids. I assume so since they want to sell you all they can but anyway.... My husband was the one who told me he thinks my fan is staying on too long after shut off and also at idle and I guess I obviously didnt think anything of it. But today he took my car to the store and when he got home he said the gage was on hot and the fan is now running and I opened the hood it appears there is stuff (sort of light greenish white) splatterd all over the lower right of the engine.
One thing I do notice is if my gages are going off and Ive never seen it overheating. My husband checked and said the coolant bay is empty. Could I have just busted a hose? Well needless to say I'll be adding coolant to it. Thanks for your help.

I finally go a mechanic to look at the car. It turns out it is a small hole near the top small hose. The hole is in the radiator not the hose. Well my husband got the car looked at so he didnt ask if there was a way to maybe plug it temporarily. I am soo broke until my tax check comes. The mechanic said its drivable that way (he is a bmw/mini guy) but I have at least 2 weeks before I can afford it.

 

If it's a greenish white, someone could have mixed in standard green coolant. I don't know how well the green stuff mixes with the BMW factory coolant if that was in there before. I know Dexcool (GM factory fill) dosen't mix well with green stuff. There is a chance of a busted hose if you see fluid. That is, if it is coolant. The fan may run for a few minutes after shutoff to help cool the motor if it did get warm. I'd say find a way to get to the dealer because there has been issues with fans coming on and staying on.

 

Your expansion tank may have ruptured. It's a common occurrence but you'll need to get to your dealer. The fan shouldn't stay on after you shut the car down unless you've been driving real hard. The only time mine has ever done it was after a coolant change and I hadn't gotten all the air out of the system. if you only need to refill the coolant reservoir, Zerex G-05 is good in the MINI and you can get it at Pep Boys. Prestone "all makes' should also work alright.

 

Could very well be the P/S fan has failed. That will cause overheating, fer sure. Same thing happened to me; blew coolant all over the engine compartment from the reservoir (the cap will release overpressure). Probably need the wiring harness upgrade -search the threads, there's a lot of info on it.

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Firstly Mini OEM coolant is blue. Clearly blue and not green. If you coolant is green, it was replaced at some point and that may be the beginning of this story.

Then even if it is green there should be nothing white in in. Milky white fluid indicated some oil in there which is definitely not good.

That said there can be a number of things that have caused your problem from a simple ruptured tank to a not so simple blown head gasket. The bottom like is that you should not drive your car at all until someone looks at it. If that means flatbed to the dealer or mechanic of your choice, consider it seriously.

Rich

 

Rich,
The splatter all over the inside of my engine compartment was pretty much white as it dried out; total OEM A/F in the car, it had never been anywhere but the dealer. I'm thinkin' that when it boiled over (and, boy did it ever boil over!) it came out mostly as foam. At least, that what was on the street under the car. I wasn't about to open the hood until things cooled way down, and by then a truck was there to haul the car to the dealer. There are still some white spots on the underhood insulation I haven't been able to get rid of.
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Yes my girlfriend told me today that my coolant should be red (not blue) but of course shes no mechanic she just works at autozone. Any way at least I know what color its NOT supposed to be, and since Ive never put any in I was guessing the previous owner used green. Also like the poster above me I was guessing it looks whiteish due to drying up on the hose. In any case my husband had bought the green before I knew any of this and we filled the tank.This morning I took the kids to school, less than 3 miles and came home. checked an hour after and resivior was almost empty. I filled it again and headed to the dealer. But not before a huge fight with my husband and not over the coolant but I'll leave that for my ladies board. Anyhow I was so upset I didn't get to the dealer. Instead I stopped and cooled off for a few hours at the mall midway between my house and dealer, roughly 10 miles. I checked the car before I left for leaks under hood and leaks on the ground-none. I checked as soon as I stopped for any leaking and I saw none. My gages didn't go off and it didnt appear it was overheating. Before heading home I checked the levels and again almost empty. So I filled it again, and came right home. Same thing, gages didnt go to hot, no apparent overheat and after cooling I checked again and the resevoir was low but not as empty. SO I have put in about just over half a gallon of coolant. If it was completely dry i guess it takes a whole gallon right. Well excuse me If i sound dumb Im just stressed and I probably wont have my car too much longer anyway :( The payment has been hard. I will try to go to the dealer tomorrow but I am afraid of the cost right now and I am soo broke.

 

add coolant when the "low coolant light" comes on.

 

my car doesn't have a low coolant light, so I'd be waiting a bit for it to come on.... Rolly eyes right back at ya!

Also, the caps sometime leak a bit, this will allow slow leakage until you get to a problem point, but it does sound like you've overheated. Fill it up with a 50/50 mix of the factory coolant, and make sure to purge your coolant system. This can be a pain, and if you have no clue about this, take it to someone (a friend, dealer whatever) that does.

Clean off the resevoir, and keep an eye on it. It may not have ruptured, but it's a problem part for sure (not hard to change for the shadetree mechanic). Change out the cap while you're at it.

Matt