I just bought a 2003 Mini Cooper S last week. I looked it over and found no issue before buying. The temp gauge started peaking. I assumed it was due to low coolant due to a leaky plastic tank. (I have been told they leak). So I bought a new one and installed it. Today it started peaking again. When I stopped and looked under the hood it had sprayed coolant out of both hose connections to the resevour tank and from the cap. I took it to Autozone to get some coolant and hose clamps. I thought the clamps might be bad. The guy working there has a Cooper S and came out to check it out. He pulled the dip stick and what do you think he found. White junk. This is great I just got this car and I love it. I guess its time to shell out more $$$ to have it fixed. Comments and suggestions are welcomed. I am goin gto take it to the Mini dealer locally and have them look over it. They said it would cost $130 bucks for them to look the whole car over for problems. I guess its worth it.

 

Water in the oil is never a good thing. When you looked it over did you do a compression check? There are a number of things that can lead to overheating and if they are neglected bad things can happen. Blown head gasket comes to mind.

They will diagnose the problem and also probably tell you that you need lower control arm bushings and depending on how many miles, leak issues, fan issues, P/S issues or more.

I don't want to make you feel bad but the $130 would have been better spend if you did it before the sale. Do you have any sort of guarantee?

Keep us posted. And if you need substantial work, their may be a good independent shop near you that will be cheaper than the dealer. Just ask.

Rich

 

I bought it out of state. I checked it over the best I could. Checked fluid levels. Looked at the dip stick for the sole purpose of insuring that it did not have coolant in it. Looked for leaks and everything. No guarantee, its a used car as is from a dealer. I am in Knoxville Tennessee if anyone out there knows of a good place to have work done. I do most work on my vehicles myself but this I am not sure about.

 

Just pray your head is not cracked from overheating.

 

Yea no joke. It is not giving any other signs. No white smoke, no weird noises. It runs great other then the cooling issue. I will just have to suck it up and get it fixed. I really hate this.

 

Just pray your head is not cracked from overheating.

 

Yea I get that. The other guy mentioned that.

 

I bought a used mini aftermarket head and injectors about 2000 miles it dropped a valve $5400 later stock engine and just as fun. just took off super loud alta exhaust for a quieter one. still almost new. never again will i buy a molested car. I will do the molesting

 

Check the laws in your state, many states require a dealer to warranty the car for up to 30 days even if they say AS IS.

 

I will check that. I bought it in VA and I live in Tennessee so I will see.

 

This is the kind of story that terrifies me right now, as I'm in the process of buying an 04 with 50,000 miles. Best of luck getting it remedied cheaply!!

 

I just bought an 04 with 50k. Runs perfect and drives perfect. Just learn as much as you can about it's history. Don't try and save a few dollars and not get the carfax, dealers service history and a pre purchase inspection at a dealer. You will need them anyway after you buy the car so you know where you stand with maintenance and repair.

 

I had two full inpsections done at Mini before purchasing my 03 CooperS, from a compresson check down to tread wear on each tire.

Totally worth it for the $130....have had my Cooper since 11/11 and it's been great! Bought it with 67k and it now has 75k. No surprises at all with this car, have been replacing all the items noted in the inspection one by one as they come along.

Overall been very reliable, fun, and great on gas!

Good luck with it though, hopefully you get all of this taken care of on the dealers' expense.

 

Just pray your head is not cracked from overheating.

 

Again I have already bought it out of state. could not drive it 200 miles for an inspection. Also I GET THAT I NEED TO PRAY THAT ITS NOT A CRACKED HEAD so unless you have other advice please stop.

 

Dude, drop the attitude. He was simply stating that an issue might be a cracked head from overheating since you have water in the oil. People want to help you out as much as we can but yelling at everyone when they mention potential issues wont get you the help you need.

Also, just as an FYI it is common place to ask the owner to take the car to a certified mechanic or dealer for a pre-purchase inspection that you have arranged. The dealer then only talks to you about the condition of the car since you are paying for the PPI. Very common place to get it done this way. I too learned this the hard way when buying a car and thought I couldnt get the inspection done remotely but now I know its common and if the owner of the car will not do it then you can assume something is wrong with the car.

Hoping its something simple and you get back on the road soon...Plus if it is the head then just gives you an excuse o get a RMW "jesus head"

 

The point of my frustration is that a total of three people have said the exact same thing on this thread. I just spent a bunch of money on a car that might have a serious issue. I understand that and people repeating the same doom and gloom statment over and over just makes it worse. Sorry to all those that are actually trying to help me.

I bought this car from a Ford car lot out of state. It passed VA state inspections and the lot told me all was well. I had no reason to believe anything else. They may not have even known.

Anyway its at a local shop that does Mini and other cars of the like. Not a dealership. They are looking it over completely. They are keeping it a couple days to make sure all is well. He said it passed all the compression test and is pretty sure its not the head gasket. Have to wait and see fingers crossed.

 

You get repeated advice most times because people don't bother to read all of the thread. They just gift the gist of the thread and respond with the first thing that comes to mind. I wouldn't let it bother you. I think you have more important things to worry about.

I hope you get your issue corrected. And cheaply.

 

Be sure to have the P/S fan checked. If that is jammed then overheating will be the result.

Good luck.

Rich

 

Thanks for the advice. The shop called and said that it has stopped overheating. They say that they can find no sign of a busted head gasket or of any damamge to the head. They did say that the coolant system had not been bleed correctly and had a lot of air in it and that is way it was running hot. They found a few odds and end things "wrong" with the car. I am picking it up after lunch tomorrow and taking it to another local shop for a second opinion. The one it is at now just charged me 125 dollars to look it over, fix the coolant system and change the oil so I figure its worth taking it for a second opinion.

 

Well #1 cylinder is cracked :( The shop has a used head so it may not be AS bad. details to come.

 

You should have them look very carefully to find the original overheating cause. It can be as simple as a stuck P/S fan or something more sinister. The last thing you need is to repair the secondary damage without finding and repairing the cause.

Been there, done that.

Rich

 

Dang that sucks... If I were you id sell it as soon as it gets running again...

 

Once I spend the $$ to fix it I am going to keep it. I have to get my $$ out of it in fun anyway. The shop that is working on it is a good place. They are checking it over good. They said that the coolant is not going all through the radiator. Maybe a water pump issue. They are really exploreing it so I feel pretty good that they are gonna find the cause.

 

Oh ok that's love! Lol I remember i almost sold mine because it wouldn't start one day lol