Hi all, iam about 2 week old mini owner, bought a very clean 02 mini S with 81k on the clock. Car is very fun and runs like a champ, i pulled into garage notice coolant leaking from the coolant resorvoir tank opened the cap and all i see is miracle whip in the tank . ok so i need to do the head gasket. Iam a moderate skill level mechanic. i do a compression check its all good but i still can be the gasket, So i tear into this thing friday. finished putting back together today. Starts right up and runs great as it did before. started flushing cooling system and know i still cant enjoy the car. seems like the cooling system is building to much pressure, tried the open the bleeders and turn heat on. i get coolant out the 8mm bolt bleeder, cant get coolant out of the upper rad bleeder, i see steam out if it and i here gurgaling and i cant get hot air out the heater. so i dont know what to do know. i dont know if oil is still going into the coolant, haven't got all of it out yet. almost wishing i never bought the car.

 

did you send the head out to get magnafluxed? if not it is possible you did a head gasket on a cracked head.

 

no i didnt. i checked the head with a straight edge and i was not warped, its still possible for it to be cracked. when i put it back together i was thinking if it isnt warped its less likely for the head to be cracked cause it hasnt seen serious heat and the the car never went above half on the temp guage since i bought it and i could be wrong on the head thing.

 

It is possible for the head to be cracked or even the block, i have seen weirder things than a head crack that wasnt warped . I did a gasket just like you on one once a V6, insult to injury i did both head gasets again hoping one wasnt seated well and still had a milkshake, sent the heads out and one came back with a crack in it. I would wait and see if anyone else has had a similar experience first before diving in again It is entirely possible something else could be mimmicking the H/G and I would check all options before doing the whole job over again.

 

yeah i agree, iam not particularly in the mood to do it again right this second. I know i should have sent the head in and have it checked. the car is a daily driver and was hoping to get it back running.

 

When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
The MINI cooling system is notoriously difficult to purge. If you're not getting heat, that sounds like an air bubble. I fill the coolant reservoir as well as filling the top hose.
Do you get steam as soon as you start the car, or only after you've reached operating temp? There are numerous stories of cars that can't drive for long without overheating - just after a coolant flush.

 

The mini cooling system is tuff to bleed....
Even dealers and pro's need a couple times to get it right sometimes!!
Rebleed....and a short drive inbetween......and all should ne fine.
Juat try not to let the car overheat....it can happen quickly with a air bubble.

 

alright here is exactly whats happening. car is dead cold, i top of resorvior to the max line it was a little low. i drive the car for 1.5 miles bring it home its up to op temperature but not building crazy amount of pressure, i take cap of resorvior and open bleeders. iam not getting steam out of the upper hose yet, so to answer a previous question i only get steam out of the upper bleeder when i get to op temp and thermostat opens. I have the fan running at max with heat at max, still no heat out of heater. temp gauge is starting to creep past middle then fan comes on. at this point there's so much pressure in the system if i put cap on it bleeds past the cap still. still no heat out of heater. guage is about 3/4 on temp, i open upper rad bleeder just cause just steam no coolant, i shut car of and let it cool down. i did all this about 45 mins ago.

 

iam starting to think i didnt fix anything, my oil level has dropped in my engine.. and this is the case where coolant isnt mixing with the oil its oil mixing with the coolant, oil in the engine is completely clean. looks like i might be tearing apart again.

 

any other thoughts or opinions before i take the head off again?

 

Is there more whipped cream in the coolant reservoir?
Are you getting white smoke out of the tailpipe?
Did you measure how much fluid you put into the system?
Have you tried pouring water/coolant into the upper rad hose?

If you're losing water and oil, it has to be going somewhere - either in the other side (water/oil) or out into the combustion chamber.
I believe there are testing kits that will indicate if exhaust gases are in your coolant.

 

So far i havent got all the whip cream out completey so iam unsure if the problem is still there

It is not smoking out of tailpipe, this wasnt original issue, i had just oil pumping into the coolant system. oil in engine is clean so the roughly 50-60psi of oil pressure is over powering the coolant and going into coolant and car runs like a top.

i have put 5 quarts of oil in engine but didnt measure coolant since iam still kind of flushing it.

yes i have tried to put water in upper hose threw bleed hole.

right know the system is creating lots of pressure, heater is not heating and seems like the upper rad hose only has coolant in it when it wants to.

is there a step by step detailed process on how iam supposed to bleed the system anywhere? a link possible to it?

i did some research i get you supposed to open bleeders till coolant comes out but i would like more detail on when resorvior cap on or off more details. iam undecided if i want to keep the car so idk if a bently manual is in my furture

 

Maybe its not possible with the MINI (haven't touched the thermostat yet on mine), but I did a HG on my Lexus (Toyota), and got everything back together, and it was still overheating, turned out I accidentally put the thermostat in backwards, anyway, just a thought...

When filling the coolant on the MINI, I cracked the bleeder in the front of the intake and slowly filled the coolant system from the coolant cap, NOT the reservoir. I also cracked the bleeder down near the firewall. I did fill the reservoir also, but I think you need to fill the system directly, not by just filling the reservoir. If you are just filling the reservoir, it may take forever or not even work.

 

The s has only the preasururized tank/resiviour.....a different, non std desgin compared to the just a cooper. Noth have their own challanges....

 

Based off of this alone, you're doing it over. This time, make sure you go get the head checked, and they will plane it if necessary. Make sure you get the block completely clean, and install the head gasket dry. You using new head bolts, or the oe ones?

 

Have you done a leak-down test? Results?

 

You may want to check the heat exchanger/oil cooler before the head.

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