Hi all. Need some advice. My college daughter has been driving our 2004 MC, 79k miles. Looks like blown head gasket.
Symptoms: Shortly after startup air bubbles start coming out of bottom of overflow tank. Pretty consistently bubbles as long as car runs. After shutoff bubbles die down in about 10 seconds. Then any remaining coolant gets sucked out of tank. I've filled the tank many times. No coolant leaks visible anywhere. Checked thermostat housing, all hoses and garage floor. No smokey exhaust. Oil looks great, no milking substance. Car runs great, no misfires or codes.
Talked with trusted mechanic who very roughly estimates $900 to $1500 for repair. (Again I only talked for a minute and he isn't able to take on job, so go easy on him.)
I've done a few other cars in the past (20+ years ago) and don't want to take on this one. I've read-up on many threads on the subject and viewed a couple good YouTubes.
Decision: Should I pony up $$ or consider selling as-is. It's been a good car. Daughter in college and has no money

 

If it has been a good car, the repair is cheaper than a new car. It should continue to be a good car. You know the history and what maintinance is coming up. Buy a new used car you don't know what is lurking within. I would say get it done.

 

I agree with gpwpat, if it's been a good car and your daughter still likes it, get it fixed.

You said you've done a few head gaskets before so you should have few problems doing a Mini. I did mine a few months ago and it wasnt too bad. Only special tool I'd recommend is the cam holder tool. It only cost me about $200 in parts and gaskets

Now if you don't have any desire to take on a job this time consuming I totally understand that. Since there's no visible water in the oil sounds like you have some time to think about it.

 

A $1k repair certainly sucks at that low mileage, but there's no guarantee another used car won't have that or some other issue. Even if it comes with a warranty, there will probably be a deductible to pay.

 

Bet the coolant is years overdue....might never have been changed on a 2004...should be done every 3-4 years...
Spend the $1500 and have a shop fix it...then sell it if you want, or keep it....you will take a $2500+ discount selling it as a car with a bad head-gasket....
Have you tried to fill and bleed the coolant ..the r53 can leak, run low and behold a pain to fill...also do a comoression check to verify a bad head-gasket... No use spending $1500 to fix so.ethibg when a test simpler than a sparkplug change could verify it...

 

Disregard.

 

I vote fix it, if you sell it you'll get your money back, The car has a lot of life left in it, and while this isn't a super simple fix, $1,500 for a car that could most likely go another 10 years and/or 100,000 miles is pretty worthwhile.

 

+1, and I would guess even more than $2500. I personally wouldn't buy a car with a blown HG because the prospective buyer never knows how bad the damage is. Could be a blown engine, cracked block, etc. I know that you know what's up, but...

Fix it and flush it; fluids and gaskets. You (or your daughter) will most likely want to keep it after that.

 

Thanks everyone for the input. My next step is the compression check. I am going to get it fixed. Talked through the prospect of buying another used car with wife and we don't want that. Really love that Mini. Have already put time in it: left door window gear, right door speaker, new emblems on boot and deck, brakes all around, new exhaust, serious swirl and scratch removal, and probably other stuff I can't recall. Was wife's car until she got the 2011 MCS. I'll report back what I find. (Still mulling over doing myself if head gasket.)

 

Good luck with the fix, Jerry! We have head gaskets and head gasket kits here if you decide to tackle the job yourself. If you need anything else for the job please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

 

Ok. I performed the compression tests just now. Here's how I did it:
1. Removed all 4 plugs
2. Disconnected harness going to coil
3. Installed compression tester in cylinder starting with #1
4. Had attractive mechanic assistant (the wife) depress gas pedal to floor and hold it
5. Then had her crank starter while I read compression gauge. Cranked 10 times each cylinder.
Readings: #1 - 210, #2 - 230, #3 - 200, #4 - 210
I'm now off to auto parts store for new plugs. Not going to put the nasty old ones back in.


Any feedback on my readings?

 

Also noted end of plugs all looked same. Dry, worn out, but no caking of white or any other residue.

 

Got the plugs. NGK Laser Platinum BKR6EQUP just like the ones that came out. New plugs in and torqued to spec. Holding out for better wires. Autozone only had Duralast. Plugs were $9.99 each.
Now I've wrestled the air box, battery box out of the car. Had to break box around 2 rear bolts in bottom of battery box. Were just spinning and not coming out. Got thermostat housing removed. Did not disco the hoses. Old thermostat is out and awaiting boiling-water experiment to confirm badness. (New BMW blue antifreeze in hand and awaiting its turn.) More news later...

 

Good luck.

Hopefully just leaking water somewhere you can't see and the head gasket is fine.

 

Old thermostat failed boiling water test. New thermostat opened right up. Got new thermostat installed but had to use original seal. Hated to do that but the one that came with the new one was too thick. It just wouldn't fit in the housing. Guessing others had similar problem. Got everything put back together. Tomorrow morning I'll drain old coolant and start filling/bleeding. Did locate and test out 2 bleeders: one is on heater hose just behind thermostat housing; one is on top large hose passenger side of engine, nearer the engine. Both bleeders came out/back in fine. Can't locate 3rd bleeder.

 

Got the old coolant drained. One thing I did try was shopvac on the lower rad hose. Wasn't sure it made that much of a difference. Dumped 2 gallons of distilled water through the therm housing to try and flush out all the old coolant. Seemed to work.
Filled with new coolant. Did bleeding thing several times. I managed to get about 5 quarts of new coolant installed. No leaks, no bubbling in the overflow tank. This all VERY good. BUT..... I've noticed the rad fan doesn't kick on. Let car warm up for 25 minutes. Interior heat was cranked and good and hot. Temp gauge stayed right at mid-level like it always does. Pretty sure thermostat opened because top rad hose was pretty hot. Yet fan did not kick on. Finally turned on air cond and every time the compressor engaged, the high fan kicked on.
I've read several threads about the low speed resistor going out.


Does anyone know how to test the low speed fan without removing it? I checked fuse panel next to battery. Can't tell if large resistors for fan low and high and good or not. Is there a way to run a wire to some connector and test fan. I don't mind replacing fan but want to ensure it's the fan first.


Also, why does the temp gauge on dash stay at mid level. I would think eventually it would rise showing signs of overheating.


Apologize for long post. Appreciate anyone's thoughts.

 

I don't know about the fan resistor, but I think the temp gauge stays at mid level until the water temp hits 230ish and I think the high fan will kick on around that temp too, regardless of the AC being on. My bet is it didn't get that hot.

I'm pretty sure the fan resistor is on the radiator shroud that houses the fan so I don't think there's much of a way to test it without taking a few things apart to get to it. I think if you can get to it, you can test it with a multimeter. There's a few threads with ways to put a resistor in a more convenient place, but if/when mine stops working, I think I'll just replace it with a stock part. (I'm not that crafty with wiring)

 

Hi!
I just did last week the head gasket on my cooper s 2005. Mine was getting coolant on cylinder one and wet spark plug 1. The radiator fan was not working and every time I turned on the AC the fan was turning on and off every few seconds. To troubleshoot the fan resistor I used this YouTube video: My fan resistor was bad and I replaced it with this one from ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...istor&_sacat=0

 

Firstly, the temp gauge in the dash is little more than an idiot light. I figure Mini did this because the engine gets pretty hot during normal use/driving and watching a real temp gauge would worry most drivers. So the gauge sits at the middle, which reads a wide range of coolant temperatures. And then if the engine gets too hot, the gauge pegs high when it's almost too late. Sucks, but it is what it is.

The low-speed fan circuit should come on and stay on every time the A/C is turned on (Mini did this to make sure the A/C condenser gets airflow). If/when the low-speed circuit resistor is burned out, usually the high-speed circuit cycles the fan completely on and off on high (you'll hear it easily) if everything else in the cooling system is working properly. So to test the low-speed circuit, just turn on your A/C: no fan = bad resistor, a very common failure part.

 

Thanks everyone for the direction.
Filmy: I get what you mean about temp gauge. Not very useful. I received my Kiwi2 WIFI IOS last night. Very cool. I'm using DashCommand on my iPad. Connected it, started car and watched Coolant creep up to 194 then creep back down to 170ish then creep back up. Really helped me to validate new thermostat is working as designed. Can't wait to do more with that Kiwi2. Also, when I turn on AC the high-speed fan kicks completely on and off just like you described. Just keeps doing that. Seems to coincide with the AC compressor engaging. But no low speed at all.
WP4LDU: I saw the same YouTube video and did same test, same results. Just to be certain I ran a jumper from battery negative to ground on connector for fan harness. I then ran jumper from battery positive term to each lead on the connector. One lead activates high fan, the other nothing. Fan is on order.
ZippyNH: I purchased compression tester (Sears Craftsman ~$60) and performed my first test ever! Realize now that I didn't warm engine up first. Will do again.


All in all I feel very good about not having blown gasket. I've let the engine warm up several times, no bubbles in overflow tank. Looking forward to replacing fan.


I also purchased/received Bentley manual last night. That's also great to have. Don't know why I didn't do that earlier. I've read up a bunch on these topics in the manual.


Thanks again everyone. I hope I can help someone in the future if they head down this road.


(Correction to an earlier note I made. The gray boxes in the fuse panel next to the battery are NOT fuses or resistors. Those are the relays.)

 

Forgot to mention I started another thread when I realized fan wasn't working. Seemed like I packed way too much in this thread which started as potential blown head gasket. Plan to update that one moving forward when I do fan replacement: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-removing.html

 

Never heard of that kiwi obd reader, sounds pretty cool.