When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'm looking for some help or guidance. My 2003 Mini Copper S had a oil/coolant breakdown.."chocolate milk shake". mechanics replaced coolant hoses. Then replaced heat exchange unit, coolant reservoir, thermostat, and cleaned out the cooling system. After the repair they found that that there was no coolant flow and car would overheat. Found that oil had compromised the entire cooling system. Total cost so far is $1,600. They recommended taking the entire cooling system apart and then determining what would be needed (~$1,000) They said it could require water pump, radiator, supercharger, and/or engine replacement but wouldn't know until they took it apart. And in all likelihood it was going to cost more than the value of the car itself (i.e. >$6-8K). That being said....I was wondering if anyone had ideas if it would be worthwhile for me to throw it in the garage and learn to fix it myself, get a second opinion, turn it into a big paper weight, or ideas to try and salvage it for parts, etc. Appreciate any feedback.
Oil cooler seals, is that number one reason for milky coolant or oil, followed by head gasket, then actual cracked head or block. But cracked heads and esp blocks are actually pretty rare, and should show other signs of issues before milky fluids.
Question, which piece are you calling the heat exchanger?
I know this may seem really obvious, but hopefully you don't mean the intercooler, if so, there's no coolant near that and get away from those mechanics.
Also, heater core, water pump, supercharger... No way to mix fluids, except where the water pump and super charger meet, and there isn't, or shouldn't be, anywhere near enough oil to cause a milkshake appearance.
Whoa there partner! Before you spend any money let’s examine the problem. Oil in the cooling system doesn’t mean the entire cooling system is trashed. No coolant flow means the water pump is probably not turning which could be caused by either the pump gears being bad and/or the gears on the super charger being bad. Bad pump is not that big of a deal. Bad SC gears is another story. Milk shake oil means water was getting into the oil. If they narrowed it down to the oil cooler, which is what I guess you mean by heat exchanger, and they changed it then that’s good. If the oil in water is actually being caused by a head leak then that’s major and will cost a little more although no where what they are quoting you. If you are mechanically inclined and have a decent set of tools, jack, jack stands, etc, you can do this work yourself. First step is to put the vehicle in front end service mode, remove the radiator, and water pump. Inspect the gears on the SC. If they look good then you just replace the water pump. Flush out the radiator good, maybe even take it to a radiator shop and have them test it for leaks. Put it all back together and see what happens with the oil. All of this procedural DYI is available on the internet or on this site. Others will surely offer advice also. I wouldn’t spend what they want for this initial job. Even if you had to replace the SC your still looking at under $1000 for what I described. Good luck!
It's a messy repair, though it seems like the actual process seems to be not complicated. Makes me want to preemptively replace the cooler before anything happens!
Here's a previous thread on the clean up process a shop did to rectify the problem. You may want to replace the radiator since the gunk will clog all the little pathways in the core.
thanks much. doing some more research on part cost etc. it seems like they were really marking up the price of the parts. I assume there is not a good way to tell if the water pump and/or SC are bad without taking everything apart and just replacing the radiator. or is that just wishful thinking on my part?
Whoa there partner! Before you spend any money let’s examine the problem. Oil in the cooling system doesn’t mean the entire cooling system is trashed. No coolant flow means the water pump is probably not turning which could be caused by either the pump gears being bad and/or the gears on the super charger being bad. Bad pump is not that big of a deal. Bad SC gears is another story. Milk shake oil means water was getting into the oil. If they narrowed it down to the oil cooler, which is what I guess you mean by heat exchanger, and they changed it then that’s good. If the oil in water is actually being caused by a head leak then that’s major and will cost a little more although no where what they are quoting you. If you are mechanically inclined and have a decent set of tools, jack, jack stands, etc, you can do this work yourself. First step is to put the vehicle in front end service mode, remove the radiator, and water pump. Inspect the gears on the SC. If they look good then you just replace the water pump. Flush out the radiator good, maybe even take it to a radiator shop and have them test it for leaks. Put it all back together and see what happens with the oil. All of this procedural DYI is available on the internet or on this site. Others will surely offer advice also. I wouldn’t spend what they want for this initial job. Even if you had to replace the SC your still looking at under $1000 for what I described. Good luck!
After doing some research I think this is going to be my new spring project. Quick question...what do you recommend for a jack stand height to work on the mini...assuming I am probably end up doing radiator, hose replacement, and possibly engine. Thanks again.
The small ones are fine. You can raise them plenty high. You can get taller stands just make sure you can get them even on the jack points. I developed a trick for getting a floor jack under the front to lift the front end. Drive the front wheels onto a 2 x 6 board. One in front of each tire. A 4x board works better. This will raise the front end enough to roll the jack up need it. Put the jack in the center of the frame. You’ll see a round spot that looks like a cut pipe. Then you can place jack stands under both jack points at the same time. Otherwise you will have to jack up one side then the other.
(1) Coolant in your oil (milkshake in engine oil, on dipstick or in sump).
or...
(2) Oil in coolant (milkshake in coolant expansion tank)?
If (2), check my thread on a failed oil cooler HERE.
EDIT TO ADD:
Have you personally confirmed there is no 'coolant' flow within the system, and there is overheating, or is that what you are being told?
When the coolant has been compromised with oil, it takes time for that 'milkshake' mess to be completely removed from the system. Because the expansion tank and top radiator hose are at the highest point of the system, the muck (oil) will always float to the top of the water (coolant) and be present there until the last of it is physically removed. Looking into the tank or into the bleeder screw in the top hose can show the muck, but the coolant can be running through the system just beneath the surface. After doing the manual radiator and hose flush outlined in my thread, there was still plenty in the system that needed to be worked out. I used a system of two expansion tanks, running the car, then removing the contaminated expansion tank, including the contents, by plugging bottom hose connection with my gloved finger as I quickly disconnected. Stuff a bunch of paper shop towels under tank to catch drips. I'd then swap the second clean tank in place, fill it halfway with coolant, then run car again. The first, dirty tank was cleaned and prepped for when I did the next swap. I repeated this process until all the muck was gone.
Last edited by AoxoMoxoA; 03-24-2019 at 04:42 AM.
Reason: Clarification
I wouldn’t replace the engine because of oil in coolant or oil in water. The problem is either related to the oil cooler, which has been replaced, or the head gasket. If you are tearing down the vehicle to replace pump, radiator and hoses you might as well remove the head and redo that just to be safe.
No matter what you do for repair, make sure you "replace" your expansion tank cap. All that oiled coolant can gum it up good, and if so the pressure can then destroy your expansion tank as well.
As I have started this project and made some good progress I had a couple of follow-up questions. The first is what's the best approach for testing and verifying that when I put everything back together it will all work. As I dug in on this project I ended up taking apart, inspecting, cleaning, and replacing a lot of parts across a lot of systems. These include: new radiator, radiator cooling fan, hoses, expansion tank; new water pump; mod for new supercharger pulley and belt; mod for new plugs, coil, and wires; oil/filter change; new cylinder head cover/gaskets; new fuel injectors; and general cleanup of gaskets, o-rings, etc. As I am just starting to put it all back together I wasn't sure if there are any "best practices" or advice for making sure each of these items was done correctly. I assume it is probably not the best idea to put it all back together, start the engine, and pray that I can just drive away. So any thoughts on ways to minimize the risk or things to check before getting it out of front end service mode would be appreciated.
The second question is more practical. I removed and replaced most all of the hoses/tees from this schematic but as I get ready to reinstall them I am trying to make sure I know where the two highlighted hoses (13 and 16) connect to ( I'm pretty sure about #13 but not so much about #16). As I have not installed a number of other parts yet (e.g. radiator, supercharger, water pump, inter cooler, etc.) I am hoping that it will become apparent but for now I am a bit nervous.
Again thanks for any ideas or comments. /patrick
Trying to figure out where items 13 and 16 connect to.
03-22-2019, 12:53 PM
