I just became a member of the brown coolant club, and I haven't read much about it lately. The last I heard was that MINI was considering it simply a 'cosmetic' problem (dye changing color but coolant okay) and weren't doing anything about it. Does anyone have any more info on it?

Thanks!

 

Have you checked up on the threads in the 'Beneath the Bonnet' forum? Last I looked, I think there were like 3 threads on the go with that topic.
I had the same problem, as I stated in one of the threads. I wasn't about to wait around for MINI/BMW to come up with a solution while my coolant was THAT ugly looking. Took matters into my own hands, so to speak. Have a buddy who works at a Ford dealer here in town, and he gave my MCS a coolant flush, and filled her back up with MOTORCRAFT coolant. Same stuff I had in my Lightning. Ever since then, which was maybe a few months back now, there's been no troubles in regard to irregular temp readings, change in color, or other issues. Car is running perfectly, without a sign of coolant issues.
I figured, what's the point of traveling 4hrs to my dealer just to have them flush the tank, and put the same type of coolant back in. Yes, the cost of the Ford coolant and flush came out of my pocket. But I don't care. Peace of mind is what I have now.
That was my solution.
Cheers,

 

be careful when replacing the coolant to use a lead based coolant...

mini's get BMW coolant...it's lead based...and not brown (?) as you say, mebbe mini puts something odd in from the factory?

 

>>be careful when replacing the coolant to use a lead based coolant...
>>
>>mini's get BMW coolant...it's lead based...and not brown (?) as you say, mebbe mini puts something odd in from the factory?


Not sure if you know, but what's being talked about here is a problem with a lot of Cooper'S' models. The coolant starts out a teal color but then after some time it starts to turn orange, and then brown. It's said to be most caused by high engine heat changing the colored dye in the coolant.
Cheers,

 

yea, now i understand the problem a little better...

but, my first post still stands, mini's get lead based coolant...that's all i was saying...just trying to save someone the hassle of adding/flushing w/ just any coolant and then finding out it supposed to be lead based...

thanks for the info tho!!
:smile:

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