Hi, posted elsewhere but no replys. Had the water pump and timing chain replaced back in march. Lately heat is not working in car. Took to Mini dealer and they say my aux pump for the turbo is not working, maybe cracked, lost lots of coolant & thus needs to be drained an replaced along with serpentine belt. Is this part of the "water pump" recall? Or considered part of what i think is a aux water pump recall? Wouldn't it be covered by the basic 4/50,000 warranty? HELP ASAP please. Car in shop as we speak and i need advice and help for when i call the dealer tomorrow.
Thank you in advance,
Evan
ekatz2@verizon.net or 202-262-1344

 

Replacement of the auxiliary water pump is (or should have been) covered by the recall that applies to most 2007-2011 turbocharged vehicles. If it's what's malfunctioning, it's not already been replaced, and yours is one of the models affected, it should be covered that way. If yours was already replaced, and the replacement auxiliary water pump is what's failing, there should be a warranty on that part (I don't recall off-hand if it's 12 or 24 months), even if the original warranty has expired. Otherwise, it would fall under the original warranty, if it's still in effect for your vehicle (i.e., time or mileage limits have not been exceeded).

 

Don't know that the auxiliary pump for the turbo would have much to do with your lack of heat. Likely a separate issue.

Sounds from your description that the thermostat housing may be cracked...or the water pump.....either failure would cause a leak and heat issues. Once they replace the part at fault you should be good to go. Low coolant results in air in the system and that causes your heat not to work. This is a very common issue on these cars. As a matter of fact, I just replaced the thermostat on my 08 mcs this morning....and my water pump a month ago.

The serpentine belt would be a totally separate issue from these. The thermostat is on the drivers side and the water pump on the passenger side.....not driven by the belt directly. The aux turbo pump is not part of either one of these and not driven by the belt either.

That should all be covered under warranty if your warranty is still in play. If not, there are a couple of good diys for thermostat and watr pump replacement here on the forum if you are good with a wrench. Good luck!

 

Thank you for everyone's input. As it turns out, it is the main water pump that cracked. My car is 1 1/2 months out of warranty by under by 2000 miles for the 4yr / 50,000. I asked the SA for help since it is so close. They said i was missing a lot of coolant and what remained was black and dirty or something. Told him i would like some help because there was no warning light, nothing. Could have kept driving the car longer with no knowledge but in reality my friend said i left a puddle on the slanted driveway at his house a few weeks back. Chalked it up to AC condensation cause it was warm enough that day for the ac. And we really had not had to cold of weather here to use the heat or much of it till last week, so i felt that the problem could have started 2 months ago when i was in the 4 yr. part of my warranty. Well, hopefully Mini will help with the cost or i have a new water pump for post christmas present.