very slow coolant leak
 

trying to figure out where it is coming from. The car has to be sitting for quite a while for it accumulate or ever start to happen.

The pool is right up front and center right at the front bumper. I was under car looking for any wet spots but I can't find any.

Is there any normal coolant leak places to look at?

coolant tank has enough coolant in it and heat still works so we haven't started sucking air in or at least not in any major way.

Was an oil change done recently? Perhaps when the coolant tank was moved to access the oil filter it wasn't re-seated sufficiently into the overflow line.

nope. just started like 2 days ago.

Yes, water pump and thermostat usually start letting go some place north of 60K miles.
Based on your description, and assuming center right is observed by staring at the nose of the car, it points to the thermostat. Usually it leaks onto the transmission housing, which may rip closer to the front then the thermostat itself.

Or it could be any of the the coolant hoses.

If coolant tank is full, are you sure you are leaking coolant, and not some other liquid (e.g.: windshield washer fluid)?

a

its dead center of the car, right below the front bumper.

Its blue liquid. It isn't anywhere near the washer fluid bottle.

Location points to the radiator or a connection or hose near it.
Drive it up on ramps and take the plastic skid plate off so
you can see things better (only a few screws to remove it).

So one question. I have no ramps so how can I get this thing on a jack stand? Where do you place the jack?

Oddly today it looks like the drips are in a completely different spot. I'm thinking it is the thermostat housing but not sure since I don't want to get under the car with just a floorjack holding it up. I removed the air box stuff and looked around by the housing and I don't see anything wet or new.

the main radiator hose that runs along the bottom of the radiator, one of the clips has broken and that little mesh thing that I beleive goes around it has moved meaning the hose could have come in contact with something above and maybe pin holed it.

I just can't figure out more without getting under there.

I also think we are missing the plastic skid plate...unless it is something I don't thnik it is. I'm thinking like my old Z4 or my MR2 that has those large plastic bits under the engine.

here is where it is dripping from
http://starshipvonbraun.com/ss/P1050834.JPG

Does the N/A engine also have the oil cooler like the "S" does? drip is pretty much where the transmission meets the block

seems exactly like this thread
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/bmw-m...ement-r56.html

anyone? I am wondering if I should just replace the thermostat anyway to see if it fix it and just to do it since the car has 80k miles on it now and they seem to go bad.

Well, the clip missing on the radiator hose looks incriminating and certainly could leak when pressurized.

Could also the tube from the water pump across to the thermostat might be leaking when it gets pressurized. Leaks right at the thermostat connection, and drips forward to the center of the transmission but still clearly on the drivers side.

it is definitely not the radiator hose. the water pump line, is that the one that runs behind the engine (if you are standing in the front of the car)

also looks like there are multiple pools now, one on the front of the engine where I showed above and now on further back almost where the axle shafts are. car hasn't moved since Tuesday night.

I think I may need to just bite the bullet and take it somewhere. It really doesn't seem like the thermostat housing to me. I would suspect I could find some liquid around it or under it but I see nothing at all and even running my hand around all over the place by it, i never come up with anything.

Thermostat housing if it pools on the top of the transmission and back near the axle. And sometimes down the front.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hermostat.html


If its on the front side of the engine down only and You checked the very bottom of the thermostat the its . If its an N/A ( non turbo / NON S ) then its the front .

Has those gasket set which are on BO, the upper little candy corn shape is the gasket and block of for the coolant ( is used on the S , open and for the oil cooler) . The Cooper ( NON S ) does not have that additional oil cooler.

11428643758

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/11428643758/

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/361026_x600.jpg

Oil housing Cooper ( NON S ) N12 11427558521


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/11427558521/

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/643731_x600.jpg

Thanks

so you've confused me a lot. Does the NA have any of that or no?

Yea I have NA engine. So I assume I do not need to deal with the oil cooler then. Your picture is just showing reference to how it is blocked off? Can it still leak from there even though it is block off?

Again, I have a Justa coupe, NA engine.

NA does not have the oil cooler, hence the ( Non S ) oil filter housing design.

Yea, its a seal and a block off. But coolant can still flow up and against the plate from the engine block, or past / beside it on its track in the engine block.

Thanks :)

so to even know if that is the issue I'd have get the exhaust manifold off...

Yea, mostly, but if you can get behind the exhaust shield or get an Led light flashlight you might be able to see at an angle right at the base of the oil filter housing connect to the engine block, if it drips from that base location, that it. If if dripping near the transmission upper side its the front side of the thermostat housing.

Thanks

on top of the transmission is see dried up crusty blue stuff but nothing fresh but it seems like it is pooling in two places now that front end of the car has been on jack stands for a few days.

would be amazed if two separate things started leaking at the same time.

well....I gave up trying to get the thermostat housing off. #1, I couldn't see anyway to get that rear water pump clip out and even if i did, I have no idea how I would get it back in.

the bad side is....I may have screwed it up even more. I put it all back together, put new coolant in the bottle, let it drain itself in and once it stopped going glug glug glug, I turned the car on, put on full heat, and opened the bleeder. Maybe after 5 minutes, nothing was coming out of the bleeder and then the bottle started to fill up. I shut the car off after that, coolant level went back down but the bottle stayed more filled up that before. No heat either. Almost like the thermostat didn't even open. None of the lines were hot either. wondering if I plugged in some things in reverse although that would be pretty stupid of me and mini if they allowed that.

F' me...I should have just stayed away. now it gets to get towed somewhere and fixed and I assume it will cost an arm and leg.

Funny how I've swapped engines, done head gaskets, and lots of other stuff on many other types of cars but I have to say the mini is a nightmare to work on.

It may do this type of stuff until most of the air pockets are bled out, which is easier
said than done. Don't know specific tricks for the Gen 2 cars, but maybe someone
can chime in.

I can bleed a mr2, which are notoriously difficult to do, but this just acts odd to me.


its getting towed to the shop tomorrow regardless. Leak needs to get fixed. Least i can have the dhop change the accessory belt as well so i dont need to

Sounds like the thermostat is stuck. BTW, you put the clip on the hose before mating it up to the thermostat so the water pump end probably works the same. No room at all to work on anything in there, although I did the thermostat in my Justa myself, the water pump repair I took it to the shop.

Reach under the front bumper and squeeze the coolant hose that is there. It'll help burp any bubbles from the system. I keep squeezing it till the level in the coolant tank stops dropping and then start the car.

There is no clip holding the water pipe to the water pump. It's just presses in and there is an o-ring on the water pipe.