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Stopped at the dealer to have a free checkup on our 46K R56, and was told I needed $2000 in repairs, mostly $700 for a new thermostat/housing.
I'd like to put off fixing it until spring so I can do it myself without standing in 2' of snow. Asked the service man how urgent it was and he said it was pretty urgent and could leave us stranded. Seems odd as none of the warning lights have come on and the coolant loss so far has been trivial. But he says they can leak internally, and cause all sorts of oddness, most commonly preventing the car from starting.
Yes, they do - and when they do, you'll blow your coolant out, overheat the engine, and then you'll be looking at much higher repair bill than $2k or a car that's only worth $500.
See if they can work with you on the pricing and get it done.
I've dealt with two customers with blown engines recently from putting that work off.
$2k in repairs! What a kick in the nads.....man I feel your frustration and hope you can find a warm dry place where you can take care of this yourself for a few hundred and a little elbow grease.
I watch my coolant temperature gauge (ScanGauge 2) all the time and when my thermostat started to go the temperature started to fluctuate....while driving it went from normal (about 220 up to 230 and back down, then up, down, up, etc.). I drove maybe 6 miles, stopped to look at it, and I had a major coolant leak coming from under the car. Didn't look any further, stopped driving it. Replaced thermostat and all was well again.
Good luck.
BTW, it never threw any codes and no check engine lights came on while it was doing this.....
Last edited by bugeye1031; Jan 4, 2017 at 09:21 AM.
Reason: adding a comment
DO NOT delay a thermostat repair. If it locks up you could fry your engine. Do it NOW. Get the message??
This job is also a DIY candidate if you are patient, as there are videos on YouTube and you can buy a t-stat online for under $200. Unfortunately if you have 2" of snow on the ground, you won't want to tackle it unless you have a garage to do it in, and a portable heater to get it livable in there.
Spend the money - you can have an independent shop quote it and you might get by for $100 less.
Made me go look. I had that done at my local indie back in '11. The invoice shows T housing, BMW antifreeze, thermostat and labor for $232.82. Can't be that much inflation the past 5 years. You sure don't want to delay getting that sorted but it could be worth your time to shop elsewhere.
Is there no fail-safe for an overheating engine in a MINI? Like when it overheats, it goes into limp mode, or at least turns on some light on the dash before catastrophic failure? I am a mechanic for a living, I work on Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. They have overheating issues all the time, due to the radiator cooling fan not turning on, most times from a failed electric fan and/or controller. I have seen these cars overheat, spit out all of their coolant, and shut down due to a "cylinder head over temp" situation. This goes back to 2005 and maybe older units. I have NEVER had to replace an engine due to this, as they shut down when they get to "whatever" temp is deemed too much by the ECU. I fail to see how so many MINI owners have experienced complete engine loss due solely to an overheating condition. Granted, completely different vehicles, and most of my overheaters have been while idling with the A/C on outside the PD Station, but still OBD2 or CAN based systems, depending upon model year. Is there a point where a MINI will just shut down, in order to prevent complete engine meltdown?
It gets odder and odder. I jacked her up and looked around and couldn't find any unusual amounts of oil around the oil pan gasket or front main seal, both which the dealership had said were in bad need of replacing. And I borrowed a scanner (the dealer said they had diagnosed the thermostat on the basis of leakage and fault codes) and found no fault codes.
Well they could be fear mongering and were hoping that you would just whip out your check book. If your coolant level is good and you have no leaks and the car is running fine, I would simply carry on and find another place to have it maintained when / if it needs work.
It wouldn't be the first time I've run into a shop that just makes crap up to pad the bill.
When mine went the first signs were a slow hairline crack leaking on the transmission housing, noted by the fan always running longer and the heat would only work under load from the engine. That is a small leak and air getting in the system does this. get it replaced because is will keep leaking and then you will have an overheat problem. You dont want that, it could do more damage. Make sure there is a leak first. Look below the thermostat houing first. Then DIY it or find someone that can help you.
Good question. The Mini owners manual is really, really awful, so it is hard to know what it does and doesn't. In the explanation of the non-existent temp gauge the manual says a warning light will go on if it overheats but doesn't show that I can find where it will appear and what it will look like. Modern cars like the Mini are so crowded with warning and other lights that it is easy to miss one especially when they require immediate action!
Since I can't seem to establish whether my car really needs a new thermostat or not I am toying with going on driving it as usual, but getting an UltraScan which will give me a temp gauge - and allows adding customizable alarms any of the gauges, as well as fault codes.
Originally Posted by renchjeep
Is there no fail-safe for an overheating engine in a MINI? Like when it overheats, it goes into limp mode, or at least turns on some light on the dash before catastrophic failure?
Yes, the UltraScan is a great idea, as you can monitor coolant temp and other parameters. I find the lack of even basic gauges on any car annoying. I hate idiot lights! Usually too late when those pop on.
If you see no leaks after a careful inspection, and you are not losing any coolant, I say go with the UltraScan, and keep a close eye on your coolant level.
A car without a temp gauge is an egregious engineering oversight, I agree.
The best bang for your buck i've found for monitoring a Mini's sensors, is the GoPoint BT1 Bluetooth OBD2 adapter and the DashCommand app. It can be customized to any layout and any array of sensors. (and includes data logging)
If you replace the thermostat housing yourself, see if any of the hoses need to be replaced at the same time. Once of my hoses started leaking after the replacement, so I have to take it apart again when the new hose comes in.
A car without a temp gauge is an egregious engineering oversight, I agree.
The best bang for your buck i've found for monitoring a Mini's sensors, is the GoPoint BT1 Bluetooth OBD2 adapter and the DashCommand app. It can be customized to any layout and any array of sensors. (and includes data logging)
I am using an OBD bluetooth reader purchased on eBay with the Torque pro app. It works like a charm, with total cost less than 20 euros.
Is there no fail-safe for an overheating engine in a MINI? Like when it overheats, it goes into limp mode, or at least turns on some light on the dash before catastrophic failure? I am a mechanic for a living, I work on Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. They have overheating issues all the time, due to the radiator cooling fan not turning on, most times from a failed electric fan and/or controller. I have seen these cars overheat, spit out all of their coolant, and shut down due to a "cylinder head over temp" situation. This goes back to 2005 and maybe older units. I have NEVER had to replace an engine due to this, as they shut down when they get to "whatever" temp is deemed too much by the ECU. I fail to see how so many MINI owners have experienced complete engine loss due solely to an overheating condition. Granted, completely different vehicles, and most of my overheaters have been while idling with the A/C on outside the PD Station, but still OBD2 or CAN based systems, depending upon model year. Is there a point where a MINI will just shut down, in order to prevent complete engine meltdown?
Well I think this is more complicated than it seems on MINI (as usual).. my old R56S’s thermostat cracked while driving (lost all coolant on the road)! How did I notice it? Yellow temp light (can continue driving) followed 10 sec later by the red temp light (stop immediately + limp mode); already too late though
Crazy thing is coolant leaked into the car, my carpets were full of it
Unfortunately these cars are nothing close to a perfect science!
There is nothing as far as I know. Overheating is all too common for MINIs and BMWs. We had a '98 740iL and while it didn't happen to us, there were constant stories of people overheating and having both cylinder heads warp before or at the same time as the idiot light came on. Back then it was a $10,000 bill just because a thermostat or water pump failed. We loved that car, but I was constantly concerned about overheating. I don't know why BMW/MINI couldn't have simply done what Ford did on the Police Interceptors....doesn't seem like rocket science. Had a friend who occasionally autocrossed a retired Interceptor - what a riot!
