I'm new to minis so I'd love some advice based on your experience. 2011 Mini Cooper S, N18. 70,000 miles. I've had it for about 5K miles and it runs well, no issues other than this small leak......no history prior to me owning it.

I have a slow coolant leak and can't identify where it is coming from so I am going to replace the thermostat housing and the coolant pipe. The droplets are on the drivers/center side so I am pretty sure it's not the water pump.

While I am in there - is there anything else I should replace just so I don't have to go back in another 5,000 miles and replace it? Any other relatively cheap pieces that I might as well change out while I am at it?

I'll probably be doing all this the same weekend - oil change, turbosmart recirculating dump valve, DT oil line, a larger intercooler, nm induction kit, discharge pipe, charge pipe and oil catch can ....anything else that I should do at the same time while it's all open, especially reliability wise?

 

If you have a black plastic water pump you should plan on changing it too.

If you are replacing the turbo oil line get the full kit from DT and also replace the oil cooler & filter housing gaskets along with the turbo oil return line.

Inspect the bottom of the coolant tank for cracking.

 

+1 on the water pump. You should have the intake manifold out of the way anyway to get to the coolant pipe. Plus, you can inspect both sides of the connection where the water pipe meets the pump. PLUS, I bought my Graf pump (made of metal, not plastic) for $35, so it's not expensive, and you're in there anyway.

 

Thank you both for the advice.

I was under the impression the easiest way to get to the water pump was through the wheel well?

 

Well, that wasn't that wasn't the way I tackled it, so I couldn't say. I took the intake manifold and the passenger side top motor mount off, and came in through the top. I had the car on jack stands and I gently lifted the engine a few inches with a floor jack. It's a little bit of a tight fit, but I didn't think it turned out to be that hard. I put in a new pump, pulley, belt, and water pipe in & finished the whole job in about 3 hours start to finish.

 

The auxiliary water pump for cooling the turbo is also driver’s side center on these cars, near the oil filter. You might want to check that for leaks too. While mine didn’t leak, it died at about 50k and caused the radiator fan to run a lot after the engine was turned off. The real problem with it having died was that the turbo wasn’t being cooled and it was cooking the engine oil.

 

+1 Yes, its right here and is right near the oil filter housing.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...8-no-heat.html

 

Also check the hose connections at the bottom of the coolant reservoir. Mine has always leaked a few drops when I move the reservoir to change the oil filter.

 

Thanks for that, they are $40 so I ordered one along with everything else. Thanks!

 

My thoughts as well. The little stupid hose that attaches to the bottom likes to leak a lot.

Might swap it out just to be safe if you are undoing coolant stuff.