On my 2009 mini cooper s, the bottom radiator hose stays cold. Is this normal?

 

I don't have a answer for your specific Q. However, if coolant level is normal and car is not overheating, I'd not be too concerned about it. Suggest you consider obtaining a Scangauge-II (or similar gauge) that connects to odb-II port to display engine coolant temperature.

Hope above helps, good luck.

 

it's running at 226 degrees. If I turn my heater on full blast it will drop to 199

 

My 2008 was always around 225°F -228°F during normal operation, if I ran the AC it ran cooler since that turns the fan on.

The lower radiator hose will be cooler since the flow is in on the top on one side and out on the bottom on the opposite side.

I went with a stage 1 tune from MarioKart and the temp stays around 180°F

 

my lower radiator hose is cold not warm cold. I'm getting ready to send my ECU to Mario

 

I guess I was just pointing out that they do run hot.

if you already changed the thermostat as you mentioned in a separate post, I would think the next best thing to do is use an infrared thermometer to check the temperature in various locations to see if maybe the radiator is partially plugged, providing that when the thermostat was replaced the system was bled enough and all of the air is out of the system.

since it does not sound like its overheating maybe bleed the system again and check the temps to see if you can locate where the issue is.

 

fwiw - normal operating temp on my 2009 mcs is 222F-225F. Temp drops to ~185F when (full throttle, >98mph, or when a/c is on)

 

My suggestion is to make sure the car is operating correctly before upgrading your ECU tune. Anything not operating correctly before the tune, will be much worse off after the tune. Get all your maintenance up to date, change all your fluids, check everything… THEN, get the tune.