Took my 2012 S to be serviced and the dealership replaced a temp sensor under a recall. When I picked up the car I had went about 2 miles when the hot coolant warning lamp came on... I was on the interstate and it took about 5 minutes to get back to the dealer. I opened the bonnet and there was no coolant in the reserve.... Next day the manager called and said the car had coolant but there was an air pocket in the hose... Oh and my ac stopped blowing while I was driving back as well. Car is suppose to be ready now and the manager says no damage was done to the engine... Anyone have any thoughts?

 

BS about the air pocket. in 40 years, I've never had an 'air pocket' in any hose. They screwed up, and he is trying to Cover His A@@.

I would have the service manager document that the car overheated and ran without coolant. When you start leaking oil, or blow a head gasket, it would be nice to be able to go back to something to say they screwed up. Might be nice to run this one to a higher level.

Mark

 

Sounds like they tried to take a shortcut by not bleeding the system before giving the car back to you. BMW pays them by the job for warranty work, so the more they can push through each day, the more they get paid. So they are motivated to take shortcuts.

All you can do is hope there's no long term engine damage. Do you have a receipt that shows you had to being the car back a second time and what they found and did? It could be good to have in the event there is a problem later on and they try to say it was caused by you letting the coolant get too low.

 

Mark, in the Service Manual for our R50 there was a procedure for bleeding the system after refilling/changing the coolant, and I would think our CM's are similar.

But you could be correct...it's certainly possible the tech who worked on his car forgot to add any coolant whatsoever (hey, otherwise perfectly competent techs who are rushing make mistakes all the time), and they did not want to admit that to you for obvious reasons. And the fact that he saw NO coolant at all in the reserve is a further hint that you could be correct....yikes!

 

I am suppose to pick up tommorrow, I already asked that they document the incident. I dont plan on signing anything unless it states what happened. Anyone know how much coolant is in the system? There was none in the reservoir and the engine light came on within 5 minutes of running. They offered a free tank of gas for my troubles.

 

Actually it is very possible. The MINI has a pressurized system and can be a bit of a pain to bleed correctly. Air pockets can happen in that system.

 

Every vehicle built in the last 50 years has a pressurized coolant system. The CM may have a little higher pressure to allow higher operating temps, but the issue is the same as it has always been. The only way you end up with no coolant flow is if you don't bother to fill it correctly during warmup. If you fill it cold, and assume it is full, you will end up short of coolant. Nothing different than any coolant system for the last 40 years. Maybe it's a bit more difficult to see on the CM, but the theory is the same. I think someone took a shortcut, filled it cold, and let it go. And to think they do this for a living.

Most likely there is no damage, but you never know.

Mark

 

Mark,

I meant it was also a closed system, not like the days that you could pop the cap off the rad and fill it. I have seen MINIs have changes done to them where they were not bleed properly and it caused exactly what happened above. It is no big deal but it is far from BS. It can and does happen. Heck, all you have to do is search a few MINI forums and you can find people complaining about bleeding it properly. However, the dealer should have done it properly....

 

Alex, which dealer did this?...just so the rest of us are forewarned. In my experience there can be major differences from one dealer's service department to the next.

 

Tom Bush Jacksonville, picked the car up today, had no issues so far, they did detail the car and give me a full tank of gas. It's my opinion there was no coolant at all in the car, from the point I left the dealership and exited the interstate is only about a mile...there was no yellow overheat warning, went straight to red, they also told me to bring it back, I should have pulled off and shut down. I think I am going to ask for an extended warranty on the engine. Any thoughts?

 

If you can get them to give you that, by all means!

 

The extended warranty would be a good gesture from the dealer. This could have resulted in a blown engine, and you still don't know if any long term effects are lurking. The warranty should cover any issues that might have occurred, and the dealer is getting off a lot cheaper than if you had driven it 30 miles and seized the engine.

Mark

 

I thought so too, they refused to provide an extended warranty and now the service person who I was talking with is not returning my messages. Anyone know how to make a complaint to Mini directly.

 

Best to do it in writing via certified mail so there is a record of it.

 

u shouled have drove the car and never went back to the dealer and let the engine blow....



i had a X5 back in 2008. b4 my warranty ended i took it in for the LAST Free maintenance from BMW. after i picked it up and drove less than 20mins on the stop and go traffic there is smoke coming out from my Hood . so i just stop right in the middle of the highway and called the dealer... and have them tow my car back.
and they told me that my engine is blowed caz there is no coolant in it. and i got a new free engine.

 

So I guess that tech got fired and got rehired at the mini dealer down the street :-)

 

Make sure you document everything the dealer said.....and make sure they document the fact that they didn't purge the system. If anything motor issues pop up in the future, you want some hard documented facts to fall back on....not a bunch of "he said she said" bs.

 

The system does not have to be drained completely so I am sure there was coolant in the system. During the repair you lose only a few ounces, it was probably not bled all the way.The only reason to drain all the coolant is replacing the radiator.

 

Certified letter sent, waiting on response, asked for extended warranty, my sales person called and offered a thousand dollars off and employee pricing on a new car, told him that was not acceptable.

 

Alex, please keep us updated as it sounds like you are not the only one who is going to suffer from this.