Cassie had this same issue at 27,000 miles. Global Imports repaired it for me. I figured I should go ahead and purchase a new thermostat housing and thermostat (which comes with the gasket). Cassie now has 46,566 miles an no leak, but if it redevelops I am prepared. The procedure to change out the thermostat and housing is rather simple.

 

Honestly, its not worth buying a gallon of coolant just to top off an inch or so of coolant in the reservoir. That small of an amount of dilution won't make any difference whatsoever. Just make sure you use distilled water (not tap water) and you'll be good to go. The dealer will top it off with coolant when they replace the part anyway.

 

I have an 05 MCS w/ 38k miles that has "the leak". What is the warranty period that this is covered under? The 5yr 50k power train warrantee?

 

Yes... although my warranty is a 4 year, 50k mile... still covered...

 

As a followup..dealership diagnosed a coolant leak caused by a faulty thermostat housing and gasket. Replaceable under warranty... A tip to try, if your having trouble getting your MINI to reproduce the leak, is to lift the front end either by parking on an incline or using a lift and jack stands.

 

I had this problem recently at about 36.5k miles. Same thing as above - bad t-stat housing and gasket.

 

Count me too as blu.

Sudden small blue puddle on garage floor equaled bad thermostat housing and/or gasket at 37K - covered under warranty.

(sidenote: mentioned recent sporadic "chewbacca" clutch noise and am also getting new flywheel & clutch per latest Service bulletin)

 

Do you have any info on the service bulleten? Anything that covers a clutch and flywheel has me all ears!

 

Jim - here's the gist of it, poorly reproduced from this thread. This will be my 3rd clutch/flywheel replacement under warranty - kudos to my stand-up dealer. The first two were replaced because the Dual Mass Flywheel's were noisy (when an R53 sounds like an old Mercedes diesel - countless threads on the subject here) and as I said above, the latest when I mentioned the car was, with the arrival of cold weather, beginning to periodically emit the so called "chewbacca" noise on clutch release.

Good Luck - my sense from reading threads here on NAM is that some dealers are more likely to comply with the Bulletin while others may need a more of a "come to Jesus" meeting about it.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=3]SI [FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=3]M21 04 08[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva]Clutch[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=3]September 2008[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva]Technical Service[/SIZE][/FONT]


This Service Information bulletin supersedes SI M21 04 08 dated August 2008.

designates changes to this revision

[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2]SUBJECT[/SIZE][/FONT]
Howling Noise from Transmission while Engaging Clutch


[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2]MODEL[/SIZE][/FONT]
R52, R53 with W11 ( Cooper S, Cooper S Convertible) with GS6-85BG manual transmission


[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2]SITUATION[/SIZE][/FONT]
A loud howling can be heard from the front of the car when engaging the clutch and pulling away from a stationary position. The noise is more pronounced when the vehicle is cold, but weather and driving conditions do not have an influence.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2]CAUSE[/SIZE][/FONT]
Clutch release system

[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2]PROCEDURE[/SIZE][/FONT]
On a customer complaint basis, replace the dual mass flywheel, friction disc, pressure plate, release bearing and guide tube. In addition, the engine to transmission alignment dowels must be replaced. Refer to RA 21 21 500, Removing and installing/replacing clutch.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2] PARTS INFORMATION[/SIZE][/FONT]
Vehicles produced up to 7/2004

21 20 7 548 804
Dual Mass Flywheel
1
21 20 7 551 383
Clutch Kit
1
23 11 7 551 719
Guide Tube
1
07 10 1 485 190
Dowel
2
Vehicles produced from 7/2004

Part Number
Description
Quantity
21 20 7 548 804
Dual Mass Flywheel
1
21 20 7 551 384
Clutch
1
23 11 7 551 719
Guide Tube
1
07 10 1 485 190
Dowel
2
[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva][SIZE=2]WARRANTY INFORMATION[/SIZE][/FONT]
Covered under the terms of the MINI New Vehicle Limited Warranty.

 

Echoing what others have written here, my '06 MCS [39k] started puddling that fluid. The dealer found it to be a faulty thermostat and gasket. they were replaced under warranty and nothing has appeared since.

 

Thanks for the info. My MCS does not make the Chewbacca noise right now, but to get a free clutch I might have my wife hide in the back seat and make the noise while i'm out on a ride with the Service Advisor!

If the service departments workload is slow they just might go for it!

Thanks again...

 

oh i have the blue fluid too but its not the t-stat...its the heater hoses

 

Just did a rad flush, had the t-stat housing checked and it was also leaking, had it replaced under warranty, 72K KM on the car, also had a main seal on the driveshaft leaking that connected to transmission, and the final thing from all my vibrations, the right muffler was found to have broken pieces inside possibly causing the vibrations at low RPMS, waiting for that on back order....

Car drives well enough but mainly I'm taking care of these small things before the warranty runs out...

 

Same Blue fluid leak 32,000 miles. T-Stat and gasket replaced under warranty!

 

Smurfed at 19,700 miles. T-Stat housing and gasket replaced under warranty!

Talked with the Service Manager and he said that the replacements parts were remanufactured so as to address the issue with the faultly gaskets in the housings. So hopefully this won't happen again in another 20K when I am out of warranty.

 

Just bought an 2006 mini cooper with 14000 miles. Noticed that it is leaking blue fluid reading these post looks like a thermostat housing/gasket problem. With the mini being 06 its probably out of warranty right? Hopefully this is an inexpensive fix since i have only had the car for 5 days.

 

fatbysl,

Mine was the thermostat housing.

Mine is an '05 and was clearly OUT of warranty when I discovered this too...I brought it to the dealer and they fixed it under warranty...If I remember right they may have said this was a "silent" recall that they are fixing as they come in...but don't quote me on that...

Good luck and congrats on the car...14K miles...WOW...been pampered huh!!!...nice find!

Joe.

 

Not going to take it to a mini dealer closest one us 135 miles away and would have to go over a mountain pass. Do you think a local BMW dealer would allow the silent recall as under warranty. Thinking about doing it myself, but I know nothing about cars is it that hard to do.

 

I just bought a 2010 Cabrio. Have any of these models had the same leak? By the way, great forum! This is my first post as an official Mini owner.

 

I have just confirmed this past weekend that my 2006 JCW Competition edition has the same issue (blue puddling liquid = coolant). I had checked the thermostat housing closely and could not locate any leak there.

I thought it was the power steering fluid for a while, but had that checked and it was fine.

What's even weirder is that I only seem to be getting pooling when the car is parked on an incline.

Looks like another peek may be in order

 

I have an 09 JCW with 53k miles on it. I noticed some steam from under the hood last night and some blue stuff leaking out the front of the grill. So i'm pretty sure the radiator produced a leak. i think it's cause it's been between -5 and +10 degrees F the last couple weeks. Getting to the dealership to top off the fluid reservoir (below the min line) is not a possibility. Anyone ever top off with something different? What did you use?

 

You can use distilled water till you can get the proper coolant.
When you do add coolant be careful about what you use
as some brands are not compatible with BMW / MINI coolant.

Hope this helps...