I haven't driven my car all day, but just backed it up a couple of feet, so I could pull down the attic stair and get the christmas tree stand. There is a puddle (only about a tablespoon) of dark green liquid on the floor. What fluids might be dark green and what does it mean if it loses some? As luck would have it, I'm scheduled for a +/-30K oil change on Wednesday.

 

Sounds like coolant. Where abouts isthe leak? I'm betting it's the thermostat at themoment.

 

Thanks, Motor On. The drip is just back of the plastic on the front, about 4" to the passenger side of dead center. The level of coolant in the tank is below "MIN", just barely covering the bottom of the tank . I'm guessing it's not good to drive like this . I'm also guessing that the almost full bottle of Prestone Antifreeze/Coolant (indeterminate age) I found in the shop is NOT what I need to add. What do I need to add? The Owner's Manual is appallingly uninformative - "your Mini Dealer knows"

 

I know the dealerships have mini cooper coolant.. It may be worth giving them a call.

 

Not on Sunday, and they are 75 miles away. Research around here indicates that BMW coolant is the thing to use. However, it just needs to get me to work and back twice (52 miles roundtrip) and then to the dealership. Wouldn't any coolant be OK for that, provided I tell the dealership what I did?

 

If you just need to to make it a few hundred miles, keeping the reservoir topped off with distilled water would work fine. No worries about incompatibility with your current coolant, and the dealer is almost certainly going to drain everything and refill with fresh coolant after fixing the leak, anyway.

 

Thanks, Scott.

 

You're welcome - let us know if it ends up being the typical thermostat leak or something else.

 

The SA at Brian Harris Mini in Baton Rouge said there is a seal leaking at the water pump. They didn't have a water pump, so they ordered one and sent me home in a Honda Accord.

 

Got the car back yesterday (a week at the dealer) w/ new water pump, coolant, and the scheduled oil change. Once again, driving is fun.