Made it through the long hot summer in Phoenix fine-now suddenly I start to overheat at lights- stopped in a local shop and they checked fluid level and said they were fine but they added some water to the plastic radiator tank
just in case- no better and getting worse daily- I have a routine maintanence appt in a week-too far to stop by there--
the only thing that seems odd to me is that when I check the oil it's fine on the stick but when I take the cap off and peek in I see nothing but there is a bit of steam in there--are you supposed to SEE oil when you take the cap off?

 

Sounds like a thermostat. Only at lights right? Can you hear the fan running?

You can just pickup a thermostat at any parts store and swap it in, in 20mins or less.

Or you can go to Mini Northscottsdale and pay $41 with the spiffy new clear gasket instead of the stock white leaker.

Autozone Part # 15209 $10

Checker Part # 29209 $12[SIZE=1] [/SIZE]

 

You will not see oil when you remove the oil filler cap. The oil sits in the pan at the bottom of the engine when the engine is not running.
Some steam coming out of the oil fill when opened is not unusual.
Do you hear any grinding near the supercharger and what is the mileage on the car?

 

has a little over 8500 miles- don't drive it much as you can see.
No unusual noises the fan does run when I shut the car off.

 

Screams thermostat to me. I assume it sits for long periods?

Sometimes the thermostat can become clogged with buildup from sitting as the coolant degrades.

 

Actually I drive it daily but I work only 3 miles from my house and do all my shopping and socializing in this area.
It is still under warranty but I'm wondering if I should just not drive it until next Sat when I take it in for maintanence?? I am a mechanically ignornt female so trying to install a new thermostat myself is not an option.
(Now if you give me a 62 Corvair I could do it all :>)

 

Just call over and see if they can get you in asap.

They had a bay or 2 open when I was there earlier today. Should be a quick fix

 

Coincidentially I'm having a new water HEATER :>) put in my house as we speak (after the city also tore up my yard today(a neighborhood project) to replace water pipes with copper ones. So I'm up to my ears in water issues.
I can just walk to light rail this week and take it in as scheduled next Sat.
Thank you for your input- what year and color mini do you have?

 

Have the dealer check the 2 engine fans just in case. The engine cooling fans in these cars are notorious for going south prematurely.

 

I had the same exact issue. The car would overheat at stoplights or heavy traffic and the fan would continue running for a long time after I shut it off. I reckon it's most likely the thermostat. My coolant was leaking out very very slowly. Took two months to leak out... and start overheating again after i refilled the coolant

 

My 2006 R50 CVT is doing something similar. When I stop in traffic the temp gage jumps from normal to hot and the cooling fan kicks on full speed. The thing is, I don't think it's really overheating at all, it only thinks it is. I say this because as soon as I start driving, the gauge instantly drops back to the normal position. I've driven cars that have actually overheated before and while the airflow from forward motion will drop the temp a little it won't instantly drop back down to normal. On top of which, when I park the car and put my hand on the hood the metal is ice cold and at no point in time is there steam coming out from underneath the hood. Anyway, I have an appointment with the dealer in about two weeks so I will have them check it out then. In the meantime, if the problem gets worse, I'll just move up the appointment.

 

Scott, you should definitely move it up. They found that my car was leaking coolant and that was the issue causing my car to overheat. Don't drive it or you might have to replace the head gasket...

The temp gauge would move up and then start going down b/c the gauge is a dummy gauge so it's pretty much binary... overheat or no overheat....

The hood is cool b/c we have an insulating mat under the hood. Pretty much your hood is ALWAYS cool. On the MCS, the hood will be totally cool, but if you stick your hand in front of the scoop, it's extremely hot. It's kind of a cool effect when it gets cooler, it looks like there's smoke coming out of the scoop...

 

could also be waterpump

 

Yikes! OK. Thanks for the info! I'll proceed as advised.

 

The culprit was a leaky thermostat. I took it to the dealership and in an hour and a half I had it back with a new thermostat and two new front rotors all covered under warranty/service warranty. Nice!