i have a 2005 mini cooper s and it's leaking antifreeze. i have some picture of where it's coming from and i just need help on what i need to get to fix it. it looks like it's coming from the thermostat housing (from what i understand from similar posts). it leaks from in between the air filter and the oil cap and is leaking from the housing of the thermostat (i believe). when the car is running you can see a relatively good amount of fresh fluid come out and start leaking everywhere. any help on what the problem is, how to fix it, and what parts i need to get.

 

looks like probly thermostat housing . get a gasket and thermostat and change um out . get a haynes or bently manual too so you bleed system correctly .

 

well, i picked up a new thermostat and gasket but the auto parts stores around here don't have any mini cooper service/repair manuals in stock and i'd have to order one :( i was just wondering if anyone could let me know how to bleed/vent the antifreeze. i'm looking to finish this today if it's at all possible.

 

I've never done the job in a MCS, but, if faced w/the same situation, I'd install the new thermostat & gasket, then add coolant to the reservoir, leaving the pressure cap off, start the car, get it up to temp, so the thermostat opens, then open the bleed screw on the front coolant hose that's right up front & dead center allowing bubbles to come out until you get nothing but coolant. Shut off engine, top off reservoir to the proper line. When bleeding a system, it helps to have the nose of the car up higher than the rear. Check your coolant reservoir each a.m. when cold and top off as needed until it stabilizes. Good Luck!

 

 

Hi oxybluecoop, what kind of program that which explain all these. BTW I have the same problem with the leaking need new gasket and termostat.

 

Did you buy a new thermostat HOUSING? The big plastic part is what deforms and causes the leak. Search on thermostat housing.

 

I replace the thermostat and gasket and that's what the problem was. When I pulled the old one out you could see the gasket was deformed and was causing the leak. I didn't replace the plastic housing piece because from what I saw on the forums was that they didn't have problems (or not nearly as many) with the housing from 2005 and up. I could be wrong though, but either way it's not leaking anymore! It was pretty easy too. A little time consuming because you gotta move the air box out of the way in order to get access to the thermostat housing, or at least to make it a lot easier to work on and I have never really worked on my MINI before (I'm use to OBD 0/1 Hondas). I forgot my camera when I was going to work on it so I don't have a step-by-step guide to put up but if anyone is in north east part of Massachusetts (Lowell/Lawrence/Andover/etc...) or south east part of New Hampshire (Nashua/Salem/etc...) and plan to do this, I'll be more than happy to come help. Just let me know!

Here is the pic of the old thermostat w/gasket:

Notice how it's deformed on the side and it's wavey which caused the leak?


And you can see the residue in this picture from the leak itself...

But thanks again guys for the information. I very much appreciate it!