I can see that in a car like the Mini where things are compacted very tightly and the engine puts out a lot of heat, the coolant in the resevoir might evaporate a bit faster than in other cars. It's always a good idea to keep an eye on it.

As for batteries, never, ever, buy a replacement from the dealer. They generally put in the same crappy battery that the car came with. And yea, they often only last a couple years if that much. For my money, I go with an Optima. I like that it's completely sealed. And they last a good long time as well.

 

Did the dealer check to see how much current your MINI was drawing when off? All modern cars still draw power even when off, but it should not exceed a certain reading. You may have a defective circuit somewhere.

Also, did the dealer check the function of the alternator? These are two basic checks that need to be done, as your problem may not be the battery at all. A bad alternator can cause to premature battery wear, and replacement.

 

To Glorkar

Please keep me posted......

 

I have joined the group here. Last Friday, I my temp gauge spiked for a brief moment....I was a block from home. So I parked the car, allowed it to cool for an hour (or so)...checked the tank, it was empty. So I took the other car to get some coolant and topped it off. Motoring around Friday night for about an hour, Saturday morning it looked good. Saturday, I was in the car for Mini Charleston MINIs 50th Birthday party event. Which was a 2hr drive from Savannah, an hour in top and go traffic (90+ degree weather), and 2hr drive home. This morning, the level was exactly where I filled on friday. Plan on watching this for next couple weeks. Any changes, my Baby will definitely get checked out.

At the MINI of Charleston event, I did talk to one of the mechanics there. He said this seems unusual to him for the tank to be completely empty, low is normal depending on the temperature outside and the amount of driving. He told me if the coolant level drops further to bring it in.

 

Be careful, the last time I made a "negative comment about OEM" I got death threats in my e-mail, bashed from some advertisers, and was merely making a comment like you.

 

Weird. But some people are.

 

I had to top off the tank again a couple of days later. It seems to be good now, but I'm going to check it again tonight. I've checked the oil and it isn't milky, so no head gasket problems. I'm thinking it just got low, got an air bubble and needed to work itself out. That's probably why I had to add the second time.

 

Hi, I am new to the forum and would appreciate any help or suggestions. To make this short, my car was rearended and towed, the towtruck did $2000 damage including the radiator an comressor. The Bodyshop replaced the radiator and on the way to work I overheated. The shop came and added more water and said, you should be all set. Two blocks later, overheated again, so I added water to both the overflow tank and the radiator. This happened again 6 times on the way home. I am carefull to stop right away as I do not want to warp the head. Stopped at a gas station who informed me Mini radiators are the worst, he added another gallon of anti freeze and a gallon of water (I added over two gallons of water that day). Made it home and an hour back to work the next day. On the way home it overheated again, I added more water and am bringing it back to the body shop in the morning. Although I do not have much faith in them. I assume they did not get all the air pockets out, but there does not seem to be any leaks, so here is the silly question...where did all the water go, how much can this thing actually hold? Any idea's on what is going on?

 

So far the levels for my car has been pretty constant the past week. Guess it was an air bubble for me too. Still keeping a watch on the temp gauge although...

 

Pdudow,

The need for that much fluid indicates a bad leak, not a small air bubble that needs burping. And don't take the car back to the body shop for a cooling system repair. Take it to someone who's a pro at cooling systems. Finally, if the body shop or you used ordinary tap water for filling the system, that's bad, bad, bad. Cooling systems should only be filled with distilled water. Period. You don't want all those minerals and other deposits in your cooling system.

Good luck!

 

From your description it sounds like you've added much more water / antifreeze than the MINI holds!

If you had the car repaired through your insurance company at an authorized repair facility most insurance companies will guarantee that repair, so I would also get your insurance company involved if that's the case. Good luck, this may take some time to get sorted.

 

Still battling this one. Need to add water at least once a month, sometimes more. Very frustrating. I read in one of the post that a leaking reservoir was the culprit (and the need to bleed the air out.) Would the tank still pressurize with a pin hole in it?

 

A pin hole will prevent anything from pressurizing.

 

Check the Coolant tank...for the pinhole leak... Even the newer ones (yellowish) tend to fail....look at the seam area...if there is white residue....you found the leak...most likely venting steam in small amounts. Good luck!

 

Since my second post at the end of August, I've added over a gallon of water to the system. Even if there was air in the system, it wouldn't take that much fluid, would it? I'll check the seam on the tank tonight to look for residue.

 

Sounds like you should also check your coolant% and freeze protection level before winter....you might have almost all water in you cooling system.

 

My leaking coolant issue was taken care of. The water pump seal was bad and the pump itself was failing too. MINI of Charleston did a great job of taking care of the issue and cost me nothing (still under warranty).

 

I know with some makes/models coolant brand used can makes a huge diff in water pump seal life. Honda, like mini both says no silicates inthe antifreeze....check the BMW/MINI bottle of antifreeze...that's why I use the blue (oem) stuff.
Congrats on getting your problem solved!!!

 

I just traced my coolant leak. I would have a quarter size spot under the tranny every morning. Finally found the thermostat housing was leaking between the engine block and the thermostat housing near the housing's bottom mounting bolt. Two of the three mounting bolts tighten slightly so I will see if that cures the leak. If not, I'll have to pull it off and replace gasket. Anyway, that might be a place to look.

Anyone else have a thermostat gasket spontaniously start a slow leak?

 

Okay, so yesterday my girlfriend tells me that she noticed a small puddle underneath the engine. I ask her what it is and of course she doesn't know. Now you got me wondering if it is the t-stat housing as well. Hmm...gonna have to check that tomorrow morning....I'll let you know.

 

Okay, ended up taking the car to the dealership. Just couldn't get underneath on my own (that, and it's still under warranty.) Thermostat was leaking. They replaced what they needed to and sent me on my way. 1.5 hours later, that is. I can only imagine how long it would have taken me to do it After I get home and tell my girlfriend what was wrong, she said, "Oh, like the paper we got in the mail from MINI telling us there was a problem with leaking thermostats." Obviously I never saw it or I wouldn't have been so frustrated trying to figure out where the coolant was going! So yeah, long story short, car is fixed.

 

So let's get this straight glorkar... your girlfriend saw the note from MINI about the leaking thermostats (and didn't tell you about it), then subsequently saw a puddle under the engine of your MINI and wasn't able to put 2 and 2 together?

I'd say she owes you big time. Exploit this for all it's worth.

 

My only thought was..."Is she Blonde??!!"

 

I wish I had gotten a letter, would have saved me lots of time and frustration. Did the letter give any details to the problem like bad gasket or loose mounting bolts?

 

Therein lies the problem. It is actually her car, so I was helping her get it fixed. But that's okay, she's really more of an animal person than a car person. I'm just glad we figured it out before something more major happened