Coming home this evening I was first in line at a redlight near my house.

Shifted into neutral and when light turned green, I attempted to shift into 1st to make a left-turn when the engine completely shut-down.

I immediately looked at the rearview mirror to make sure no one was getting ready to hit me due to the sudden engine shut-down; thankfully the nearest car was 3 lengths behind me and approaching slowly.

When I tried to start the car, it started and there was a H-U-G-E billow of white smoke; so much that I couldn't see using the rearview mirror and I could see it using both side mirrors.


I limped home (less than a block away) and had the heater running the entire time to help draw heat from the engine bay. I don't know if that helps "anything" other than peace of mind.

The thermostat idiot guage was completely red-lined.

Anyhow, as I slowed down to manuever a dip in the road, the engine tried to cut-off again, but I was able to keep it going.

Popped the bonnet and no smoke or odd smell emanated from the engine bay.

The exhaust fan kicked on and stayed on for quite awhile; perhaps 10 minutes although it felt like F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

I walked to the rear and no smoke or odd smell emanated from the exhaust, either.

Pulled the dipstick and white smoke appeared.

Removed the fill cap and white smoke appeared.

Checked the coolant overflow tank and very little (1/2" maybe!) was in the tank.

Checked the oil level on the dipstick and it was in the middle of the max/min hash lines.

Grabbed the flashlight and noticed that there were small puddles of coolant sitting on the cast metal that's just below and slightly forward of the battery box. (I have a Justacooper.)

I also noticed that there is some powdery white residue on the front left of the fuel rail cover.

The thermostat housing had been previously replaced under warranty; it hasn't even been 9 months, if that long!

I have always checked fluid levels during each gas fill: oil, coolant & washer. I've only had to fill the coolant in the overflow tank once since the thermostat housing was replaced and that was only 2 weeks ago.

I use the BMW/MINI coolant which is diluted according to the 50/50 instructions.

I'm concerned about:

1. White smoke from exhaust.
2. White smoke from oil tank.
3. Puddles of coolant in the engine bay.
4. White powdery residue on the front of the fuel line rail cover.
5. No heat into the cabin when I cranked the thermostat to HI and had the fan on at full blast.

Any suggestions?

 

White smoke from the exhaust is usually a sign of water in the gas tank, but with the other symptoms, I'd say you might have a slight head gasket leak. Is there any milky residue on the oil filler cap? How does the car run? With the heater not blowing hot air, you might also have a faulty thermostat that is stuck open.

 

No milky residue on the oil filler cap, coolant cap or coolant overflow tank/cap.

Idiot guage is down to the first 1/4 mark.

Added coolant to radiator and overflow tank while engine was running...no white smoke from exhaust and the only "leak" was coolant that actually overflowed during filling.

Pushed the car backward and removed the wet newspapers underneath and there is a new layer on a different part of the ground (flat city street) and the car was pushed slightly forward to cover the newspaper.

As of 5 minutes ago, still no wetness on the newspapers.

CEL is off and idiot guage hasn't moved, either.

The cooling fan (can't believe I called it an exhaust fan in the OP!) never came on, which is a good sign, yes?

Still no odd smells.

Didn't check the cabin heater, though.

 

Loss of coolant (leak) and an overheated engine (smoke from the oil).
Refill the coolant and check the level again in a bit.

 

The way it came on so fast sure sounds like a head gasket leak. I'd top up the coolant, start the engine and get it up to temp. If the problem repeats or you get an engine miss, stop the engine, let it cool and remove the plugs - looking for a wet one. Sure sounds like you're burning coolant. I'm assuming, of course, that the white smoke was coming out of the tailpipe. If not, since you saw coolant in the engine bay, it could be a bad hose or hose connection .....much less $$$$

 

Topped off all levels as per the earlier post and then checked levels again approx. an hour later.

All levels were good & coolant overflow tank was still at the MAX level.

Used papertowels to absorb the coolant that had previously overflowed when refilling.

Temperature idiot guage was at normal level.

Checked the car this morning and the coolant overflow tank was nearly bone dry.

Refilled the overflow tank and ran the car for 10-15 minutes. No knocks, pings, white smoke, etc.

Overflow tank was still at MAX level when my ride picked me up for work.

Came home this evening to find the coolant overflow tank bone dry again.
I had spoken to one of the guys at my favorite MINI specialty shop and he advised me to run the engine again and if any weird sounds/smoke happened, to shut it off immediately.

Took it for a spin in the neighborhood and after 10 minutes or so, the temperature idiot guage jumped up to redline so I immediately parked & requested a towtruck.

Schultze is now at the MINI specialty shop and hopefully it's a loose hose like he initially mentioned after I told him no white residue and the CEL went off last night after topping off the fluids.

Hopefully I'll have an idea what's going on by end of business day on Tuesday.

 

Almost forgot...

When I checked the car this morning and again this evening, no cabin heat was available...it simply blew air that wasn't as cold as when I turned the AC on.

It sucked to see Schultze get towed away...

 

that last post gives it away: U have a blown head gasket.

and btw this is the 2G probs and fixes forum...

 

.

 

One of the moderators moved my post from the 1G forum to the 2G forum...I sent a note asking it to be put back in the 1G forum.

 

Yup, my bad. Sorry about that.

 

Yep, dollars to donuts. If you're losing coolant and it's not on the ground, it's a head gasket. Just went through this with my Scooby. On the plus side, the MINI doesn't require engine removal to pull the head!

 

NAM is a community where we help one another, not tear each other down. Those who can't get on board with that may want to find something besides NAM to occupy their time.

Offending comments removed.