My 06 S started leaking coolant, at first only a drip, now a bit more. Thought it might only be a "cold leak" but upon inspection it appears to be comming from the head gasket at the right rear of the engine. Is this a common problem? And more importantly, will Mini stand by this or am I going to have to foot the bill/labor? Seems like this is a premature failure! Any thoughts/advice?

 

Are you down on power or thrown any fault codes? It could be thermostat housing leak or coolant temp sensor leak.

Jeremy

 

Agreed on the thermostat housing O-ring leak possibility, this is a very common problem. If you have this issue, go ahead and replace the thermostat as well, and also give the housing itself a good inspection, as it is a composite/plastic material, it may also need replacing.

 

Thermostat. Probably an hour or two of shop time, and $40 for the thermostat/gasket combo. If you're handy, it's not that hard a job. I just did this on a friend's '05.

 

Hope you guys are right! I'll take a closer look although it sure did seem like it was coming from the head mating surface.

 

^ These guys know of what they speak.

+3 for a thermostat leaking.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...at-change.html

 

+1 to thermostat housing.

As for the possibility of the head gasket leaking, any boostfed vehicle is more susceptible to a failure. That's the price you pay for performance.

 

The way to diagnose is to find the Tstat housing, and look carefully where it meets the cylinder head. Do you see a white or light blue crust right where the plastic meets the aluminum of the head? You need a new Tstat. You probably don't need the housing--it's usually the gasket that fails. We charge 2 hours for the work, plus the Tstat and new coolant. It is a job that you could do at home if you were handy, and don't mind a little mess of coolant.

 

Mine was leaking from the same place and it REALLY looked like it was coming
from the cylinder head gasket, but it was actually from the thermostat gasket -
the coolant ran down from the bottom of the thermostat housing to the lip
between the head and the block, around to the back, and down from there.