>>Same color...
>>and expansion tank is leaking too, I think it's from the parting line which runs around the middle of the tank. maybe it's because of bad manufacturing/molding process. anybody has the same problem??
Let us know how Mini deals with this for you....

 

The current "fix" is to replace the coolant expansion tank, by replacing it with a new version of the same part. There has been no design/manufacturing process change change yet.

So, keep an eye on the replacement expansion tank since it's the exact same part.

 

I to have a coolant issue. I just e-mailed myservice rep and am waiting for a responce. My production date was 8/23/02. I only have 900 miles on the car. Its a weekend driver only. Thanks God for company cars.

 

Everyone should check it!!!

 

I would agree that people should check.

The thing is that in my case, there wasn't that much coolant leaking, so it was still possible to drive the car. In fact, I drove for two weeks with this leak before the problem was "fixed", since the leak wasn't resulting in large coolant loss. This may vary from situation to situation. So it does pay to check periodically.

 

My Coolant has changed color after I had my expansion tank replaced due to a leak at the seam.

It's a mirky brown color. Car runs perfect and seems unaffected by this change.

I was told to drive it and don't worry about it. Dealership has a note and will repar / replace parts if a problem does arise.

Kesh

 

>>It's a mirky brown color. Car runs perfect and seems unaffected by this change.
>>
>>I was told to drive it and don't worry about it. Dealership has a note and will repar / replace parts if a problem does arise.

Will they replace it if the problem occurs at 75K or just up to 50K?

 

My plain old Cooper's coolant just changed from blue to brown at 3500 miles. Looks like Bass Ale or perhaps Guiness. Haven't tasted it yet. Suggestions? :???:

 

Had same problem on Chevy Blazer a few years back...coolent went from orange to brown to muddy brown and then turned to mud....Coolant was reacting with metals used in radiator or block..Dealer flushed, replaced radiator and new type of coolant. Hope my MC does not have same problem...will go look under bonnet. This is scarey...

 

>>My plain old Cooper's coolant just changed from blue to brown at 3500 miles. Looks like Bass Ale or perhaps Guiness. Haven't tasted it yet. Suggestions?

 

We took my girlfriends mini into sterling to have a couple of thing finished up and they tech said that they hadn't seen this in a mini yet, but he had seen it on other new cars and that they would just flush it. They offered to do it the next day (it was like 6:00 PM and the techs were headed out for the day), but we wanted the car for the weekend, so we opted to drop it of today. The car seemed to cool fine and it will be flushed tomorrow. Sterling Mini has provided us with great service so far. We have only had the mini for a couple of weeks, but they have catered to all of our needs no questions asked, and they had no problem fixing this for us.

 

I don't have my car yet, but this is a curious problem. Most curious is that it's been nearly a month on this topic and no real answer.

I think we should make this the most posted to board until this is resolved by all. Maybe if there are 3000 posts on this issue we can get to the bottom of it.

I'm not buying the "car runs hot so it changes the color' bit.

And I don't like the mysterious way MINI is NOT handling this.

Good luck all and I'll report on mine as soon as I get it. :???:

 

>>I don't have my car yet, but this is a curious problem. Most curious is that it's been nearly a month on this topic and no real answer.
>>
>>I think we should make this the most posted to board until this is resolved by all. Maybe if there are 3000 posts on this issue we can get to the bottom of it.
>>
>>I'm not buying the "car runs hot so it changes the color' bit.
>>
>>And I don't like the mysterious way MINI is NOT handling this.
>>
>>Good luck all and I'll report on mine as soon as I get it. :evil:

 

Personally, the color change reminds me of what happened to my Honda when it blew a head gasket at 200K miles. There is a bit of an oily /greasy residue floating on top. I don't agree with this "run hotter" idea as mine is a regular Cooper and the color changed after the temperatures dropped into the 60's. I also do not agree with the leaky coolant bottle theory as most overflow bottles on cars aren't airtight and I've never had coolant color changes(except for the Honda problem).
I do have a "bog" at low rpms and have wondered about compression...

 

Any other Non-S Coopers with this problem? Does everyone know where the coolant tank is? I shouldn't assume that all our members are under their bonnets every day so if you have a question about how to check this...please ask.

 

I had noticed fluid on the outside of the coolant tank 2 days ago but forgot to check it today. I'll post my findings tomorrow :evil: .

 

Here's a copy of my mini2.com update on all of this:
_________

Faithful readers of this thread may recall that I was contacted by MINI USA concerning my postings on the coolant color change in my MCS. They requested that I bring it back to the dealer for additional tests.

This morning it was taken to the "local" (73 miles) dealer. The service department had been in touch with the MINI USA technical line at whose instructions a sample of the coolant was drawn to be forwarded to MINI. In addition, a compression test was run which was normal. They were not instructed to change the coolant at this time.

So the end result is that my coolant bottle doesn't seem to be leaking, engine compression is right where it should be, and the coolant color is as it was.

While driving the temp gauge stays just below the midpoint. I have noticed it takes longer to reach normal operating temp, but here in western New York the mornings are now much cooler.

The story continues.............

 

>>The story continues.............
>>
>>
And so does the waiting.....for an answer. :evil:

 

>>>>The story continues.............
>>>>
>>>>
>>And so does the waiting.....for an answer. :evil:
>>


Exactly !!!!!

 

>>>>>>The story continues.............
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>And so does the waiting.....for an answer. :evil:
>>>>
>>
>>
>>Exactly !!!!!

So I go out today and check my coolant recovery tank and guess what.....leaking.
Then I go for a cup of coffee and see a nice Chlili Red/Black S parked in the lot. This, for some reason, excites me. So I drink my coffee slowly and talk to the guy driving a 3 day old Chili Red/Black S and ask him if he minds if I look at his coolant recovery tank. He doesn't mind. Guess what? Leaking, just like mine. The good part of the story was that his coolant looked blue. So wazzup MINIUSA? :evil:
But I did tell the guy about MCOL so hopefully he will post.

 

I have noticed a change in my Coopers coolant cooler too. I had read this thread a few weeks ago and checked my coolant then to see if I had the same issue...looked blue. I just checked it again a few days ago and what do you know? Yup, it's murky looking! I just passed my break in period so I had been driving pretty tame...I'm wondering if the "breakdown" in color theroy is true or not...since I noticed the change after the break in period. I'm calling my dealer ASAP on this...I'll post what they have to say!

We'll figure this out one way or another!!!!

 

>>We'll figure this out one way or another!!!!

I'd prefer MiniUSA figure it out.

 

I just recieved a message back from my dealer. He says that there hasn't been any record made through MINI-Canada. Although he has 2 Cooper'S' models right now with the same problem, and is instructed to take some messaures to fix it. He says he going to replace the enine oil coolers to see if that helps (?). He also says for me not to worry about it in the meantime. Sorry bud, but I can't help but to.
As for the leaks that are occurring with members here. Where are the leaks taking place? I just want to make sure mine isn't leaking, and where I should be looking. Mine has turned from a dark orange to a muddy orange. The level seems to still be between the Max and Min lines.
This is the slowest time I have ever experienced for a car dealer/manufacturer to solve a problem.

 

I just recieved a message back from my dealer. He says that there hasn't been any record made through MINI-Canada. Although he has 2 Cooper'S' models right now with the same problem, and is instructed to take some messaures to fix it. He says he going to replace the enine oil coolers to see if that helps (?). He also says for me not to worry about it in the meantime. Sorry bud, but I can't help but to.
As for the leaks that are occurring with members here. Where are the leaks taking place? I just want to make sure mine isn't leaking, and where I should be looking. Mine has turned from a dark orange to a muddy orange. The level seems to still be between the Max and Min lines.
This is the slowest time I have ever experienced for a car dealer/manufacturer to solve a problem.

 

>>I just recieved a message back from my dealer. He says that there hasn't been any record made through MINI-Canada. Although he has 2 Cooper'S' models right now with the same problem, and is instructed to take some messaures to fix it. He says he going to replace the enine oil coolers to see if that helps (?). He also says for me not to worry about it in the meantime. Sorry bud, but I can't help but to.
>>As for the leaks that are occurring with members here. Where are the leaks taking place? I just want to make sure mine isn't leaking, and where I should be looking. Mine has turned from a dark orange to a muddy orange. The level seems to still be between the Max and Min lines.
>>This is the slowest time I have ever experienced for a car dealer/manufacturer to solve a problem.
>>
>>
The seam in the coolant recovery tank seems to be the place that most
are leaking from. Replacing oil coolers to see if this is
a fix? That is news I didn't want to hear.