I have horrible news today. I was going for a ride out to Holiday Park this afternoon about 3:00pm to check out some of the Harleys that hangout on the weekend. Well as I pulled into the park to wait for a parking spot, white smoke started to come out from under the bonnett like crazy. I turned the car off right away and opened the bonnett to see the cap on the overflow tank releasing fluid all over the engine and it was hitting the exahust manifold cause the fluid to smoke. WTF was happening?? I could only think that the thermostat got stuck closed and caused the problem. But why?? Just before the incident I did adjust the heater temp to 60F on the A/C cause the night before it was set at 74F for my kids as they were cold after we went to the stadium to see stupid monster trucks. <<<<(Don't comment on this right now.) So today when I was going to the park, the heat was still coming out on the floor even with the system off cause of the last setting. Then I adjusted it to a cooler setting and BOOM...Smoke everywhere!!!! I called MINI roadside to tow the car to the service department but its closed and they have no night drop service so it went to the tow company compound until the morning when they take it to Lauderdale Service. Wish me luck.......Any ideas what happen?? What do I do now?? I am so bummed. Has this happened to anyone else here that you may have heard?? Man this sucks!!!!

 

Mmmm........Coolant reservoir tank split open?

 

Was your car idling for a long period of time with the A/C on? It might only have to be a few minutes - happened to me last summer. It was a short caused by that little power steering fan below. Kept blowing a 5 amp fuse. Warranty repair, I now keep a box of extra fuses ahndy just in case it happens again.

_________________

 

A/C off and was idleing for only a few minutes and POOF...Smoke coming out of the bonnet. The pressure cap was letting out the fluid like it should have but why did it happen at all?? Thermostat?? Fuse Blown?? No clue right now.

 

Response I got was that the aux. fan that cools off the engine (you may hear it at a stop light, or after driving hard) is on a fuse line with little fan (PS fan?) underneath car. That fuse blows, aux. fan cannot kick in, and car overheats. I replaced the fuse, kept an eye on it until I was able to get it to the dealer.

 

Did you do any mods to your car that would make it run hotter than usual? Do you still have the original coolant tank? Maybe the coolant tank cap was no good or maybe not screwed on properly.

 

Just the normal mods everyone else has done. Pully, Intake etc. And the cap was working right otherwise it would have not released the fluid after the pressure rasied from the heat. Third tank since 12/2002. This one has lasted for the longest so thats not it.

 

Ah, so the pressure release on the cap made the coolant come out. I thought the pressure built up and split the tank or the cap wasn't screwed on tightly, or the cap was defective.

Let us know the diagnosis. Hopefully, your dealer won't try to push the blame on the pulley and other mods. How long have you had your pulley on the car, and what % is it?

 

do you have an 02 or early 03.

I agree with the PS fan problem/fault. Mine happened on I-495 in just before rush hour. MiniClo was there. I suspect the you ate a dry cleaning bag or trash bag (now you have a good reasion to trash people that litter).

The early cars that the cooling fans and PS fans on the same curcit. In extreem cases I think even later cars can loose coolant. Though with I do not understand the logic as the later cars have the fans on sepret circuits.

If you shut down your car right away there is not damage other than that to your drivers seat (McGuires interior cleaner will get rid of the brown spot on the seat bottom - or it did for me anyway).

The dealer here had my car back to me in a day. Relax. Take a deep breath. Look up all the vendors and get a fan cover.


Hope you get your car back soon
John

 

>>do you have an 02 or early 03.
>>
>>I agree with the PS fan problem/fault. Mine happened on I-495 in just before rush hour. MiniClo was there. I suspect the you ate a dry cleaning bag or trash bag (now you have a good reasion to trash people that litter).
>>
>>The early cars that the cooling fans and PS fans on the same curcit. In extreem cases I think even later cars can loose coolant. Though with I do not understand the logic as the later cars have the fans on sepret circuits.
>>
>>If you shut down your car right away there is not damage other than that to your drivers seat (McGuires interior cleaner will get rid of the brown spot on the seat bottom - or it did for me anyway).
>>
>>The dealer here had my car back to me in a day. Relax. Take a deep breath. Look up all the vendors and get a fan cover.
>>
>>
>>Hope you get your car back soon
>>John


Hey John thanks for the word.....Already have a fan cover and yes it is an 02.....I just hope all will be OK for the long term.


I've had the pulley for almost a year now. (Randy Install) and its a 15%.....I just hope the dealer dosen't give me any crap about it. So far they have not said anything.
_________________
Everglades MINI Cooper"S" 2002-203HP