2009 justaClubman puked on the driveway last month. Cracked thermostat housing @ 65000 mi. Local shop replaced it for $366 parts & labor. This was an aftermarket replacement part because there is a huge demand due to the OEM failures; probably a better made part (still plastic).

 

Previous owner replaced auxiliary pump and main pump under warranty or recall. I replaced the housing and the pump and 8 months later the new housing is leaking. Seriously someone needs to take the initiative and roll an aluminum one. I don't really like the idea of replacing this expensive piece of plastic every year.

 

I think aftermarket manufactures are to intimidated just looking at the complexity of the thermostat housing as it looks more complicated than an artificial heart. Besides I know Mini is enjoying the killing in sales that their making off the thermostat housing, this part is clearly design to fail. I will never buy a car with this many plastic parts, I see one more plastic valve cover and it's a deal breaker.

 

2009 MCS Hardtop R56. Started throwing P0128 about a month ago with maximum temperature only getting up to the 150f area. Diagnosed as failing thermostat, replaced with brand new Mini part. Was shown the original removed failed part, the thermostat was clearly stuck wide open, so figured my problems were over with a new housing. Drove car for a few days, now the temperature wouldn't even get up to 130f!!! Just got my Mini back today with another new (original Mini part) thermostat housing installed (fortunately at no charge). They showed me the part (the recent "original MINI" replacement, less than 2 weeks old) and told me that a gasket that goes between the plastic housing and the thermostat was twisted such that it was preventing the thermostat from making a watertight seal around its seat so in effect it was also acting as a fully open thermostat all the time. It appears this gasket is a part that had to have been installed during the manufacturing process as although it is visible looking down thru one of the hose ports, it's not accessible once assembled and can't be installed/replaced without dismantling the housing. Based on this they agreed it appeared to be a faulty component direct from Mini. They checked the new/third thermostat housing (also original Mini) before installation and told me it looked OK. I'm not so sure as after the drive home (150 miles) my temperature never rose above 176f and mostly stayed in the 167f range which is far below the 200f-210f I used to get with my original system before it failed. It didn't throw the P0128 code but I'm concerned it's there waiting to happen and this third housing isn't the complete answer to my problem. Does anyone know what temperature must be reached to prevent the P0128 (Coolant Temperature Below Thermostat Regulating Temperature) from activating, ie if the temperature doesn't get up to xxx degrees f, then the P0128 code will be activated.

 

I dont have the temperature, but that does seem to be running cooler. I bet its around 150F since you had it CEL at that.

 

Add me to the list....2009 fJCW, 65k miles...unbeknownst to me all coolant leaked out, driving to work one morning, just 2-3 mins down the road and a yellow warning indicator came up that I had never seen before! ...turned around and just go it back home as the same indication turned "red"! Replaced it myself. Now I use my digital OBD plug in readout (Scanguage) and monitor the water temp all the time! Normal temp is right at 221-222F.

 

Where are you located, what is your outside air temperature? I'm in NY and my OAT currently is around 20f when I go to work in the morning and near 40f when I go home in the afternoon. Even with the third brand new thermostat/housing assembly, my coolant never gets above 182f. Not even close to the 200f-210f I used to get with the original housing. Is the OAT just too cool to get my coolant up? This is mixed 70mph highway and 35mph city driving of 20 miles each way.

 

Yea, you should be higher, wonder if its the scan tool, did you try another one ?

 

Yes, ScanXL Pro on a PC, an Actron tool and Dash Command, all give the same results, within a degree or two.

 

What OAT are you referring to ?

 

Roll call for who has replace their 2nd Gen Thermostat ? Not sure I understand the point of this thread but to each their own....

On my Chevy Van had to replace the thermostat at 60K miles.
On my Ford T-Bird, had to replace radiator, water pump and T stat at 80K miles.
On my 06 MCS, had to replace thermostat and gasket at 70K miles.

It's NOT a life time part, anymore than the fluids in these cars are lifetime...and to top it off, it's made of plastic to keep car weight down, and in a very hot environment.

 

OAT / Outside Air Temperature, ie the temperature of the ambient air outside your car, not referring to any specific engine air parameter. I'm just wondering if the fact that the air temperature of the atmosphere I'm driving thru could be cold enough that the outside air coming into the radiator is keeping the coolant system so cold that it can't get up to 200f. I thought the engine management system would keep the thermostat closed until it got up around 200f, but if the outside air is cooling the radiator so much maybe it can't ever get that high even with the thermostat shut.


As for the comment that it is not a lifetime part, it should at least last 35,000 miles, I'm on my third one at 35,500. That's why this thread, just how prevalent are early life failures of this plastic part, how often are people having to replace it.

 

ok, thought you were referring to something else. I find it strange its at 180 all the time. Every one i have seen it 215 ~ running

 

I'm at the point where I am concerned it may be my ECU that is screwed up. I know the first two housings were actually mechanically bad, the first had a thermostat stuck wide open. The second appeared to be defective from the factory, the gasket between the housing and thermostat was twisted out of position allowing coolant to flow around the thermostat flange. These problems could be visual seen with the housings removed. To have the ECU defective at the same time seems unlikely, but I'm getting desperate to find the cause of this. Yes, I had tested my car when first purchased and it was in the 200f-215f range. However, I had never driven my car in cold weather before, it is always put away for winter and never driven until the roads were clear of snow and temperatures are at least in the 60f's. This was an unusual year, no snow and clear roads so I've had my Mini out early, but it's been colder than I had ever driven the Mini before. So I had never tested the coolant temperature in such cold weather to know if it actually got up to the 200f's like it did in the summer time.


Since the temperature is not getting much above 180f, I wonder if the ECU, for whatever reason, is "thinking/reading" 180f as 220f instead, and sending the signal (heating the resistor) to cause the thermostat to open at the 180f point. I would love to find a obd II pid for that sensor (if one exists) to see what the ECU is reading, and also a pid to track what the ECU is sending back to the thermostat housing to cause the resistor to heat and the thermostat to open so I can determine if that is the cause of failing to get above 180f.

 

Yea, i would do the ecu reset or a battery cables off method, you will loose you temp memory settings and the battery if IBS would have to be set again. Might start it back on the 215 path.

 

Was in dealership for unrelated work (58k) and the CEL came on 5 miles later. They told me it was the thermostat housing and tried to appeal this to the Mini corporate gods upstairs without success. So they split the cost at the dealership level. Serendipitous that the failure occurred so close to another issue and that they were sensitive enough to understand the customer service implications. Kudos to my service department. Especially happy to know that the repair is covered for two years with unlimited mileage. From what I have read here, parts alone run well into the $100's with coolant, housing, sensor, etc.

 

Glad they came through for you.

 

I had it replaced around 60k.

 

replaced mine right after i got it ~35k miles, prob could have had dealership i bought it from do it. Housing didnt leak but the thermostat was stuck open

 

I'm on the list now, too. Purchased the Bremmen unit from ECS Tuning.

Question: when installing, should any sort of gasket sale be used on the blue silicone gasket that is supplied with the unit?

 

Thanks for the order.

No silicone, the stock Genuine MINI and the bremmen install the same, what you do want to do is make sure the surface on the head side is clean , wipe always any dirt or crud. I used a little alcohol wipe to clean the side of the head wen i did mine. Also make sure the gasket is in place and seated on the housing and its not flipped or tweaked.

 

You folks are great. Thanks for the quick response.

 

Hey ECS, last question, I promise. Will I need the wiring adapter for a 2009 Justa in orde too install the Bremen unit?

 

Ugh. There have been at least three different iterations of wiring for the thermostat. I'll bet they have to track that by VIN, or possibly by getting a photo of the plugs... :(

 

Welcome,

No tracking of the VIN, I figured it out.

Just like OEM version for certain years of certain model have to use the adapter. If you use our drop down menu it will pop up. 2009 R56 ( NON S ) does not need it.

All 6/2010 to 3/2012 Gen 2 MINI Cooper ( NON S ) & JCW s , have to use the wire when switching, if they already did the switch ( already through a new thermostat before ) to the new thermostat they already have it, you can tell by looking at the main harness

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...out-where.html