Once again, thanks for a quick response -- I'm hoping to get the little car back on the road quickly. I've been very frustrated with the lack of OEM (Semper Fi) parts, but the Bremen looks to be of very high quality. So far the most difficult part seems to be getting all of the electrical connectors moved out of harm's way.

 

so im leaning towards this issue, took a 4 hour round trip adventure and came back out after it being parked for about 3 hours to find a puddle of oily/coolantish liquid under the car. the liquid had no smell at all which was weird and had all the signs of a Thermostat housing issue. am i on the right path or does it sound like something else?

 

I just finished mine. It's really not all that bad a job. Getting the clip back on the main water pipe that goes across the back of the motor is the only part that will make you say bad things. The rest is fiddly stuff but not hard.

Once agai, I have to give a shout out to the folks at ECS who supplied the Bremen replacement (BMW/Mini parts have been in spotty supply since last November). Overall, I spent about $125 for parts and new coolant. It took about four hours. I could do it again in less -- and keep in mind I'm nearly 70 years old so I don't do nuttin quickly. The Bremen part appears to be identical to the Mini unit that I took off.

But I just returned from a 50 mile test run. No leaks, and the temp varied between 216 and 221 degrees. I can cool it down to 180 real quickly by hitting the "Max" button on the A/C. Back to normal.

If the Bremen part holds up, this will have been a very minor repair. If you're any kind of car person, you can do it.

 

Welcome, Thanks for the order. Congrats on the fix.

 

at 36K, my 2012 Mini check engine light came on indicating the thermostat and housing needed to be replaced.
It took several attempts from the garage to get the correct housing and the correct wire harness.
They tried to charge me double what the parts would have cost were I able to get them from the Mini dealer! I know garages mark up parts but 100% was a bit much. Finally they called the Mini dealer and they gave me the parts price. Still it cost $465 plus I had no car for 5 days.
If anyone hears of a recall, please let me know.
Happy motoring - still love my Mini!

 

i didnt have a CEL, but mine leaked anyway

 

Totally frustrated with Mini at this point. The P0128's came back again after the third (in just a few months) replacement of the complete thermostat housing. Response from Mini was "Must be your thermostat housing is bad". OAT (Outside Air Temperature is now 85-90F yet my Mini STILL won't get up much over 170f degrees, and once moving settles in around 165f. Once again, a NEW MINI thermostat housing was installed (makes four new housings in four months) and the P0128 are back again. There obviously is some other cause, yet Mini's solution is, wait for it: replace the thermostat housing. Someone somewhere must have a better idea as to what can cause this problem. A new wrinkle is that now with the much warmer outside air temperature in the 80f's and 90f's, I finally turned on my air conditioner, only to find that also is not functioning. I see that failure has been listed as one possible side effect of the coolant temperature not getting up high enough (ie the P0128 code). I still think there may be something wrong with the ECU, either reading from or sending to the thermostat, the wrong data, but either there are no Mini service tools that can read that data to show it is in error, or the data is correct and they have no other idea what can cause the problem. An unresolvable problem on a car with less than 36,000 miles sure doesn't have me standing in line to buy another Mini. Once more, does anyone have any other ideas as to what can cause this problem (P0128), after the thermostat housing has been replaced 4 times and the problem reoccurs within 3 days of each replacement? At a minimum it's time to check out other Mini dealers. Currently each trip is 150 miles one way. Next closest dealer is nearly 200 miles but I guess I don't have a choice but to move on.

 

my coolant was leaking in March and took it to a local shop and it turned out to be the thermostat housing. Set me back $450, but they got it done in 2 days.

 

It started consuming coolant and saw that it was wet on top of the transmission. Hard to pin point at first. Took me about 4 hrs to do myself. It was frustrating but I think it would've gone smoother with a six pack. LOL

 

Replaced mine myself on my '08 MCCS a few months back @48k miles. The Peugeot engine cooling system is a piece of crap. The whole water pump, rear pipe ($80 bucks for a tube of plastic!) , Tstat housing debacle is an embarrassment and I can't believe Mini will not own up to it and do a recall with improved parts. And lets not talk about the turbo oil return li es and carbon build up on the intake valves. I like so many things on the Mini, but after I get my BMW based engine MCC, I'll be glad to see the old one go. Zero confidence in long term reilability.

And how hard is it to design a freaking sun visor lighted mirror door that doesn't break, and if it does, doesn't cost $130 it plastic to replace!!

My problem is the wife loves the cars, and just says "Fix it please...."

 

I didn't think of breaking out some ice cold Pilsner Urquell for this! Four hours for me also on 2007 Justa, about 85K miles. It helps to have the right tools and not shitty channel locks for all the clamps needed. The one for main lower coolant drain was especially nasty to get back into position. What's with the lack of coolant drain valve? Also, long nose vise grips are useful to get the metal clip off and on under the intake manifold.

Shout out to Brian Eslick and How to Automotive on the youtube video that helped me immensely.

 

2012 Justa clubman P0599 heater control circut 23k miles replaced under warranty

 

Handy dandy tutorial


Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Just had my thermostat housing go yesterday on my 2010 mcs. Going home after work to order the housing and pick up some antifreeze. Thank god for having the bike as a backup vehicle

 

Thank you for the tutorial Mini Mania

 

80K miles.

 

Welcome!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Okay, here is a related question:

I am going to be replacing my houseing shortly. I am awaiting the replacement from ECS.

In the meantime I have been researching which coolant to purchase and reading about Mini versus some others and the topic of Dex-Cool. So I go out to look at my coolant in the overflow tank. When I had the timing chain replaced I had the water pump replaced and the shop said they used BMW coolant. Unfortunately, the coolant in the tank looks like a mix of red and blue (no, it isn't really purple, it is kind of black actually but the sides of the tank are red.)

So, I am wondering if this could be the cause of my failed thermostat, and, how much damage could have been done to the rest of the cooling system at this point, and, can I flush out any of the evil "goop" DEx-Cool seems to create, assuming it is in there?

Thanks!

 

Just drain as best as you can and replace with the MINI coolant

 

Thanks for the order. Flush it out as best you can, it may take multiple flushes to get it all out if it solidified. Then replace with MINI Blue Coolant , mix 50 / 50 with distilled water.

 

Would using a commercial flush be a good idea, or just water? Also the current housing is not cracked or leaking, the thermostat is just wide open. Should I flush it before I replace the housing?

 

Most just use water, but in your case the additional gunk from non MINI Blue coolant might be best at releasing from the old location with an additive. I hope that stuff is not logged too bad, you dont know till you open it up and flush it. Do it in both directions on the flush a couple times.

 

2012 Mini R60 - 22K miles. CEL came on and indicated P0597. Contacted Mini Dealer, they stated under warranty, but don't drive it here (350 miles) have it towed. CEL went out, I cleared the code and now it is back as pending. What say ye? Have it towed and let Mini take care of it or wait for the CEL to come on again?


TIA

 

Thanks!

 

I can only tell you what I'd do, and that is if Mini said don't drive it, don't drive it! Especially under warranty. You don't want to make any additional problems that they refuse to repair.

Unless you are sure that the thermostat is open, you could overheat the car and cause more problems or get stranded somewhere between home and the dealer.

Just one man's opinion