on a Cooper, what fluid is in the black container immediately to the right of the coolant expansion tank (i'm not near my service manual right now)

i was cleaning my engine and there seemed to be some slight overflow from this that was burnt on the side of the container..

doesn't seem like a problem.. but I dunno.. i dont like havig to clean it!

anyone know if this is 100% normal and/or what it is

 

I believe that would be your brake fluid reservoir.
I've got an 03 MCS and shortly after taking delivery I noticed a bit of fluid around the top and cap. Checked the level and it was fine. I just attributed it to conering at breakneck speeds.

 

Well.....

I think it's the power steering fluid tank.

Which one in this image?

The power steering is just to the driver's side of the clear/white tank in the center.
It has a green ring.

The brake fluid is way to the driver's side and has yellow words all over it.

 

power steering then... that's the one - is that normal/OK?

or should I run scared to my dealer screaming about my poor power-steering fluid container

 

Clean it up, tighten the cap and watch it.

It should NOT leak any fluid into the engine compartment.

That stuff is a nasty paint-remover if it's anything like brake fluid.

 

Mine leaks as well. I have a 2003 MC. I have about 10k miles on the car. I checked and cap is tight.
Also I have a coolant loss that I can't seem to find the source. I have lost about one full resevoir tank. Maybe that's normal for 10k miles.

 

Was there not something about the hose connected under the reservoir having a tendency to come loose?

 

I saw something in regards to the hose rubbing against the heat shield.

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MINI... greater than the sum of its parts

 

It might be the hose, but more likely it's the tank itself. If your tank looks like the one in Trippy's photo, it is the OLD style part (used, amazingly enough, well into this current model year). The new part is a slightly different color. At any rate, the original style tank generally leaks a little or a lot, but eventually a lot and thus requires replacement. There have been a number of owners who have had 2 or more tanks replaced with the same old style part that fails. I was one of those folks. The third time was the charm and I got the redesigned tank...and so far (5K miles), no leak.

 

No no no, Jsun.

We are not talking about the coolant reservoir, but the power steering fluid reservoir.

There have been no changes to this part.

You are describing the coolant tank which leaks on an MCS, but this poster has a Cooper.

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I've noticed a couple of times over the past year that the black fluid tank, which I believe holds power steering fluid, has 'gunk' on the front of it as if fluid overflowed, collected dirt, etc., and dried to a tacky mess. The top of the fluid reservoir is on tight, and when I open it to check the level all looks fine. Any guesses as to what this mystery fluid might be?

I did a search and found this thread, but it looks as if a number of posts have been deleted...

 

Okay, I got an answer to my question. My friend just picked up his MINI from service and he asked the tech there about it; it turns out that that little hole in one of the spokes on the cap is a pressure release valve... so when the fluid is too full or too pressurized, the valve lets out excess. Perfectly normal. :smile: The last time I remember cleaning up the mess was well before my 25K service; they must have topped off the PS fluid then.