Hello MINI Community! I'm stuck at the moment as my 2006 MCS is stalling while driving. Upon looking under the hood it appears that coolant is sputtering from the coolant bleeder valve at the top of the radiator. The coolant is then leaking below and splashing the alternator I'm assuming it is the splashing of the alternator that is causing the stalling? Thoughts?

I'm thinking that I may have just over-filled the coolant as I know the water pump has a slow leak so I have to add coolant every other month. I added coolant yesterday. My question is, is the bleeder valve supposed to have a hollow opening in the center whereas coolant can leak out if it is too full? While I wait for the engine/coolant to cool off I just wanted to seek your help! Besides checking the coolant level and checking if the bleeder valve is loose, what other things do I need to check? If coolant is spurting from the center of the valve does this need to be replaced?

Thanks!

 

Nope....
Tighten the screw...will not cause the car to stall....

 

I would get to an AutoZone and have them check for DTC alert. Splashing water on the alternator should have no effect on the engine stalling. Also put your computer into the service mode and read the h2o temps as you drive

 

Thanks for the suggestions. You were both correct that fluid on the alternator wasn't the cause of the stalling. Update: a friend had an ODBII tool, and the code that the car was throwing was P1617. After some research the fault is an MTC H Bridge Diagnosis code for the electronic throttle control. I wasn't able to find anyone with a similar issue although as it sounded electrical/computer related, I made an appointment at MINI of Peabody expecting bad news...

It took nearly two weeks at the dealership but the root cause of the stalling was the computer, in BMW parlance: the DME. Apparently this was covered by a particular 80k mile warranty I had never previously heard of and as my car was at 76k, I just squeaked by!

After the DME was replaced and stalling gone, the tech found a code signifying that one of the oxygen sensors had failed. Upon replacing this, the threads in the header wouldn't accept the new sensor without leaking, so the dealership had to replace the header with cat as well. Both of these parts were covered under an emissions-control warranty.

It was nice to walk out of the dealership with a 7 year old car with 76k miles with a new computer, oxygen sensor and header and not have to pay a dime!

 

Mini of Peabody is great!! That's where I got my car!! Mini of Bedford nh is also in the same ownership group.