Found a very slight coolant leak dripping from behind exhaust down pipe. First thought after reading threads was thermostat housing so I changed it out, still have slight leak. I removed down pipe and heat shields for better look, thinking it maybe oil filter housing leaking coolant. I tried pressurizing the system and cannot see leak from oil filter housing it appears to be higher looks like exhaust manifold ?! It's driving me nooking futs. Any ideas ?
2008 mini clubman s with 45k miles always garaged and daily driver, I am now gonna have to legit to work this week.
Do you think I should just change the o rings in the filter housing and hope for the best . It is wet around the left side but not sure if it's running down from above. Did see one time when we pressurized the system a slight squirt coming fro one of the exhaust manifold studs (just before we blew a house of the thermostat hug.
Any ideas would be welcomed.

 

Maybe it could be coming from the turbo?

 

Checked that looks good thanks

 

Kenny, I too have 08 Clubman S with 45k miles. Just diagnosed with bad thermostat. How did this work out for you? What year was this? Will this affect the engine or just A/C? Cost? The dealer told me I today I need to replace valve cover and get new thermostat = $1200+ for both.

 

So is your thermostat housing leaking?
Tell tale sign is coolant pooling on top of the transmission housing and then running down underneath.
Just done this job on my sons 2007 R56 Cooper S
If the housing is leaking then its a fairly easy DIY and cheap enough if you can source the part well.
Why do you need a new valve cover btw?

Ramifications are not too bad, keeping an eye on the coolant and having a bottle of water in the car will keep you on the road- but the job needs sorting sooner than later in case the leak turns into a torrent -then overheat equals likely head gasket failure

 

CJA,
Dealer said "valve cover." Local mechanic said "valve cover gasket." Apparently, both seemed to agree the valve cover was leaking.

 

Honestly, I'm no mechanic, but could probably watch someone or help someone do the work and figure it out from there.

 

Did you fix the issue? There is another thread talking about the same issue. They suggested that the leak came from the oil filter housing that's matted to the engine block. The seal is failing.