I have a 2002 MCS that I bought new. The first coolant tank lasted until May 2013. I replaced it with an OEM unit purchased from Mini of Peabody and installed it myself.

That unit lasted almost exactly one year. Driving 95 back home, the seam began really releasing antifreeze so I bit the bullet and had Mini of Mt Laurel NJ replace it. They took the car at 4PM and had it back a little over an hour later. The tank was warranted, but since I installed it myself they charged me labor.

Tank #2 lasted 4 months, it is now leaking from the seam.

1st Question: Has anyone had a good experience with the replacement OEM tanks? Mini issued a TSB in 2006 about the poor bonding on the seam. I would think that by now they could get it right. Do they just not care?

Went to Mini of Baltimore today to get the tank #3 replaced. They took the car then told me my fan was not working at either low or high speed so would not warranty the tank unless I forked over $700 for a new fan assembly. The SA said if it worked on high speed that would replace the tank. After getting the car back I found the fan would come on the high speed, but the resistor may be burnt out on the low speed circuit. I pointed this out to the SA and he flatly stated "this is above my paygrade", let me get the service manager. The SM refused to replace the tank without also doing the fan. The only explanation they gave was that the fan must be "intermittent" . BTW they also held my car as ransom until I forked over $125 for a "diagnostic" fee. I got the distinct impression, they knew the fan worked and just tried to rip me off.

2nd Question: Has anyone had trouble getting a tank warranted due to the low speed circuit not working? Mini warranty on parts is supposed to be 2 years.

I have a call into 866-ask-mini to see if they can help. I am now waiting for a supervisor, Clair, to call me back. The lower level folks I spoke to today in the resolution center seemed unable to resolve anything.

Thanks for any input.

Steven

02 MCS
59 Bugeye
05 Elise
07 Tacoma
10 RX450

 

I've seen very few that have lasted since new. Had one in today that was 11yrs old and just started leaking.

I do NOT recommend going back with the stock plastic ones. The new ones are worse than the old ones as the last few I did have lasted less than 6 months.

So now we are ONLY installing our Aluminium replacement tank or the Forge Aluminium tank. Both have been excellent with no failures and will keep us from having to replace them again.

I would make sure your fan and everything else in the cooling system is functioning correctly. If there is another issue the extra pressure put on the cooling system can cause the weakest part of the system to fail quickly.

 

My original lasted ~10 years. Just replaced with aftermarket OEM style. Hope it lasts longer than yours! If not, aluminum time.
It's two bolts and two hose clamps, i.e. actual labor is nil.
IMO, BS on not covering the fan on warranty. It can hold pressure or not.

 

Mine has lasted 123,000 miles so far. From November 05 to today & hopefully beyond.

 

It seems a little surprising to me that they would charge you labor just because you serviced it yourself. If you had an independent shop do the installation, would they have covered the labor?

This certainly seems like a job well within the capabilities of a competent home mechanic and it is hard to see how you could have caused the tank to fail.

 

How do you verify proper fill level in the aluminum tank? Is the aluminum alloy the same composition as the engine block, whatever particular alloy that is?

 

Our engine blocks are cast iron. The cylinder head is aluminium.

 

Yeah, sorry, slip of the fingers. I do recall reading that the R53 block is cast iron. Thanks for the correction.

In addition to the head, the oil pan is also made of aluminum, right?