Noticed coolant leak. Traced the leak to up top some where, but Im not very car smart so I was hoping someone on the forums could help me. I have 2006 mini non turbo

 

Thermostat housing is a common place as well as the overflow tank.

 

I know its not the overflow tank as the leak is more towards front of the car. Wound this be the thermostat housing leaking?

 

Ummm radiator? Cooling hoses? Really could be anything in the "front". Could be coming from the engine block/waterpump. If you don't plan on fixing it yourself, find a reliable, trustworthy shop to take it to and have them find the source of the leak. Consider any work you may want them to do while they're in there like replacing hoses and of course, changing the coolant completely.

 

Would i notice something specific if it's the waterpump? Is there something I should look for that would indicate its the waterpump. Thanks for taking the time to answer my ?'s

 

Cooper rather than Cooper S?


The thermostat/gasket/housing is a common spot for leaks. It can be hard to see
with everything in the way, but shine a light down through the gaps to the top of
the transmission from the driver's side of the engine and see if it's pooling up there.
Sometimes it runs around and down the back of the engine on that side as well.
The coolant sensor just below the thermostat/etc. and sometimes it will leak
(less often than the thermostat gasket, but it did happen to me).
Easier to see if you take out the battery box (with ecu), and maybe the airbox.
This is all a little different on the Cooper S.


If you look down to the passenger side of the radiator, you may see some coolant
puddled in the spash guard's wells. Then do the following.

To check out the radiator and water pump, run up the car on ramps or put on jack
stands and take off the splash guard just behind the front air dam. Just loosen the 3
10mm bolts under the air dam and unscrew the two Phillips screws at the back of the
guard. The guard slides back and off easily and you can look up at the water pump,
the hoses from it to elsewhere, the bottom of the radiator, the engine block etc. for
signs of leakage. Sometimes you can see some coolant dripping or coating the
lower rubber radiator mounts on one side or the other. May need to do this with the
car running and warmed up to see a slow drip.


Hope this helps.

 

Oh wow not sure I totally understand what was just said, but thanks. Sorry my car knowledge is very limited. Like to say thanks for helping me out appreciate it.

 

My guess is the thermostat housing. Have a pressure test done on the system to verify.

 

I recently had this issue and it was the passenger side o-ring on the radiator neck; $.75 fixed the problem. I also noticed small drips from the lower next on the drivers side as well, but I'm saving that for when I do a SC oil change since it requires draining the radiator.

 

Where did you get the o-ring?

 

I just grabbed one that matched the size from O'Reilly auto parts and its been working fine ever since.