Was checking the coolant level in the reservior tank and noticed an odd gel type substance floating in the tank. I was able to pick it out, and it almost had a greasy texture to it. Looked sorta like a snotball. (Didn't even have the mildly sweet smell that antifreeze has?) Maybe this is a dumb question, but I'm not quite sure what it is or why it was in the coolant tank??

 

A snot ball you say?Now how did that get in there

 

I recommend you don't sneeze when the cap is off, or at least direct it away from your engine compartment. The only wierdness I've ever seen from my car was on my old '87 Accord. The block was iron, the head was aluminium, and one day it overheated. Head warped, head gasket blew, and oil got into the coolant. Looked more like someone had dumped hazardous waste into my radiator, though, was dark and soapy. Hope that's not it!
-Cor.

 

Yeah, that sounds about right. Maybe I should stop farting also?? Who knows what will happen... Kinda funny. Out off all the cars I've owned, I've never seen any greasy gel substance in the coolant tank. It's way too thick to be oil and almost seems like a grease of some sort. I may just run it by the dealer and see if they know?

 

Obviously that doesn't sound right. If they have a reason for it, we would all love to hear what it is. Also, at the very least, they should flush your coolant system to make sure this has not gummed up any coolant passages or water pump.

 

Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking too. I'm gonna call this week and check. The only thing I thought it could maybe be was a grease/lubricant in the water pump.

 

Since the MINI is German engineered, wouldn't that be a "schnot-ball" ?

Sorry.......
Jim

 

Schnott-ball it is! I called the dealer and the service advisor wasn't sure about the grease ball in the coolant tank. She was going to check w/ a dealer rep. and see if he/she had heard about any similar cases? She was going to let me know ASAP if it was a possible problem. I'm guessing it's probably from the water pump, but we'll see.

 

Can you scoop it out,save it in a baggie,and see if any more show up?
Could not hurt your MINI not having that schnott- ball running around

 

At least is wasn't a hairball

 

Lots of people have had discoloured or just plain funky coolant-related issues. My pretty blue coolant began looking like pondwater so the dealer changed it under warranty. It's green now and thus far is funk-free.

 

Count me in, my 04/04 MCS had the gel/grease/snot ball floating in the coolant tank today also. I used a pincher tool to get it out of the bottle. It was a little bit less than a teaspoon size glob of gel type substance just like darkfact found. Color is kind of clear or like vaseline (texture is a little different though).

Darkfact, were you ever given a story about what it was? Grease from water pump etc. Other folks might want to be taking a flashlight and checking their coolant bottles for this stuff. If MINI USA is reading, perhaps they could share what this could be. If it's not suppose to be there, I may need to have dealer BG flush the coolant system.

 

I was never told what the greaseball actually is. I mentioned it to the dealer and they were going to check it out and call me back if it was something to worry about. Never heard back from them so I guess it's nothing to worry about? Kinda strange though. The water pump is the only place I figured it would come from??