2009 Mini Cooper Clubman JCW:
I am having to replace the crappy plastic thermostat housing for the second time with only 110K total miles on the car. This time I'm stumped at removing the water house that runs along the rear of the engine from the T'stat housing. I've removed the wire retainer from the connector and the joint seems loose but will not separate. What am I not doing?
TIA

 

Replaced one on a 2009 MCS. I was also wondering WTF. Since it's been in there so long it kinda welds itself to the WP side. I had to wiggle it side to side until it busted loose. And a few pieces broke off - only way it would come out. Oh and I had the engine out of the car. So....good luck. There is nothing to it though. When installing a new one the tube has an o-ring on one side and gets pushed into the block on the WP side.

 

Here is a good thread on it:

They can stick and sometimes break on the way out as they fuse to the back of the waterpump housing. So be careful. Try the wiggle and not break it. If you do, you will need a new water pipe.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...rmostat-6.html

 

Just replaced the OE water pipe on my 07 MCS @98K. A coolant leak that appeared to be caused by the water pump was in fact due to a failed water pipe (it failed at the pump end). I was lucky, given how badly the water pipe had deteriorated, that I did not have a complete loss of coolant, which likely would have fried the engine.

The takeaway here is to replace the water pipe about every 5 - 7 years, perhaps every 50K - 60K miles. That timeline ought to give you a reasonable safety margin. Replacing it when the thermostat fails, even if sooner than 5 - 7 years may be smart too, as the labor is minimal then.

Replacing a $90 part every 5 years or so seems like cheap insurance against a heat damaged engine and/or being stranded on the highway.....