2011 MCS, manual, 5/11 build date-

Hey all. I had a coolant leak on the top of the trans so I replaced the t-stat housing and thought all was good. I was losing a small amount of coolant and getting a few "dragon's breath" puffs from the front after spirited driving so I pressure tested the system last night at 10 psi and got this leak down the center. All of the connections around the t-stat and hoses are good. I can't see where this one is coming from. The only thing I can think of would be the plastic coolant pipe from the t-stat housing across to the water pump under the manifold. But that usually leaks down the passenger side, not down the middle like this one. Unless it has a crack in the middle of the pipe?

pic and video should be attached.

Has anyone seen this leak before? Thanks in advance....

 

are you sure all your clamps are tight? this seems to be from the front of the housing, perhaps the line that goes to the turbo? the pipe in the back will be more noticed as it would leak from the other side onto the axle.

 

I will check again, but everything around the t-stat was bone dry. Pulled the airbox and felt down around all sides of the t-stat and all hose connections and it was dry. Nothing is hitting the trans from the top, which is weird. It is as if the leak is occurring down the middle of the engine.

 

you could place a piece of paper towel around it and see what it is getting wet from. is it possible the t-stat isnt seated properly? perhaps a hose was nicked, doubtfully though?

 

Yep, My oil housing leaked like that, it has coolant going through it also.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

 

Grr, so it's my oil filter housing gaskets then?? That area makes sense. I will give it a better look. Glad I asked before I ripped out my manifold and went looking at the coolant pipe.

Anything else to replace besides the gaskets while I am in there? The coolant line to the turbo was just replaced by the prior owner....

Any chance you could post your ever so helpful ECS links??

 

Leaks down the side and back side its the thermostat housing or the water pipe. Down the passenger side its the water pump. Down the front 9 times out of 10 its the oil filter housing gaskets.

All the coolant issues are linked in post #7 of the thread

Check the turbo oil lines and replace them if needed. That's what i did also. Those are what you can do or upgrade while you are there. We have parts linked in those threads. One kit linked under the oem part is the upgraded feed line kit seen below.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-oil-line.html

 

Do you recommend replacing all of the gaskets on both sides of the oil filter housing? One side to the block and one side to the oil cooler?

 

I did both, its the inside ones that tend to leak. The outside is the precaution not doing the same job twice. Change the oil and flush the coolant while you are there and you will be good.


Everyone can reach out to me in a thread like " hey ECS Tuning MIke I need your help" and like the Bat Signal, I will get the email that you called me out

 

Many thanks. Will be the second time for oil and coolant in the last two months, heh.

I see your kits have new bolts. Are they one time use bolts for the housing?

 

Yep, just dont want to get coolant residue mixed in your oil.

On the turbo oil lines get new as there are washer and such, on the oil filter housing. Lats time i looked at them they were not TTY. But i just replaced mine as the heads were a little nasty. Sometimes when you remove bolts the heads get beat up from being on so tight from the factory, the socket slips off under load.
That way when I screwed them in the heads were not beat up and the socket would not slip. Then torqued to spec.

 

You need to replace the oil filter housing gasket, that is your leak. We well the best kit out there to fix all of the the leaks in that area. We created this fix and all other lines are copies! https://www.detroittuned.com/dt-turb...ine-super-kit/

Chad
Detroit Tuned

 

Thanks all, ordered up new gaskets and tore into the car over the weekend. Man what a pain this is. I have managed to get into it without putting the car into service mode, but it is really tight. No oil leaks whatsoever, just the coolant drip from the housing. If I didn't have a lift, I wouldn't be able to do this job. Most of my wrenching has been from below. I've done this gasket on two of my BMWs before, but nothing like this Mini. The Mini engineers must have been on something when they designed the location for the oil filter housing, and all the heat shields on top of it!

 

Got the gaskets from ECS, thanks Mike.

I wasn't able to completely pull the OFH due to space constraints, so I replaced the gaskets after just removing the bolts to the OFH. There is enough space with the downpipe removed to separate the OFH and get the gaskets seated by hand. The gasket for the coolant chamber was completely trashed, so that was certainly my leak. Thanks for the quick diagnosis on here.

For any future shade tree mechanics, replacing these gaskets is a giant undertaking and a major PITA. I'm not sure I would tackle this job again. I typically enjoy working on my cars, but I have had no joy doing this job!