Hello and thanks again for all the useful information and discussion here from you all! I'm at a crucial point of getting rid of my beloved MINI or not and need your help:

Recently, my 2007 R56 Hatch Mini Cooper overheated - I got the yellow temp light, then the red one, and the car sputtered to a stop. After diagnosing what the lights even meant, I checked the coolant level and sure enough it was empty. I walked and got some coolant nearby and poured it in. Most of it went straight through the system to the ground - I had a hole in my radiator hose from it touching the exhaust - but enough stayed in to allow it to start up and I drove it home slowly.

On a subsequent day, I poured more coolant in, started it up (easily), got no dash lights and drove it slowly to my mechanic. Occasionally during the trip, the yellow (or rarely the red) temp light would show. I would stop, pour in some more coolant, wait a minute or two, and drive it further on the path to my mechanic. As I finally got there, it sputtered to a stop again and died (similar to the first time).

My mechanic replaced the radiator hose (and fixed a problem with the AC), and it starts up now, but won't stay running without accelerating/getting the RPMs up. It gives the following codes - P0304, P0303, P0300. (3rd and 4th cylinder misfire). He's replaced the spark plugs and swapped ignition coils to see if they were part of it, but nothing changed. His final diagnosis is a blown head gasket.




Are there any ways to determine absolutely if it's the head gasket? Are there any other issues it could be/anything left to try?

If indeed it is a head gasket, this will be the end of my Mini, unfortunately. I simply don't have $1,000 - $2,000 to put in a 12 year old car that has lots of other little problems too.


Thanks again, everyone.

 

is it S or Base?

after the fix:

1- is the cooling system holding pressure?
2- has the system been bled and the cabin can blow hot air when turned to hot?
3- did you do a compression test?
4- did he swap the right coils?
5- did you clear the codes to see if they return back?
6- how many miles on the car?
7- if the car is an S model, was it carbon build up serviced?
8- how long the overheating lasted?

 

The one thing you don't mention is white smoke. Typically that is a sign of a blown head gasket, also coolant in the engine oil, neither of which were mentioned.