Hello,

I wrote yesterday about getting an r56 yesterday and so today I have spent the day familiarizing myself with the car. However, I went on a drive after filling up the coolant expansion tank which was low and noticed that the Coolant Temperature light came on and then the stage 2 fan kicked after I made it home. (I only went around the block and onto the freeway to impress my daughter with the Mini's speed and pickup)

So after looking at the forum for a while trying to diagnose this overheating problem (or at least the light coming on) I did a number of things: 1. Looked for obvious coolant leaks - there were none. 2. Cracked coolant bleeder screw after idling with heat on full to expel air bubbles - there didn't seem to be many. and 3. Researched Stage 1 fan relay replacement and fan function in general

This is my issue - I haven't had this car long enough to know it's eccentricities but from what I've read they do run hotter than some cars and annoying they don't have a temperature gauge.

What my question is, is this - When is the Stage 1 fan meant to come on. The only time my fan came on at all was after I had gotten back home and it was definitely stage 2 - very loud and it continued for 5 minutes after I had turned the car off. Surely there is a stage 1 fan that comes on during normal driving? especially after getting it some stick on the freeway.

Should I just replace the whole fan after doing Pelican Parts radiator moving trick (Service Mode) or should I try to replace the resistor only. I am loathe to buy a fan if this isn't the problem but the Stage 1 fan never came on throughout.

Any Advice?

 

More educated minds will prevail on this issue. AFAIK the stage 1 fan is low speed and on during driving. The stage two is a high speed fan and will kick on after driving because the car usually is sitting in its own heat and the pressure in the coolant system is rising. It also comes on during very high heat conditions - sitting in traffic during the summer heat, AC etc...

 

Hmm, well it looks like my stage 1 fan does work because it kicks on when I have the A/C on but otherwise nothing. The stage 2 fan kicked on when the car 'overheated'. I have a Toyota as well and I notice that it's stage 1 fan does not go all the time.

 

Do the simple stuff first!
It seems you have a minor coolant leak somewhere, most likely the expansion tank. When you refill it, some air gets in there. Keep bleeding until you get a steady stream of coolant.
I'm not sure about the R56 but some cars have a hidden menu which will display a slightly more accurate temp than the gauge.
Lots of threads on here about both.

 

A good obd2 dongle will help. I have an obdlink lx, it's bluetooth to your phone and works with all makes. It will tell you the temp. Which engine do you have? There is apparently a different thermostat that will keep temps down.

 

Check for coolant on top of the transmission. And on the bottom of the expansion tank they leak. If its clean. Then if could be the fan. Also the thermostat sensor can fail on top of the thermostat, do you have a good scan tool like the schwaben tool we sell? https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...020sch01a~scf/

 

Well , the over heating issue continues. No, I don't have a scan tool but will definitely buy one as soon as I can afford it, I bought and installed an expansion tank since it was cracked at the nipple where the small hose clamps on. So, as someone suggested on this forum, coolant WAS probably vaporizing through that crack and that's why I didn't see a puddle on the ground. I stopped looking at it for a couple of days because of this damn Isolation mode we are all in, now but today, drove the car until the overheat light came on, and then bled the Cooling system yet again.

Over the last week, I have been intermittently bleeding it after idling the car in my driveway for 20 minutes or so, but after driving it today, damn did a lot of air come out of the bleeder screw, so much that I am half-convinced that it is pulling air from somewhere else. Also it is making me want to buy a Vacuum bleeder/Pressure tester... But, if I have to buy other parts - thermostat housing/water pump/fan I would rather save the money for that and get my friend at a shop to see if he can bleed it with a tool.

Someone mentioned bleeding with a shop vac which I have but it seems to me that the shop vac would just suck all /some of the coolant out of the system and I would be back to square 1.

Is it usual to have lot of air (5-10 seconds of hissing out of bleeder screw) if the system was empty when I got the car?

Any advice/ bleed tips? I saw one guy who said he took a screwdriver around with him for a week, bleeding when he stopped. Wow, I had a BMW once but didn't have any cooling issue with it and I am sure glad I didn't. This is a P.I.T.A...

 

I think you're doing all the right things.
I'll just comment that you need to almost entirely unscrew the bleeder, but don't lose it.
Keep the tank well topped-up & wait till you get a steady stream of coolant. 5-10 seconds is probably not enough.
MINIs are notoriously difficult to bleed - maybe it just needs more patience?

I have not tried a shop vac, but it works the same as the vacuum bleed systems - it just provides a little negative vacuum above the coolant in the tank.
I'm wondering if you have a stuck thermostat which is not very expensive to fix.

Have you seen/tried this? Option 7.0 once you get into it.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-computer.html

 

Option 7 - Actual Coolant temperature! Yes, that would be helpful!