Mini one coolant/heating issues

[Explosiveboaty]

My 51 plate mini one is having issues ! It was overheating and the heater was blowing cold air. I bled the system and changed the thermostat which was knackered. All seemed ok but the same symptoms are back I'm now clueless as to what's wrong. Anyone have any other ideas please.

[wobert]

My son's 06 MINI One had a similar issue, except it had less 50% of the coolant in the system.

I too did a thermostat change and refilled / bled the system.

If you look on MINI2 there are specific instructions on how to refill the system avoiding any air locks and ensuring the heater works as designed.

When you refilled the system you must cycle the heater between the hot and cold settings to ensure the heater matrix is flushed through and free from air locks.

The fact that your heater is blowing cold would tend to suggest something is amiss....

[Explosiveboaty]

Cheers mate, it seems to have worked as I now have hot air...will wait now to see if it over heats !!!!

[wobert]

Keep an eye on the expansion bottle level, as, as you displace air in the heater matrix the level will drop.

Try to get the engine properly hot with the car stationary and cycle the heater controls hot to cold a dozen times. As the coolant gets hot it will help displace any air pockets.

I took my time and the level and temperature have been bob on since. :-)

[Rumblestripe]

I've recently acquired a Mini R56 Cooper and I've just had this happen to me. The heater went off on the journey home last night, I checked the coolant and it had dropped below minimum but there was some coolant still in the bottom of the bottle. I topped it up but unfortunately only had enough to get above the minimum. I'll buy some more today and top it up properly over the weekend. The heater was working fine this morning.

I've had the car about a month and done probably 1k in it. I'm hoping that as I didn't get the car from a Mini dealer that they didn't top the coolant off properly and left an air lock... I've not really used the heater until yesterday as I haven't felt the need.

There are no obviously leaking hoses. I guess the next suspect would be the cylinder head gasket but there is no mayonnaise in the oil. Is there anything else worth checking?

[mike9009]

Rumblestripe said:

I've recently acquired a Mini R56 Cooper and I've just had this happen to me. The heater went off on the journey home last night, I checked the coolant and it had dropped below minimum but there was some coolant still in the bottom of the bottle. I topped it up but unfortunately only had enough to get above the minimum. I'll buy some more today and top it up properly over the weekend. The heater was working fine this morning.

I've had the car about a month and done probably 1k in it. I'm hoping that as I didn't get the car from a Mini dealer that they didn't top the coolant off properly and left an air lock... I've not really used the heater until yesterday as I haven't felt the need.

There are no obviously leaking hoses. I guess the next suspect would be the cylinder head gasket but there is no mayonnaise in the oil. Is there anything else worth checking?

Not sure if the thermostat housing is the same on the R56 Cooper as the R56 Cooper S?

But my R56 Cooper S had a plastic thermostat housing leaking after about 60k miles. Replaced by BMW for about £200 all in - so not too bad. I believe it is fairly common.

Mike

[Rumblestripe]

mike9009 said:

Not sure if the thermostat housing is the same on the R56 Cooper as the R56 Cooper S?

But my R56 Cooper S had a plastic thermostat housing leaking after about 60k miles. Replaced by BMW for about £200 all in - so not too bad. I believe it is fairly common.

Mike

Thanks Mike

I'll have a look. I need to assess how much coolant I'm using/losing as I haven't checked the coolant level since I got it. A quick glance under the bonnet last night didn't reveal any obvious damp patches.

[Rumblestripe]

Looks like "Colin" has coolant incontinence. Fortunately I did buy a warranty which will cover me if it's anything other than a split hose (which counts as "wear and tear" apparently even though my last couple of Toyotas haven't had a new hose in something like twenty years of ownership).

Booked in for Wednesday. I'm usually cynical about "Comprehensive Warranties" as in other instances they haven't been worth the paper they were printed on but this one did seem to be OK. Evans Halshaw, let's see what your made of, at least the process of arranging for Colin to be looked at was very easy...

[DanGT]

Had to top up 4 times to get the level right when I first gout our One. Also watch the cap, it can pop open easily. I have also seen posts of the tank splitting but have not seen it my self. Was a really nice car to drive.

[Rumblestripe]

Well it turns out it was the Water Pump. New one being fitted on Monday all costs covered by warranty and well done to Evans Halshaw a very good customer experience. Only problem is between now and then I will have to keep topping up the coolant and I can't use the heater as it p!sses out if I do. Brrrrrr and indeed grrrrr.