Hi everyone,

Just wondered if any of the mini experts here might be able to help me.

I have a 07 uk R56 mini owned it from new. Its never had any problems but the other day the yellow engine temp light came on. Luckily I was just pulling up to work. So I thought maybe the coolant was low so I left the car for 8 hours while At work and got some coolant on my lunch.

When I was leaving I checked e coolant level which was halfway between min and max, I didn't think it would over heat with that much coolant but decided anyway to top up the coolant to max.

On my way home the I noticed I could hear my fan going like mad trying to cool the engine then the yellow light came on then the red light. I opened the windows and blew the heat into the cabin which got me home with out anymore warning lights appearing.

I opened the bonnet and noticed the coolant level hadn't moved from max which I thought was odd as I would have thought it would be flushing through the radiator by now. It appears the coolant isn't kicking in to cool the car.

I am going to take it into the dealers but with it being Xmas they aren't open til the new year. I just wondered if anyone here knew of anything I should check ie fuse that might cause the coolant not to flow.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Ian

Hi with out looking at it its hard to say
but it sounds to me like a thermostat or water pump to me
hope this helps.
your thermostat can be checked by dropping it in boiling water to see if it opens they tend to not work or be jammed just open which will cause over heating
just make shore if you get someone to do it the bleed the cooling system properly
anyway have a good day

Hi marque,

Many thanks for taking the time to reply especially on Christmas day.

I have a feeling it is something to do with thermostat, just one question do you know where it is?

Many thanks

I had a problem with my R56 cooper S overheating and it ended up being a leaky pipe running from my water pump. Might be worth running the engine and checking all the piping under the bonnet for leaks.

I'm not much of a mechanic myself so I would have to wait until the dealers opened!

I'm geussing your looking at water pump / thermostat or possibly worse case head gasket? Are you getting any white smoke from the exhaust? Check your oil doesn't have any water in it or your coolant lid doesn't have any gunky buildup on it.

Thanks for all the Advice guys.

Took it to the dealers and turns out i had a air block, they drained the system , pressure tested it and then filled it back up with coolant.

Only downside is had to get a small leak on the gear box sorted. Ah well at least it wasnt anything major.