Hello,

I recently purchased a mini cooper 2002 which was in immaculate condition. After driving this for a few weeks, i one day noticed that there was no engine coolant so i immediately toped this up with a little water to prevent overheating.

After a short 15 minute journey the next day, I heard sizzling noises coming from my engine bay so i pulled over to have a look. I opened up the bonnet to see my engine coolant bubbling way over the MIN/MAX line. (NEARLY TO THE TOP) so I then opened the cap to allow it to cool down. The coolant did manage to cool down eventually but it all seemed to disappear leaving the coolant tank empty.

This has now managed to leak out leaving coolant all over my parking bay :(
I have looked around and people have told me that my water pump may need replacing or may need a new head gasket. I don’t want to take it to the garages without knowing the actual course as I don’t want to be faced with a ridiculous bill.

Has anyone else suffered from this? What was the fix? Can someone tell me what the black box near my engine coolant is? I don’t know much about mini’s, you would be a great help :)

Black box? The round black container near coolant tank is your power steering fluid reservoir.

For your coolant problems have a look at this link:
Solving MINI Cooling Problems.......... - Forums (http://forum.minicooper.org/showthread.php?t=13263)

You may have run low on coolant and now have an airlock in the system, you need to refill, bleed air out, check for leaks over a few days (especially thermostat and radiator) and always keep topped up to max level as the air escapes and level drops. Also check pressure cap on engine is ok. More details in link above.

Thanks for your help, This gives some hope :)