Hi guys, first post, hello to all, and always believe you should offer up to support forums, so here's mine.

Its my wifes car, bought from a very reputable dealer with 26K on the clock 2 years ago. Last year, out of warranty I noticed it was leaving a stain on the drive, further digging didn't reveal any oil leaks, but was slowly losing coolant.

Searching on Mini forums, I looked at various reasons why, and presumed it was the feeder tank, a3 piece of paper underneath for a day told a different story.

It turns out the seal between the thermostat housing and block gets brittle, and then leaks. I have replaced the parts very easily and cheaply from online suppliers (bmminiparts.com) and with only simple tools, so if you have the same issues, and the same symptoms, so should you!!

Lots of sequence photos, but I cant post as I'm a newbie!

go to flickr.com/photos/morphet/sets/72157629490182220/

Hope this helps someone else.

Rob.

A common problem, and something I think I need to do as I'm losing coolant slowly. Been putting it off as I haven't found any guides with pictures - until now. Thanks :D

Pleasure, glad its useful, its an easy task, but also the guys at BM were very quick at supplying parts to me.

Ok I just bought my 02 mini with 92k miles on it she runs great and I love the car but I left it running for approximately 15 or so minutes the other day and when I got in it it was way over heated. I shut it off checked the radiator fluid which I could smell and it was low. I refilled and noticed some water spray marks around the coolant bleeder screw on the left side of the engine the screw goes inside a small plastic curved pipe. Where do I get a new pipe from and will it continue to run hot until I replace or will it simply leak small amounts of coolant until I replace it. Any help would be appreciated

glad i found this post i have been putting my issue off for ages coz i could not find any sign of water so will try this also my car does get hot if left idle as the radiator fan is broke so its blown the fuse in the fusebox but thats another matter has anyone else had fan issues the problem is when i turn it by hand with engine off it turns about 3 quarters then catches on housing