Radiator Leak?

[Laury]

Hi all,

I think my Mini has developed a radiator leak as:

i) the front of the vehicle has left a small stain on the surface on where it has been parked in the garage, more noticeable over the past few weeks
ii) the radiator suddenly dramatically increased in noise (sounded like a hoover!) and the temperature gauge started to head to the max. - fortunately, I restarted the engine which seemed to fix the problem

I've booked the car with the BMW dealers next week to check it out, but can someone reassure that:

a) - can I continue to use the vehicle until next week if I continually top it up with coolant - if so, would any bog standard coolant from Halfords do?
b) - confirm from the details above that it is indeed a radiator leak - and is this covered under warranty?

Many thanks

[Wez007]

Has the coolant gone down? I had the same problem with corrosion on the rad, common thing i think however i just emptied a bottle of radiator sealant in the cooler bottle and ran the car and it was all sorted!!

[Laury]

I've just had the car looked at by the garage and they confirmed that the thermostat required replacing and the housing too which explained the coolant leak