Engine coolant color question

[Jibby]

This is probably a stupid question but......

When you first started driving your MINI, what color was your engine coolant when it is sitting in the resevoir? Brown, dark brown, clearish (no anti-freeze), greenish (with anti-freeze)?

And after you have driven it for some time what color is it now?

Any feedback is appreciated.

[MICKEY]

Greenish, and with 3000 miles on the clock it's still the same greenish colour

P.S. isn’t it about time you Americans learnt how to spell "colour"

[Jibby]

If the color is now brown - do I need to have it looked at? I didnt noticed the coolant to be this brown on my other vehicles. Should I have the radiator flushed and new coolant put back in to see if it changes to brown again in a short amount of time?

Any info is appreciated.

[MICKEY]

Brown ??? Never heard of brown Antifreeze. I've seen it that colour in some very old vehicles, but that's down to the age of the engine block (starting to rust internally due to age)
In new vehicles I've seen Green, Blue, Orange and Pink. I think you'll have to wait and see if any one else say's they have Brown.
If not I’d pop into the dealers to let them have a look.
I’d also get them to test the water with a Hydrometer to make sure you have some antifreeze in the engine and it's the right amount.

[Pamlico]

This is an old thread that I'm reviving.

We're jut back from a 900 mile trip from Rochester, NY to Mont Tremblant, Quebec. Upon returning I was checking the engine compartment over and noticed that the coolant which was green at delivery in late August has now turned a murky brown. The oil level was down 1/2 quart, but the coolant isn't foamy and doesn't feel like there's oil in it. No overheating despite being stuck in a major (1 hour) traffic jam north of Montreal this morning. During that time the temp gauge didn't budge from its normal place (1/2 needle width below the center mark). Car is running fine, but I'm concerned over this color change. I've never seen this in any of the cars I've owned.

I'll be calling the dealer tomorrow morning, but was wondering if anyone has noticed this color change and what was the outcome.

Thanks.

[HarryHBMCC]

Mine is blue, still quite nice and clear at over 8000km (5000 miles). It dropped by a small amount which was topped up but the techs don't think there is a leak, probably just an air pocket from the factory.

Harry

Did anyone ever get an answer from Mini servive regarding the brown antifreeze?
RL

[MiniE]

Brown in my MCS, getting it check on the 17th
hope my MCS is ok.

MiniE

[Jibby]

Had my MCS 10k service today. Oil change. Fixed the cold start issue and there is a definite change in the way the engine feels at low rpm.

Asked about the brown coolant - three technicians told me that all of the MCSs are this way. No reason given as to why.

[miniyup]

From everything I have ever read about auto maintenance, any time the coolant solution changes from its' normal bright color in a short time it is indicative of a problem. Something is contaminating or degrading the coolant. Could be a head gasket leak or other internal leak or some component that is possibly not compatible with coolant that is corroding.

The fact that this appears to be happening only on certain cars would indicate it is a vehicle-specific fault; if this were my car I would demand a careful evaluation until they found the source of the problem.

Right now I am driving a 16-year old 135K mile Toyota Camry and the same Dexcool (orange) coolant has been in the car for four years with no color change...

[Chris Williams]

Mine was blue and up to the top level until about 4,000 miles. I then took it and was told that the level dropping down to below the minimum level was ok and that the fact that the colour had changed to brown. The dealer then topped it up after carrying out "tests" on the system. After another 400 miles the blue coolant had turned brown and was again below the minimum level.

Now surely this isn't right?!

Regards
Christopher

[KAMAKAZI]

On roadfly.org, a member with discolored coolant posted the following.



"In reply to a posting about no feedback from MINI concerning the sample of discolored coolant taken from my MCS last October, I received a call from MINIUSA with an update.

According to what I was told, BMW/MINI has collected samples from a great number of MINIs with discolored coolant. It appears to be the result of an interaction with the engine internals, but nothing has been found to indicate that this is anything but a cosmetic problem (my words, not theirs). The matter of why this interaction isn't occuring in all vehicles wasn't addressed in the call. Coolant replacement is neither recommended nor will be performed under warranty."

[Pamlico]

I was the one who posted the above message re: MINIUSA's response on Roadfly. I also posted the same information to a thread I started here on Mini2. Click this link to get to that discussion.

[Let's roll!]

Has anyone that sent off their brown coolant to MINI heard back?

If this has been posted already, I appologize.

Motor on.

[Pamlico]

Please see my posting directly above yours, Let's Roll. I post on Roadfly under a differnt name.