[morgsmini]

Losing faith in my 03 mini
Ive just had my 03mini cooper in for its inspection 2 service and the follow was found;

• sump gasket leaking
• rocker cover leaking

is this a normal occurrence on a car this age?! or is it down too build quality>?
has anyone else had this happen?

anyway i took my car home, then following morning i went out and i noticed an oily residue on the back of my car.
black little speckles and greasy to the touch

so took back too my new dealership who got it up on ramps and was told it was caused by a coolant leak, coming for the radiator. so it now appears to have developed a radiator leak on way back from dealership too!
(how was this not noticed the day of inspection 2 ?!!!!)
it was pressure tested and showed no loss of pressure ?

the only sign of a leak came form a wet/damp patch from the location of the bottom quarter of the radiator. if standing in-front of the car it would appear to be the bottom right hand side of the rad. i asked how could this happen on a car of this age?
its not even 6yrs old yet!

they said too keep and eye on the expansion tank too see if the coolent level dropped at all.
if did to bring it back for the work too be done, but are unsure if its the rad or a pipe? only way too tell is too take apart i guess, but at a cost !

i first noticed something wrong with the expansion tank being empty last year after my gearbox was replaced at my old dealership,
but was told just too fill up with extra water and it would be fine.
i took it back again also when i heard a noise from the heating matrix - a gurgling sound but was told this was normal? and not too worry
Ive now been told by my new dealership this is anything but normal

i now face a huge bill to fix all of these problems
could these have been caused when my gearbox was replaced
sorry for such a long winded post but I'm losing faith
any replies would be extremely grateful

[minicabrio]

I think it's time to find yourself a good MINI specialist If your car is 5 years old, there's no point in continuing to pay dealer rates for second rate service.

Where abouts are you based?

[morgsmini]

im based in south london
i used too go too 'coopers in croydon'
but have had issues with them
so have now been going too 'vines in redhill'

[minicabrio]

If you fancy a quick spin round the M25 to the M1, MiniMania are based in Ampthill near Milton Keynes, and 1320autos are based in St Neots. They're sponsors and will be listed in the directory on the forum home page.

Give them a call... see what they say.

Best of luck in getting it resolved

[morgsmini]

thanks for your reply extremely gratefull but their really just a lil too far too be convenient but will bare them in mind
if anyone else has some views or help with my original post please reply any help is better than none!

[humph]

Not much help I know but leaking expansion tanks and sump gaskets are quite common. My sump gasket is being done today at Woodmans.

I second minicabrios sentiments about main dealers. There must be an independant specialist near you somewhere.

[Fizzoid]

There's a few other South London based MINI garages, might be worth ringing round.
Edit, there is a mini specialist in Croydon, I think they do MINIs as well as Minis (not sure I can name them though)

[minicabrio]

I'm not sure to be honest you'd even need a specialist - MINIs are fairly easy to work on, and don't have too many unusual parts. Any good trustworthy mechanic will be able to carry out work for you to a good standard. A specialist would perhaps have better knowledge to help with diagnosing faults though

[morgsmini]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fizzoid (original)

There's a few other South London based MINI garages, might be worth ringing round.
Edit, there is a mini specialist in Croydon, I think they do MINIs as well as Minis (not sure I can name them though)

maybe private message me it please""!! ?