A little frustrating this one "coolant"

[always1more]

Hello,

I'm writing on behalf of our Daughter, she's got a 4 year old R56 and her warranty has just ended. In one week the car lost 1/2 pint of water, I topped it up again and the following week there was no coolant loss

She has had the car now for 2 years, bought from Halliwell Jones in Southport but every time there is a niggle with the car they want to charge her too much money so basically her good old Dad does the jobs that are needed. She called Halliwell Jones and they want £75 just to run a diognostic.

Now a while back when she 1st bought the Mini it was losing water, I found out what it was, the coolant cap was not on tight enough, the mini was fine for a while. Now the coolant cap would go 3 full turns then go tight then another 2 full turns would see it sealed.

2 weeks ago I told her to start with the cheapest to replace and that was to replace her coolant cap which is what we have done as I'm almost certain the old cap had been put on and cross threaded sometime, it just did not feel right when screwing on.

A couple days back I checked her coolant as she travels 100 miles a day round trip to work and there was a slight drop in the coolant tank. I've checked around for leaking water but can't find any sign which is frustrating.

I perform a check on her coolant and oil weekly as I've read around the forum that the Cooper S likes to use a bit of oil to

Just wanted to know if there is a known fault for this small leak ie thermostat...at the moment I'm annoyed not to find it like if it was a split hose I know if I replace it the job is finished.

She did say that two weeks when she was leaving work there was a small damp patch under her car near to the front bumper passenger side. I've seen nothing since, also asked her that he may have been a car there before her as it's a big car park. She was certain it was from her car.

Bit lost really, guessing I will just have to keep my eye on it for her but she wants it fixing properly as it's cost her a fortune.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

[Macguyvic]

Is the car a cooper s, turbocharged? You check the site often so you are probably aware of the 2nd water pump for the turbocharger. It so happened that when I took my car in for the recall the main water pump was leaking slightly as well. You may want to check the plastic reservoir tank as they tend to dry out and leak.