If you go to Real OEM and pop in the last 7 digits of your vin code you'll get access to diagrams of your cars set up and parts

 

perfect. Thank you.

 

How very strange. The leak was coming from around the header cap! I hand tigthened it as much as I could, but once the car was hot, it would start to leak!

Made some extra rubber seal to go around it, tightened it still the same.

So had to then tighten it about extra 1/6th of a turn using a wrench and now it is ok!

Is this normal or perhaps the header tank or cap is faulty?

 

Try a new cap. The gasket is probably worn

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Cheers. But it seems the issue maybe somewhere else!

It seems there is too much pressure in the header tank.

I thought maybe thermostat is nackered. Took it off, put it in boiling water and at about 85' it starts to open and at 90' it is fully open. so I know the thermostat is ok I guess?

But the top radiator hose gets very hot ( this is the hose that goes to the engine block). But the bottom radiator hose is staying cool! This is the hose to the thermostat housing and then the engine.

If I am not mistake, the dirextino of water flow should be :

Engine ( driver side) -> Thermostat -> bottom radiator hose -> Top radiator Hose -> engine block ( Passenger side).

Even when the engine is running at 90', the fan kicks in, but the hose from thermostat to radiator is cold and not any pressure where as the hose from rad to engine block is quite hot and pressurised!

I thought maybe there was a blockage somewhere, I have taken all pipes off and cleaned them all out. There was a bit of blockage in the header matrix, but now it has been sorted. Both pipes to the header matrix are getting warm.

The auxilary water pump is also ok, as when I take the pipe off the electric heater , then water start to pour out when ignition is on.

So I am at a bit of a loss!

I am thinkign about removing the thermostat and see if the pressure relieves that would then suggest a thermostat problem, but I have tested it and it opened and closed ok!

Other issue could be an air lock in the system! but these cars can't be bled! there is no screw or anything on the rad or any of the pipes to let the air out!

Any ideas?

oh and I must say these issues only started to happen last week! Up until then everything was ok. Nothing has been changed recently .

Water pump was done about 10,000 miles ago.

 

Confused dot com, but normally the thermostat is at the top end of the engine and feeds the rad via a hose to the top of the rad, it then cools as it reaches the bottom hose and enters the block. Is there any way the top and bottom hoses can end up getting swapped on the diesel, as yours seems the wrong way round to me.

 

Well ,thats exactly my thought. But looking at the online manual for it, this seems to be the way it is plumbed in?

Unfortunately I can't post a link to the images, as i don't have 25 posts yet!


I have ordered a new thermostat just in case it is not opening wide enough maybe and it is on its way out?

Any thoughts?

 

Had a chat with a mini specialist today.

So it seems that the flow of water in these engines is oppsite to what they used to be.

In the older cars, flow was from engine through thermostat to top of rad. Then from rad bottom back to the engine block and circulation.

In the new modern engines, I am told that the flow is opposite. So from engine block( right hand side) it goes to top of rad. from bottom of the rad goes through thermostat and then into the block.

So the only reason why the bottom hose is cold and no pressure seems to be blocked/partially blocked radiator? As if the thermostat was stock closed, there should still be some pressure in there.

But when engine is warm, top hose is pretty hot and pressurised, whilst the bottom pipe is cold and no pressure.

Have bought a new cap and also thermostat anyway to try and see what happens!

Failing that, it is booked with them for 18th to check. He thinks it is possibly a HG problem if everything else tests ok. Apparently with the diesels sniffer test is not very reliable due to extremely high compresison of pistons and the smallest leak can have a lot of effect on the water pressure and still pass the sniffer test!

 

Well, I bloody give up.

Today I removed the thermostat for trial purposes and ran the car. Both hoses now pressurised once warmed up. Then let it cool down.
Changed the thermostat with a new one. Also changed the cap with a new one.

Refilled the radiator, and started her up. Both pipes are pressurising and temperature is sitting half way. But no hot air coming out the heater. Touching the pipes going into the heater matrix, both are quite hot. Maybe one is a bit more than the other one, but I would expect that as it is going through the matrix.

I then test drove the car. and the bloody cap is still leaking. Seems too much pressure. The fan comes on as well when temp is sitting at halfway!

Seems like perhaps a air lock. But can't find the method to bleed these systems on the 1.4 diesel mini 2005!

Might have to give up and wait until Monday week and take her to the garage for them to have a look.

They have already said they think it is a HG issue!

 

Well, garage have confirmed it is deffinitely a HG failure again! It did it last year and was replaced and now it has failed again. Apparently quite common for these cars, the Toyota 1.4 D4D engine! It is something to do with the liner moving or something!

They suggested perhaps try 'Steel Seal' and see how that works! So I have got a bottle of that to try and see what happens! Hopefully that would work otherwise it will be a busy weekend for me

 

They suggested perhaps try 'Steel Seal' and see how that works! So I have got a bottle of that to try and see what happens! Hopefully that would work otherwise it will be a busy weekend for me

Hmm, not liking the sound of that. Sounds more like the engine needs rebuilt and to be honest I doubt it would be economical when you weigh it up against the value left in the car :serious:

 

Ive used steel seal in many cars with HG problems it doesn't work all it did was bleed my wallet coz at that time it was 33 quid for one liter.. and it looked suspiciously like sugar soap too which i didn't like.


i would either rebuild the engine or get a replacement engine but that said it would probably be cheaper to get another mini

one with the tritec 1.6 ltr 4cyl its more powerful and refined too!!

 

Ive used steel seal in many cars with HG problems it doesn't work all it did was bleed my wallet coz at that time it was 33 quid for one liter.. and it looked suspiciously like sugar soap too which i didn't like.

yes, they are about £35 a bottle. BUt now they come with a money back guarantee. I have a report from garage that the HG had failed. I will get it checked again by the same garage and if they confirm it hasn't fixed it, then I can claim my money back!

However this will cost me £20 for a garage to do HG test and refund is £35! so it is only getting back £15 in real terms!

 

yes, not sure what am gonna do yet!

Put the steel seal in there. It seems it may have sorted the problem at first glance! But would know better once I have tested her a bit more.

All I know at the moment is that I have the heater back and it is blowing hot air which before it didn't. It is also not presurising too much so that it is ****ing out the cap.

I have also had to flush the whole system out as I previously used K seal and it filled the car up with some little ****** metal looking pieces that has got everywhere and I think it is blocking my header matrix.

Flushed it 3 times with water and removed matrix and cleaned all the ***** out of it.

Now if it doesn't work, I have 3 choices:

1) Rebuild this one again, problem is that I am told these are troublesome engines and it will probably just go again! Also, when HG is removed, the liners need to be checked for height and they need to sit at a certain height! and this is what is causing the HG problems. They just move and don't seal properly.

2) Get another engine, but that is not guaranteed to be any good either since the problem is with the design of the engine and not just my engine!

3) get rid and get a different car!

It is a shame, as I do like the mini and the Toyota engine I thought was bulet proof! but obviously not!

It is probably worth about £2k if it is fixed? what you think?

 

Out of all your options I would see what the mechanic says and if the HG is definately blown then I would get another car coz economically it wouldnt make sense repairing the old one.. Because Im guessing a new engine or rebuild will cost around 500-600 quid and when you subtract that from the value of the car then its a waste of money..


You can pick up a decent one or cooper 02-06 for 1500-2500 pounds

My concern is that if you do rebuild it the HG problem will always be dormant and ready to pounce when you least expect it..
In my opinion if its it in good nick its worth about 1400-1600 coz of the reputation these engines have built around the car.

Personally your have basically two choices

1 cheaply and I mean cheap do the HG and sell it straight after for 1500 or 1700 quid and get a petrol mini

2 sell it as spares or repairs on ebay for 300 quid and put that towards a new mini

If I was you I would sell it coz it might blow its top after 1 year like it has already and it will cost you an arm and a leg..

 

Personally if this was my car then I'd bin it as it's served it's purpose and if you get half if your projected 2 grand for it then you've scored

It's probably gonna be more cost effective to bite the bullet and invest in another set of wheels as your current car is clearly knackered and your only gonna be chucking money at at from now on. There are lots of Cooper D's on the market just now if you wish to stick with the brand and the psa engine (up to 2010 iirc) is a far superior engine than the Toyota unit.

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Well, problem is that it is not my car, but my mrs!

She had a choice 6 months ago to upgrade with a 2013 Fiesta face lift 1.5 diesel with 0 tax, and she said 'No, I like my mini!'!!!

Now she is sort out without a car and regretting not keeping the fiesta!

As regards to repairs, I can do the HG myself ( have got plenty of experience, only not in minis or diesels) , so it will probably cost me about £100 tops in parts to replace the HG ( if steel seal didn't work) and then flog her to the next person! She has done good mileage and been well looked after, so hopefully once sort of fixed, flog it for £2k and put the money towards something else!

I have picked up a 2008 pug 308 1.6 thp that needs a bit of work. Might just sort that out and let her have it. But tax is £250 a year, twice what she pays for the mini!

Why don't women listen when you tell them something! grrrr!

 

Don't talk to me about woman, my wife is the most ungrateful creature you could possibly meet. She moaned for years about not having a decent car so I bought her a Cooper D clubman with 20k on the clock and she treats it like a fekin skip!

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Ungratefulness ive got you both pegged::smile:: My first car was a 45000 mile 03 mini cooper s My SISTER begged me from the day i brought it 23 april 2008 - 6th jul 2014 if she could have it. So after 6 years of begging i gave it to her I REPEAT GAVE IT TO HER!! about 3 weeks later i looked inside it and her boyfriend had wired a sub into it which looked like it had been wired by an ape ,the back seats were covered in clothes and the steering wheel was covered in make-up..


And thats not the best part i went to see her a month later and saw an 2007 vauxhall vectra outside her house and i asked her what was up and she said

I sold the mini coz i needed a bigger car.

ever tho she said when she got the car it was perfect:crying:


So now i have a immaculate 2002 mini one and the vectra is a rusty heap..>

 

lol at both of you!

She is a lot tidier than I am! tbh my cars are like fast food restaurants! All cos of the stupid 50k mile a year I do for work!

Well, I will have to see how she gets on with it in the next few days until I look at alternatives!

Thanks both for replies.

 

Well the saga continues

I decided to do the HG as I want to sell her and it is not fair on the next owner if I was to sell her as she is!

So have done the HG and all gaskets and ...

But the car doesn't start. It turns, and sounds like it is trying to start, but nothing.

I thought maybe it is due to air being in the diesel system. But there doesn't seem to be any way of priming the diesel system on these cars? So I assume it is a self bleed system?

I have put the battery on charge, as sometimes they can cause problems.

One question I have:

The diesel pump, is it a phased pump? e.g. it needs to be in the correct place to start the car? As it is driven by the cam, if it is phased, then it could be out by 180'. But when I did the HG last year, it did pretty much start up straightaway, so maybe that was just lucky that he pump was in the correct phase?

Unfortunately I don't have any code readers, so can't even read the ECU to see if there are any codes!

any advice will be appreciated

I have checked the timing chain and the timing, and it is 100%. have even turned the engine by hand about 4 turns and the TDC is in the correct place.

 

Well, it is not the diesel pump. I have taken it off and turned it by 180', and it is still the same.

I have had it cranking and undone all the injector feeds, and there is diesel coming out of all of them. So again I know there is diesel going in.

Have also checked the glow plugs and there is 12v going to them. SO again I know the glow plug feed is all ok.

Might be diesel pressure sensor or something, but without a code reader, I am at a loss.

 

try some easy start. (ether) if there is air in the system the easy start should keep her running long enough for all the air to be sucked out.

it will take a few goes but it should start.

eventually she will pick up the diesel and hey presto it will run

HOPEFULLY!

 

Will give that a go tomorrow and see what happens.

But as it is a Diesel engine, I don't think I can just spray it to the air intake as it will then go through the turbo, intercooler and ..., I might have to spray it directly at the inlet.

 

the easy start is not helping. I can see puffs of black smoke coming out the back when trying to start but no luck.

Took glow plugs out, connected them to 12v and they all glow. So I know they are ok.

But now, I am not getting 12v at the glow plug rail. Can't see which fuse is for the glow plugs as the fuse may have blown ? Any ideas where the glowplug fuse is on these cars?

The manual not very helpful and the back of the fuse box lid doesn't say which one is the glow plug fuse!

 

Right, she is alive!!

Spoke with the engine shop who did the head for me. They asked me to check the clearance for the tappets and a few of the tappets didn't have any clearance at all!

Adjusted all tappets, and she sprung into life with the turn of the key!

Glad she is now all sorted.

Lets see what happens next