Hey!
New to me 09 Clubbie needed some love not readily apparent at the time of sale . . .
"New" subframe & front control arm quickly spun into water pump/crossover pipe & exhaust; you know - while we're at it!
Doing it in my garage & surprisingly only two bolts required the "wheel of death" & both were accessible! (bonus points!) Water pump exchanged, crossover installed, new subframe snugged up where it belongs. Time to fill the coolant. Sorry about your luck Chuck! A torrent ran across the garage floor from the thermostat end of the crossover pipe under the wire bale.
I've taken the thermostat off again & the crossover pipe comes with it, but I can't find any reason why it leaked. It almost seemed like the O ring was missing or failed but it's all there where it belongs.
Can anyone offer suggestions? Definitely from the thermostat end of the crossover not the water pump. New thermostat prior to purchase with maybe 2000k on it & no leaks until after new crossover so something happened during re-installation.
I've watched as many you tube vids as I can find & searched forums for revelations but nothing jumps out.
Fingers crossed folks - I really want this back on the road!
Any ideas????

 

Good luck. For such a simple yet critical part, it’s a major PITA (pain in the ***) to replace without removing the intake manifold. I’ve done it twice on my 2009 R55 club (non-turbo). First time I used a cheap brand (URO I think?) and that was a big mistake because the plastic is thin and brittle and the o-rings that came with it were garbage. Only lasted about 3500 miles. From what I’ve read and from my own experience, the issue is usually the o-ring becomes hard and cracks from heating up and cooling down thousands of times. Also, VERY IMPORTANT… the flange (or end) of the pipe that fits into the thermo or water pump has a tendency to also become brittle and often cracks and when it’s removed, pieces will break off and stay inside the outlet on either the thermo and/or water pump. Once you remove the water pipe, be sure to use your finger or a bore cam and check inside the thermo and pump to make sure no pieces are left inside.

Pay the extra $$ and order the genuine MINI part, and do yourself a favor and order an extra set of o-rings as well in case one breaks when you replace it. During the two times I replaced it, I was able to do it without removing the intake manifold… but doing it this way requires A LOT of patience and a good bit of maneuvering your hands up into blind areas and trusting your “feel” to get the pipe into position and then ensure both ends are seated snugly into the water pump and thermo.

Long story short:
1. Use the actual Mini part
2. use lube on o-rings so they seat property and don’t roll or tear
3. check inside thermo flange where pipe goes in to make sure no pieces of old pipe or o-ring are inside

 

I would say buy a new oem pipe and reinstall.