So, after 65k miles, my wife's R56 Justa is having its first real issue.

She pulled it out of the garage yesterday and I noticed some coolant spots. I looked under the car, and it appears that it is weeping coolant from the lower hose where the metal support wire thing is touching it.

I'm frankly surprised that it is losing coolant at all, and especially with such low mileage, but whatever, I can deal.

Since I have to buy the $70 lower hose and get it fixed this weekend, I was wondering if there were any other things I should be checking while I'm taking it apart this weekend.

Any maintenance items I should be addressing (other than the cabin air filter/spark plugs/wires, which I will be doing on my next paycheck).

 

Make sure to check the thermostat. That is a known issue. Have not heard of the hoses going.

 

I will check on that too.

Unreal that anything could have issues at such low mileage.

My 92 Nissan 240SX went 176k before it had its first issue, and that was just a radiator that literally rusted inside out.

That car went to 211k before it died. I love my collection of Minis, but sometimes the maintenance schedule makes me frown.

 

I have @ 65K on my 2008 straight R55. I had the water pump replaced just outside of 2 years ago under warranty. I noticed coolant leaking a week ago. I thought it was the thermostat but leak is on the passenger side which means it is the water pump. Warranty on the replacement pump is 2 year so I am just outside that window. Currently dealer is trying to get a good faith work order from Mini to replace it. They said they have seen a lot of these. Only issue I have had on the car.

 

Mine is currently leaking at the water pump too. Difficult to spot the exact location, but appears to be the pump. Has anyone changed their own pump? Looks pretty tight down there, but I would rather do it myself.

 

If the dealer doesn’t do mine under warranty I’ll do it myself as well. I am afraid I will be doing this every 2 years. There is a good write up on the "How To' section. Also read the posts after the write up.

 

My wife's leak is on the PS as well.

I looked closer at the build up on the hose, it seems to be just road sludge, not actual antifreeze (white cloth confirmed).

Not happy about the water pump possibility. That could hurt my pockets.

 

Just confirmed it.

Looked at this DIY:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

And my leak is exactly the same.

Guess my wife is going to lose me under her car this weekend.

For the record, I called my Mini dealership, they wanted 760 in labor, 181 for the part.

I laughed and thanked them for their time.

 

Ok, so I did this job.

Here's what I learned.

1) This is not an easy one, definitely not as easy as the write up says.
2) If you have any sense, whatsoever, take out the fender arch and remove the motor mount, it gives you tons of space. Remove the headlight on the PS as well.
3) That bleeder valve for the coolant is nearly impossible to find on the R56. If you're looking to find it, look straight down, from the top of the valve cover. It is next to the sensor on the thermostat, but you need a long phillips screwdriver to get to it.
4) Worth it not to pay the dealer $760 for labor and 181 for the part. I bought the replacement pump (metal housing from Graf) for $73.50 on eBay.
5) Buy a ratcheting 10mm box wrench. When you take off the bolts on the WP pulley, you'll thank me. BTW, there is no belt, which is super cool.
6) Which leads me to the coolest point of engineering: IF you're looking to put your R56 friction pulley in service mode, look at the plastic pulley arm that touches the water pump pulley. Follow the underside and trace it back to a little **** looking thing about 4" back on the arm, on the under side.

Pull that **** and it moves the friction pulley.

I couldn't help but think that was super cool.

 

Did you have enough access to remove and replace the water pump without jacking up the motor?

 

If you have the world's most extensive set of tools ever, you could do it without, however, with that being said, I do not recommend it.

I found it much easier to actually utilize the jack points on the car, and placed brick pavers (with a nice cardboard cover) under the oil pan (to even out the surface area) then jacked the car itself up and down to raise/lower the motor with the mount on the passenger side removed.

The hardest part is the fifth bolt on the top of the water pump housing right below the head, which required the engine to be in its most lifted position, with the little plastic wiring harness unbolted.

This is not an easy job, to say the least, but it is not really hard, mostly just time consuming.

I put a full 8 hour day into this, but that includes lunch and a break to get a new drain pan for the coolant.

 

Last June I noticed a lot of coolant running from under my MINI and pooling at the garage door gasket. This was after I opened the garage door, opened the hood and leaned in and the coolant dripped on me from the door gasket. I looked down and saw the coolant on the floor.

I took it to my dealer who replaced the "main mechanical water pump." This was June 19, less than 3 months ago. Yesterday I noticed the coolant leaking again and it is about the same amount as before.

So, Monday I will call and get it into the shop. I hope this is not going to be a recurring issue. And I hope the water pump will have an extended warranty as I am getting close to the end of my 4 year warranty.

Or...is this a good reason to trade for a new roadster.

 

Ask the dealer what their warranty is on replacement parts. My dealer said 2 years when I called about my leaking replacement WP. My first WP seal failed under original warranty. Replacement WP seal failed @ 1 year past original warranty and 17 days past the 2 year service warranty. Mini honored the dealers ‘request for service’ and it was replaced. No doubt I’ll be under the car doing a thorough inspection come August 2014.

 

Warranty on replacement parts is 2 years parts and labor.

Turns out my oil filter housing was cracked and leaking coolant. I am approaching 4 years and am wondering. Keep it and hope for the best, buy the extended warranty which will give me another 2 years for $3000, or...