Hey guys!
So this is my second post about my mini. It's a 2008 Mini Cooper S. I'm having a little trouble as just a few hours ago I finished replacing my mini's water pump and vacuum pump, due to leakage of oil and coolant. Now everything is back in its place and when it came to filling the tank with coolant, I followed the guide to bleeding out the system, but when I turned on my car with the heater on, only cold air came out, and I'm a bit worried since I want the hot air to come out (also must I have the little frost button turned on? I'm a bit confused), plus I don't want to overheat the engine when it comes to using it in my daily commutes. I have read a few threads on this subject, but it's just here and there about it, but I haven't found a final say of what to do. Do you think if I start the car and let it idle, while having the bleed screw loose and the coolant tank cap off, can damage anything? Or would that help with the releasing of more air stuck inside the coolant system? Let me know what you think as I really want to have it back to its normal self.
Thanks Guys!

 

how much fluid did you get in? It should take about 2 gallons.

 

So I was able to only put 1 gallon, now that I noticed. What can I do to put in the rest?

 

The car will take about 2 gallons if you bleed it totally dry, which just doing a water pump won't do.

Usually when we do a water pump I am able to put about 1 1/3 gallons back in, do a proper heat cycle and bleed, once the car cools down do a final top off of the expansion tank (fill to the plastic weld line on the tank) and you should be fine.

 

Great, I'll do that and update with results
would I have to keep the cap on and the bleed screw tight when I turn on the car? How much time would I keep it on for?

 

Keep the system closed while heating/pressurizing the system, just take it for a jog on the freeway and return home. Pop the hood loosen the bleeder on the thermostat until you get a constant flow of coolant without air bubbles and close it again.

Leave the hood popped for the heat to escape quicker, and wait 30-45 minutes in these balmy midwest temperatures for the car to come to a near ambient temperature. Once the car has cooled totally down you should be able to see if the level dropped in the expansion tank, if it has then fill the the plastic seam.

It really only takes one or two good pressure bleeds to get the system good and clear.

 

Thanks so much for your input! It's all coming out excellent.
Now what are the correct coolant temperatures? I read that 105 C is what it should be at. Once the coolant is at its normality, then I can get this temperature reading?

 

So everything is running fine, but as I took it for a drive, I parked in a few areas, since I was running errands, and I noticed that it's still leaking coolant. What can that be? does the auxiliary water pump contain coolant?

 

You need to see if there is a leak, and where from. Has the coolant level dropped?

Did you spray off or clean the spilled coolant you left on top of the trans from the job? That could make you think there was a leak when really it's just residual mess.

 

So I was able to find the leak coming from here


it's coming from the thermostat?

 

So I ended up removing the thermostat, but I had trouble removing it from the pipe that connects to the water pump, so I ended up taking that out (unknowingly) and now i'm not sure how to place it back with the O-Ring :( how would I do that job?

 

Right here :

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...er-tube-2.html


DIY here :

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ater-tube.html


Make sure you change over to the MINI factory Blue-ish coolant, its in the links. looks like they went with the green universal stuff.