OK. I've had my share of cooling problems, mostly self inflicted but here's one that I can't find. When starting the car COLD, I get a small whiff of antifreeze through the vents. In 4000 miles of driving, I do not seem to have used any coolant and once the car is run for the day, it doesn't smell again unless it sits and gets completely cooled off. I'm planning on a water pump change as soon as the weather warms up just because everything else in the system is new and I'm at 70000 miles on the original but I see no indication that it's leaking.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

A guess: Very minor leak in the heater core or hoses related to it?

 

The heater core can develop leaks. A sign that you have a heater core leak is a film on the inside of your windshield or a coolant leak on the interior vehicle floor. Should you have a leak, you'll probably also smell the coolant in your cockpit. To check for a coolant leak, first check your coolant level, which you have and said is good. Next, check for coolant exiting the heater box drain, located under the vehicle near the transmission tunnel. Or check for coolant leaking onto the passenger floor. The heater core is located at the image below



Since you're possibly only smelling coolant from the vents, you may have a leak that is getting burned off in the engine bay before it's able to accumulate into a drip for you to see on the ground. I'd closely inspect to see if you can spot a minor leak or a seep in the system somewhere. You could pressure test the system, which will be the quickest and easiest way to determine if you have an engine coolant leak. Coolant leaking down the right side of the engine could be the water pump. We have a coolant leak diagnosis article on our site that can help you if needed. Let me know if you have any questions.

Water pumps (Saleri or Genuine MINI recommended) - http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg1.htm#item1

 

Thing is, it's only on a cold start. No other signs whatsoever. no loss of coolant level. Been going on all winter.

 

That could be because it's getting burned off once the vehicle warms up as it might be a very small leak. Check coolant hoses and anything maybe around the exhaust area that could be dripping onto it and burning off when it gets warm. I'd check the suggested areas above and report back with your findings.

 

Thanks. Will do. At a later time however as my vacation is over. Gonna get into it here in a few weeks. Fortunately it's not my daily driver.

 

Sometimes you can get it from the heater core, but most of the time its the steam off from the front of the engine on the transmission. happened to my R56 MCS.

I would check the thermostat and water pump location first.

Water pump / thermostat housing

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...8-no-heat.html






heater core leak connection:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...g-leaking.html





https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...p-removal.html