Hello there.

I have a 2013 Cooper S, with 66k miles. I brought my car in for a coolant leak. After some diagnostics - they concluded it is from the oil filter housing. I saw similar images searching online (that is how I found this site!).

Well, it is about $1400 to change the oil filter housing gasket and oil cooler gasket. I received the same quote from a dealership.

While in there, I figured it would be good to preventatively replace anything else that might go bad soon. The shop said the turbo coolant lines ($400) and turbo oil lines ($400). I did some searching and saw that the thermostat housing commonly goes bad? Is there something else you guys would recommend doing?

I am still taken away by the quote. =(

Thanks!

 

If you're near the philly area, i can do all that for half if not less :-)

N18s are pretty good. I wonder if they got it right!!! But to answer the question it depends on how far you want to go. oil feed line, thermostat housing, coolant pipe, water pump, vacuum pumo o ring...etc

 

I just might get more quotes now! I am in a high cost of living area - Bay Area, CA. =(
Are those things on your list pretty much a pay for parts only at this point? Just trying to bundle as much as possible to save on labor.

Thanks!

 

the water pump and the coolant pipe might not be since they are on the side and rear of the engine. The only things i can think of where the oil housing is is the oil feed line. The rest doesnt require too many parts removal.

If you can follow instructions and do some mechanics, you'll save a ton of money. These tasks are easy to mid level difficulty.

By the way, how big is the leak and how much are you loosing coolant? How did they determine it was the oil filter housing gasket?

 

[QUOTE=MiniToBe;4390746]
If you can follow instructions and do some mechanics, you'll save a ton of money. These tasks are easy to mid level difficulty.
QUOTE]

"Easy" if you put the front end in the maintenance position.

"Mid" if you don't. It's a pain to get the bolts off the lower heat shield.

Not really sure why the shop is charging another $400 each for the turbo supply and drain line. Those take minutes to swap out once you're in there. One bolt on the rain line and two banjo bolts for the supply line.

Overall it should't take more than a couple of hours...maybe an afternoon if you've never done it before.

 

The leak is odd. It doesn't always seem to leak. You can see evidence of it though. The shop did a pressure test and poked around with a camera (borecam?).

 

[QUOTE=sincitystealth;4390785]Ya. I really dislike car shops because I can't really tell if I am being screwed. For each of the 2 additional things, I see $70 in labor for each task. The parts added up to $3xx.

I haven't picked up a wrench to do more than brakes...but maybe this is worth looking into.

Thanks.