18 replies to this topic

[Adrenaline Junkie]

I was travelling back from wales today after going camping for the night, and the minis temperature went shooting up.. so i pulled over to check it over, and found there was no water, or little water in the radiator.

So i filled it up, and allowed everything to cool down before setting off again and keeping an eye on the temp gauge.

Everything went fine for the remaining 100miles of the journey.

Ive got home, and noticed a leak.. what was a steady drip, has now turned into a trickle :S

I presumed it was the radiator, so added some rad weld, which didnt work.. so i looked again.

The water appears to be coming from the side of the engine, next to the radiator?

I HAVE to have the car working for Monday, my job will be gone if i cant make it on Monday (first day of a new job as an Assistant Manager)

Please, any help, or suggestions would be much appreciated... *fingers crossed i can fix it without any parts required, tomorrow*



Hmpphhh.. great way to spend my 18th birthday hey.. fixing my bloody mini! :sad:

[ed4ran]

Your bottom rad pipe may have split or may have come loose.

[Dan]

Sounds like the waterpump, either the pump itself or its gasket. This is an alloy casting which the fan and its pulley are fitted to and the radiator bottom hose fits to the rear of. If that sounds like the thing then is it leaking from the body or from the gasket face?

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Your bottom rad pipe may have split or may have come loose.

It looks like its coming from the actual engine though, not from a pipe... it looks to be coming from the side of the engine, at the point it connects to whatever it connects to.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Sounds like the waterpump, either the pump itself or its gasket. This is an alloy casting which the fan and its pulley are fitted to and the radiator bottom hose fits to the rear of. If that sounds like the thing then is it leaking from the body or from the gasket face?

Its coming from about half way down, where the pulleys are.

[minidaves]

water pump or bypass hose lower rad hose i think thats shopping list over

dave

[Dan]

Is it coming from the back of the pulley or the alloy housing it's bolted to or is it coming from the engine itself between the pump and the timing cover?

[Sprocket]

Sounds like the waterpump, either the pump itself or its gasket.  This is an alloy casting which the fan and its pulley are fitted to and the radiator bottom hose fits to the rear of.  If that sounds like the thing then is it leaking from the body or from the gasket face?

Its coming from about half way down, where the pulleys are.

Water pump, Either what dan said or its the seals in the pump. There is a hole in the casting of the pump on the dry side of the seals to allow oil to be added to the bearings but will also let water out is the seals are leaking. Also if this is an engine with the small concertina bypass hose it may be that. If this water is coming from the block itself rather than a mechanical joint/seal then its curtens for your block but i very much doubt thats what it is, there has been no freezing recently, or was it that cold in wales.

The other question that should be asked is there any Antifreeze in the system. If your coolant looks like tomato soup then you need to change it. the engine will be rusting from the inside out not only that but the water pump is made of aluminium and corrodes at an accelerated rate at high temperatures.

For those that want to know read this

http://www.team.net/...ch/coolant.html

[minislapper]

Or could well be the bypass hose between the head and the water pump and the water is running down from there !!!!

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Cheers for the pointers guys im going to inspect closer tomorrow morning when i can see better.


I think its at the joint, not the actual block.

At the minute it only has water in, i have the bottle of antifreeze ready, but wanted to solve the leak first to avoid pouring it all away!

[Adrenaline Junkie]

OK, just had a better look in the light, and upon closer inspection it looks like the water is coming from where the highsest pulley is attatched to the engine... i cant tell for certain, as its hard to see there, but it looks like its coming from the seal.

Is there anyway i can stop this temporarily so i can get to work? or am i doomed?

[Adrenaline Junkie]

My neighbour just had a look at it, and reckons its either the water pump or bypass hose or lower rad hose.. which he says, to replace, means removing the rad.

Dont suppose anyone in the Manchester area has any of these parts i could buy off them today do they?

Im getting really desperate now!

[chairchild]

sounds like the water bypass hose - about £1 for a SOLID peice of hose to have a near permanent fix that should last the life of the engine!

the flexible ones that are made so you can fit without having to remove the water pump are the wosrt "repair" you could ever do!

so get a peice of solid pipe (similar to the heater hose) and a new water pump (which should come with a new gasket), as that will make sure that it's in perfect condition.


and whilst the radiators out, and you've got the cooling system apart, you may as well flush the system to get it working at its peak! :wink:

[Dan]

It's curious that so many people are saying it's definitely the bypass hose without even finding out if this car has one. Most cars made after 1990 and all cars made after 1992 don't have one.

[Sprocket]

It's curious that so many people are saying it's definitely the bypass hose without even finding out if this car has one.  Most cars made after 1990 and all cars made after 1992 don't have one.

Also if this is an engine with the small concertina bypass hose it may be that

:cheese: