11 replies to this topic

[JamesMiniMealor]

The guys at the garage said I need a new radiator and water pump.

 

They are genuine Xpart wholesalers and have quoted me a £200 radiator and £50 water pump inc vat.

 

Surely there are cheaper alternatives that are just as good? £200?! I only have a standard 1275 MPI engine. 

 

Are there decent radiators out there? What should I look for? What about a water pump? Are these difficult to fit myself? As the guys want £250 labour costs

[Midas Mk1]

Easy to do yourself, got a haynes manual?

 

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

 

Probs £90 inc postage

 

I run a chinese alloy MPi rad off ebay, if your considering an upgrade :) 

 

£250 labour? 1-2 hours tops! 

 

What are the problem symptoms too? I've learned not to take the word of a garage as gospel..

Edited by Midas Mk1, 23 February 2017 - 04:04 PM.

[JamesMiniMealor]

Easy to do yourself, got a haynes manual?

 

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

 

Probs £90 inc postage

 

I run a chinese alloy MPi rad off ebay, if your considering an upgrade :) 

 

£250 labour? 1-2 hours tops! 

 

What are the problem symptoms too? I've learned not to take the word of a garage as gospel..

That's reassuring lol

 

The car overheats under load, only when i do over 70mph or go up a hill at full whack.

 

The expansion tank and cap are new but I'm still losing liquid

[ukcooper]

many garages I found these day are scared to work on pre 2k cars sd they don't have the skill set, they price high as they don't to work on older cars. find a garage with older people running it and ask them if there ok working on minis or where's best go..politely ..

[ukcooper]

http://wirralminis.c...nded-suppliers/


AB Garage heard great stuff about

Edited by ukcooper, 23 February 2017 - 08:10 PM.

[RedRuby]

You probably need to give the cooling system a good flush out which you would do if you are replacing the water pump and radiator. If you are losing water it could be a number of things. Water pump, water pump gasket, thermostat housing/gasket, any of the pipework or connections, heater matrix. I have just refurbed my MPi and as I was stripping it down to flush it through I replaced the water pump and thermostat and associated gaskets. I would clean it out replace the water pump and thermostat and then keep a check on it to see if it was still losing coolant. Have a good look at the radiator and matrix to see if there was anything obvious but not necessarily replace it at this stage it is very straight forward to replace it later if not obviously leaking at the time of inspection. Certainly a job you could achieve in a couple of hours and plenty of help on here if you are having problems.

[Steve220]

As above really. I would try and flush as much of the system as possible too. But you'll probably find removing parts you'll end up having to do it anyway.

 

Radiator, pump and (I would openly suggest) thermostat you can get from minispares as per the links above.

 

The radiator is easy enough to do once you realise how its mounted (i think you can remove it sideways and up, saves removing the alternator once the top mounts are removed).

 

The waterpump is best slowly going through to make sure you remove and replace everything properly. Best of luck, and if you need a hand, shout on here! Someone will be able to point you in the right direction!

[JamesMiniMealor]

Thanks everyone. Just noticed the expansion tank is boiling again :L Will that stop once the system is airtight?

[jamesmpi]

i found that with my mpi, after changing the coolant etc, that I had to loosen the cap slightly to let any trapped air out. Obviously you need to do this with caution.

Edited by jamesmpi, 11 March 2017 - 07:59 AM.

[Deeppockets]

My MPI has evidence of overheating and neglected cooling system - lots of rust deposits over the LH engine bay from a blowing cap, I have changed the stock pump to the MS high efficiently version, reverse flushed the rad (loads of crud), new thermostat and planning to reverse flush the heater.

 

The head galleries (and suspect block) coated in rust so I intend to do a chemical flush on the engine and I have been drawn to Bars Coolant Flush. Can anyone recommend a commercial coolant flush and/or method for clearing the rust out of the system?

Edited by Deeppockets, 31 March 2017 - 11:22 AM.

[AlexMozza]

Silly question, but is your fan cutting in?

[Deeppockets]

Good call, I will test the fan but not able to tell if the ECU is switching it in at the moment as the car in pieces.  With a new water pump and stat, and reverse flushing all the gunk out of the rad and matrix I am hoping I have fixed the root cause. I want to clean out the engine galleries to prevent the problem reoccurring.