20 replies to this topic

[deanymini]

went for a drive today and noticed that my bonnet was smoking and the needle had hit the red line (over heating) so i stopped and parked up. looked in the radiator to see that there was no water in there so filled it back up. drove back home and its still smoking but the needle didnt hit the red like it did before.

could this have damaged my new engine?

ive looked on the frequently asked questions and there is a step by step guide. is it really as easy as undoing 4 screws and removing a couple of hoses? never really done anything mechanical in my life and dont want to screw up my new 1380!

[TWICEmonkey]

Rad's ain't a difficult job at all...got a Haynes manual? If not, get one because it'll help

[deanymini]

is there any chance that the radiator isnt at fault? could something else have made the water disappear?

[TWICEmonkey]

Split hose or one's not attached properly...best thing to do is to fill up with water, run the engine and look for leaks (a torch will help as you may not be able to see in some areas)

[english-bully]

when you say still smokeing do you meen exhuast ?

all depends on how hot ya had it,if it still ok...gettin warm dont do em any favours

regards fitting a rad its pretty easy,just take off the grill ,top hose ,bottom hose at the back of the engine and the main bolt to the bottom of the rad....

if your running 1380 its a must to run a larger rad ei super 2 or 4 core etc etc....

[TWICEmonkey]

if your running 1380 its a must to run a larger rad ei super 2 or 4 core etc etc....

Good point, forgot to mention that...

...standard rads on engines like your's are p*ss poor and you need somehting like a 2 or 4 core rad or it will just overheat...it may well have split a hose if it was running for that long under too much heat

EDIT: english-bully, he said the smoke was coming from under the bonnet

[deanymini]

sorry, by saying smoke i meant steam from where the water had landed on the engine and other hot surfaces. i haven't had any problems with the standard 3 core rad so dont think there would be any point in changing it for a 2 core or 4 core. saying that, it goes up to about 3/4 of the way up the heat gauge thingy. is that bad?

[TWICEmonkey]

Sort of...without trying to sound rude you just said that you don't have any problems with your standard rad and yet this has happened?

I'd call that a problem

It's not up to the job of cooling your 1380. A 1293 would be OK and 1330 would be border-line (depening how much it's tuned), but any more and you really need an uprated rad

[deanymini]

thanks for the tips guys. i went out and had a look with the engine running and it looks like its coming out of the thermostat housing. what do i need to replace? is it just the gasket? is it an easy job?

[TWICEmonkey]

Probably is the gasket, but you've got to think why it happened...it may have been caused by the overheating, or it may have just been old.

Personally I'd replace the gasket, then drive around for a few weeks keeping my eye on the water and temperature levels to check that they aren't causing any more problems

[deanymini]

i tightened up the bolts on top of the thermostat housing (they were very loose) seems to have done the trick (touch wood) might buy a new gasket for it tomorrow just to be safe

[deanymini]

cant believe this. i tightened them up and it stopped the water from coming out there but now there is a serious amount of steam coming from the near side wheel area. just took it for a quick drive and it worried me that it might catch on fire or something. the needle on the temp gauge didnt go above halfway tho. ive had enough of minis. should have just stuck with my 1275 instead of all this 1380 rubbish

[pikey7]

are you leaking from the bypass hose?

[taffy1967]

Well I reckon the steam is coming from the bottom radiator hose, so that needs tightening for a start.


Fitting an electric auxilliary fan would be a good idea too, as when your sitting in heavy traffic on a scorching hot day, that standard radiator isn't going to be able to cope. RSP and Mainstream Mini Coopers had a bolt on auxilliary fan, that just blew air through the inner wing grille and into the radiator matrix and they work a treat too as my Mainstream has one fitted.

Later Mini's had the electric fan built into a large cut out in the inner wing.

So yes as Rover were fitting these extra electric fans as standard to 1275cc Mini's then your 1380 is going to need a similar system at the very least?

[deanymini]

sorry for the tantrum! lol!