7 replies to this topic

[muff]

Alright guys, i'm hoping someone can offer me some advice.

My cooper is overheating, I can hear the water bubbling after I turn the engine off, and today there was steam coming out the wheel arch after I parked up.... BUT my temperature guage is not reading that it's over heating, it's on the black middle line most of the time, and every now and then will drop down further to the bottom, but never about the middle marker?
I've also got some, but not loads of white smoke coming out the exhaust when idle?
AND when it's cold it runs really badly, like it's running out of fuel, the more I put my foot down the more it bogs down?!

Is this all connected or is the poor old girl simply falling apart?

Cheers for nay help

Matt

[Big_Adam]

The cooling part I'll have a bash at. 1st check the coolant isn't all crappy I mean just rusted water sludge. If bad then change it, next. Check the thermostat. Pop it out if you can (normally the whole thing ceased into place) pop it in an OLD pan and heat the water and the thermostat up to 88*c-ish check that it open correctly. If not replace. Still not fixed then give the rad and fan a look at. Check the fan belt isn't slipping and that the radiator isn't thrashed. IF there all good then...errm....too lean I think. That would explain the smoke. Or is that too rich,.....No too lean. Yeah running very lean mean the car overheats. I'm sure I heard that here before. Try the other stuff 1st. If you change the coolent then give the system a good flush and run with the rad cap off. This allows for the removal of air and if you run to temp (being careful not to get burnt) then you can see if the water is moving (a sort of indication to the water pumps condidtion)

edit

check the dashpot oil too.

Edited by Big_Adam, 23 January 2007 - 10:45 PM.

[TOMMO0302]

Head Gasket?

[Grayedout]

White smoke from the exhaust almost always means head gasket gone !! The combustion gas could also be getting into your coolant and causing air locks which could make the gauge read low while the rest is hot !!!

Get the head off ASAP and have a look !

[Big_Adam]

ow yeah, I thought muff meant the puff of smoke you get from running in cold weather.

[edjohnson]

Almost certainly head gasket, will be coolant water coming outta the exhaust on idle, and you now have lovely air locks in the coolant system

Check the thermostat, as this may well have been the cause of the overheating, which in turn blew the head gasket

but make sure the stat is hanging in the water, not touching the bottom, as it will be lots hotter than the actual water temp

its not the end of the world if your gaskets gone, especially on a mini. The heads dont warp as easy as on modern cars will ally heads, and its a simple job to fix compared with modern vehicles

you may even get away with not having to skim the head, as long as you can be sure its not warped

good luck

[Sprocket]

Carb or SPi or MPi Cooper??

Carry out a compression test.

Edited by Mini Sprocket, 24 January 2007 - 12:45 AM.

[muff]

Cheers guys, looks like she'll be garaged for a few days then. I'll get the head off and give the whole coolant system a once over.

I'm pretty sure it must be at the early stages of the gasket going because the smoke isn't that bad and no gunk round the filler cap, so hopefully just a gasket change!

Tahnks for your help!