3 replies to this topic

[bullylove]

Drove my MPI 2000 Cooper Sport to a friend's this eve and drove it fairly friskily...when I got there after around half hour journey...turned the engine off and there was hissing and gurgling noises from the water tank (not very technical I'm afriad...basically where you fill the water up)...checked the water level and all ok...water looked pretty clear...drove home a few hours later very streadily and when got home, turned off engine and quite load gurgling noises (like when the bath empties) started up again...went on for around 1 to 2 mins then started to recede...any ideas and is it going to be very costly? thanks

[minicooper1.3i]

This has been posted on before. The most common problem that causes the header tank to turn into a kettle is the cap on top. It should have a relief valve in it which is susceptible to sticking, so the heat / steam from the water in the tank can't be vented, so it starts boiling.

Change your cap for a brand new one and see if it fixes it. It fixed mine.

[bullylove]

hanks for that...yes i found that last night and bought new cap from minispares..only worry is that there was l little bit of brown gunk on the inside of the cap where the valve is and been told could be head gasket trouble...is that the case?

[Ethel]

Possible, but unlikely, since the engine's iron it's bound to create brown gunk - it's just been left behind when the water evaporated.

Might be worth flushing the system through and refilling with a good healthy mix of antifreeze sometime.

Edited by Ethel, 23 July 2008 - 09:09 PM.