19 replies to this topic

[Mini Man Sam]

Not had the mini long but she seems to run a little hot. It's a 998 with a slightly modified exhaust (straight through to stainless twin pipe back box). The needle sits about half way between half and hot on a run as long as you sit about 60. Start going faster and the needle rises to just under red. Have checked levels etc and all seem fine although I think previous owner filled the rad after filling the washer bottle with a washing up solution as it seemed a bit frothy when I checked the other day.

I intend to do a coolant flush and AF refill soon so hopefully this should solve the frothy water problem.

Anyway back to the original question, is the temp high or is this normal for mini.

cheers

[Jackman]

Mines like that at that speed, however its running under the half way point now for some reason when im driving around town....

[Pooky]

I've got a 1989 998 witha stage 1 and have only had one problem of over heating (2004 L2B sitting in traffic in the roasting sun!) Normally it's between Half and cold!

I don't trust it very much tho! :fear:

[binge]

I thrash mine everywhere and it has never rised about half. Infact. it usually sits on 1/4

<|Ben|>

[RacingGreen]

yeah, thats about the same for me too.

[CharlieBrown]

I think mine stays just under the half way mark.

(998cc)

[Purple Tom]

it really does depend on the condition of the cooling system of the car overall. Including the condition of the radiator, all its corresponding hoses, the water pump, thermostat, how silted up the waterways in the block are, and what the condition of the heater matrix is.

I had a 1098cc A series in my Clubby when I bought it, and it ALWAYS ran very hot. I initially replaced all the hoses, water pump and thermostat, and it still ran up near the red in most conditions (even through the winter). I reverse flushed the system, and it didn't help much. To counter the problem I used to just turn the heater on and open the windows, which helped a bit.

Eventually I got fed up and forked out for a 2-core radiator for it. It made LOADS of difference, bringing the temperature down to just over half usually, which was a great improvement.

Then I got the 1275cc A+ Metro engine, and with all new hoses (again), and water pump and 'stat, and the 2 core rad, it never ever went above halfway! Even in the summer, sat in traffic, like at Vineyards 2004 or sat staging at the Showdown.

So really you need to have a look at the condition of your waterworks (ooeer ) and make sure everything is in tip top condition. Its not a hard job to replace components like your water pump, thermostat, top and bottom hoses etc, and reverse flushing the block and heater matrix is a piece of cake.

But to answer your question, it sounds like your Mini is running a bit on the hot side! If you didn't already know, to bring the temperature down you can whack the heater on full and open all the windows, the heater acts like a heat exchanger for the cooling system.

Hope that helps, sorry to ramble!

Tom

[Mini Man Sam]

Cheers for the replies. Intend to flush out soon. Will putting in rad flush in now before I drain help. Also would it be a good idea to flush and then refill with just plain water and run it for a while before flushing again and filling with AF solution.

Yes I did know about the heater bring the temp down and it does seem to work.

Cheers

[Jeff R]

Check if your fan is the right way round. Sounds stupid but makes a huge difference!

[tommy]

slight overheating problem with my car also, the fan should be blowing away from the block towards the wheel yeah?

[Jammy]

Yep! If you take the fan off the on one side its labeled with something like 'block' or 'engine' so you know what side that face should be on!

[miniman5]

mine ran ace, before we took it of the road for suspension work, but itle run ace after to

[MiniSi]

At the moment Meep is running a little hot, but a new radiator and hoses are on order.

Currently have new thermostat, rad flush and rad weld ready to go in it!

I've been reading up on using "just water" as opposed to mixing with anti-freeze and your shooting yourself in the foot. Antifreeze raises the boiling point of water to 108 degrees (obviosuly based on mixture levels) so in fact, a system 100% water will boil quicker than a system say 50/50 with antifreeze.

[TimS]

and if you still have problems then back off the ignition timing slighly

[MiniSi]

I've found sticking to 50-60mph keeps the temp down as well.