The other night my starter failed, got the new one, went to install it, and I found a thick layer of goo and white crust. The pump flange had failed. There's essentially no coolant in the system. I have no idea how the car was running, guessing the 10 degree days here might have somehow kept it cool. It pissed me off, but looking back at it I'm glad it didn't over heat and leave me stranded on the road. Last year the radiator sprung a leak and I did get stranded. So what I want to do is ad a pressure gauge to the system, that I can mount somewhere in the interior. I want to be able to see if there is a problem, before it gets to the catastrophic state. Anyone have any ideas what kind of gauge I should use, how and where to tap into the coolant system, and how much pressure should be in there. I don't want to get a gauge that doesn't have the correct pressure on it. Thanks, Ben
You're probably looking at something electric as you don't want coolant in the cabin if it springs a leak. Water temperature would be more useful, and if the coolant temp never rises above air temp, you know you're running low.
Yeah I hadn't thought about that and there are some reasonably priced units so I'll probably do that. After looking them up, I want make sure I know what I'm getting into before spending the money. So I've read that you install the fitting into an open water port? Usually in the intake manifold? Where is this in the mini and is it easily accessible? And what is the normal temp roughly supposed to be?
Cravenspeed has an adaptor for a temperature gauge that goes in the lower radiator hose. Gauge Sender Adapters - CravenSpeed Online Dave
Cravenspeed has an adaptor for a temperature gauge that goes in the lower radiator hose. Gauge Sender Adapters - CravenSpeed Online Dave
Or you can check the coolant when you check your oil.... The water temp gauge is NICE info....but nothing beats a quick look under the hood...mini's are known for oil use...so a quick look IMO might save you the loss of a motor due to low oil too....
Only issue with getting a PSI gauge is boiling coolant (when low) will STILL GIVE YOU PSI...and the cap will vent the vapor as needed to matain the psi..... IMO if you want a guage....get a water temp....then you can INFER you have coolant if the temp is 180° ish (similar to thermostat)....more than that...you are likely low... But checking the VOLUME in the tank is still needed....radiator PSI guages are really custom stuff...as opposed to temp...which IMO is mandatory.