Most liked posts in thread: Steam from engine

A leak...look at the overflow reservoir, sometimes they leak right long the seam between the top and bottom halves.

Otherwise, it could also be the thermostat housing, the gasket will sometimes leak on those and it's a bit hard to see if you don't know what to look for or where it is.

 

If it's drinking water, you best find the leak. Not good to run out of coolant in the MINI. It can lead to an expensive fix if you warp the head. Minidave suggested two areas that are known problems on the MINI.

 

It "could" be the rad, as a few of those have gone south too, best to have someone who knows the cars take a good look at it and find what the problem really is instead of guessing or throwing parts at it.....the good news is leaking coolant usually leaves a trail, so if you know where to look you should find it.

 

On my '06, when I overfill the coolant a bit, it will overflow the tank, causing some water/coolant to spill out and splash on to the heat shield, producing lots of steam that comes up through the cowl vents.

I might recommend that you clean you engine bay carefully and dry it well. That way you will be better able to distinguish new wetness or dried coolant crystals and figure out where they are coming from.

 

Ah... then keep the coolant full and get in to service ASAP. If you know that there is a problem and you go dry and cook the engine, they aren't gonna want to cover it.

 

Amee...get thee to the dealer! :biggrin5:

I'm betting thermostat housing leak......

 

When you see steam rising from under the hood, find a safe place to park, leave the engine running, neutral + P-brake, and raise the hood.

Since you see "steam" it means the coolant is dripping on something hot. The two most likely places on a Cooper: A leak from the thermostat housing on the head, #10 here, facing the engine it is one the right side of the valve cover, follow the fill tube down, there would be visible residue around the housing and/or steam emanating from this area. Leak from under the coolant reservoir, #1 group here, dripping on the exhaust manifold, which would also leave a visible residue as well as steam from the rear of the engine bay area.

There are other places coolant can leak from, but few that would result in instant steam. The first generation Cooper's coolant system isn't pressurized, so there are fewer coolant spewing opportunities from one location to another, other than top to bottom. It is also possible there is a head crack at a water jacket, but less likely.