Coolant leak- accumulation on supercharger

Tiny
CECETHIS
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 MINI COOPER S
  • 1.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 110,000 MILES
R53- ( supercharged 6-spd manual)

Looking for ideas on what might cause a coolant leak yielding accumulation on top of supercharger and around upper air duct that might not be related to the head gasket. Coolant tank has obvious signs of loss from venting through valve (not the OEM tank.) Upper rad hoses quickly warm to touch, no leaks. Radiator fan shroud is dry. Leak is limited to passenger side, not water pump. Fluid runs straight down onto alternator, steady drip at floor, tank loss approximately half, fluid viscosity good, minimal discoloration likely from residual rust.

Vehicle History:
A head gasket repair was preformed by some mechanics approximately four years, 50,000 miles ago after significant emulsification found in coolant reservoir. They put the car back together wrong and did some damage to the vehicle, so I have little faith in the work. Since then I have done all work myself, everything has been torqued properly. All repair listed below has been done in the past three years, 30,000 miles. Much of the work was done with in the past five months, 3,000 miles. I drove highway- 1,000 mile moving and then daily driver for the past month. No leaks or other cooling concerns. To my knowledge the car has never overheated. I've owned since 40,000 miles. I still have no obvious oil leaks, blow by or evap oil loss. All repairs have been done using OE parts except for those specified below and some Victor Reinz gaskets. Potential effecting things I have replaced:

- Engine oil cooler- with corresponding hoses and gaskets
- Upper and lower radiator hoses
- Coolant expansion tank- canton aluminum, 30psi cap
- Thermostat and gasket (x2)
- Thermostat housing
- Cooling system flushed x4
- Valve cover gasket
- Inter-cooler- forge
- Inter-cooler bellows
- Inter-cooler bellow clamps
- Oil pan gasket
- Oil filter housing
- Engine oil cooler
- Cooling fan
- Radiator- csf
- Radiator fan, shroud and relay
- Ran relay 2
- Crank sensor o-ring
- Heater core
- Temperature sensor
- Supercharger oil
- Cold air intake with clamps- m7
- Intake manifold gasket
- All gaskets through air ducts, supercharger, manifold etc. Pathway
- Water pump
- Water pump hose
- Water pump flange, gasket and o-ring
- Air duct bi- valve hose and clamps
- Bypass valve o-ring
- PCV
- Throttle valve o-ring
- A few other coolant hoses and plastic junctions including lower hose at firewall

The only true performance change I have made is a 15% underdrive pulley but I did swap spark plugs- NGK (dropped one heat cycle to jcw's), NGK spark plug wires and JCW drive belt.
Tuesday, September 25th, 2018 AT 12:06 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
DANNY L
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,648 POSTS
Hello, I am Danny.

Have you tried use a Cooling System Pressure Tester? You can do that with the engine cold (to keep from burning yourself-heat) and the engine being off to inspect. It goes in place of the radiator cap and pressurizes the system to find the leak(s). If you do not have one your local auto parts stores have tool loaner programs that will rent you one. I have attached a tutorial showing what is involved. Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.
Danny-

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test
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Tuesday, September 25th, 2018 AT 10:02 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,959 POSTS
Can you please take pictures or video of the leak? We are going to need to see the leak to help find out where it is coming from.
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Wednesday, September 26th, 2018 AT 10:57 AM
Tiny
CECETHIS
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thanks so much for responding. I appreciate your input. Coolant in the pictures on top of the supercharger is just the residue from after I started cleaning up. Initially it was a puddle spreading around to the side, pooling in front bolts and then dripping down the alternator. That was after driving. Everything else I could see from the top was dry. I have not pressure tested it because the leak is pretty obvious on the ground if I start the car. I was just hoping to diagnose without taking the front end off.

Thanks again!
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Wednesday, September 26th, 2018 AT 1:23 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,959 POSTS
Hello,

Thanks for the pictures they really help. It looks like you may have two leaks; one from the head gasket and the other from the radiator core.

You are going to need to pressure test is to confirm the issue. You can get a tester from Amazon or the parts store will lend you one.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

Please run down this guide and report back.

Cheers, Ken
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Thursday, September 27th, 2018 AT 10:18 AM
Tiny
CECETHIS
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Yup, radiator core leaking. Crazy because it only has 4,000 miles on it. Thanks for your help guys!
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+1
Sunday, September 30th, 2018 AT 2:02 PM
Tiny
DANNY L
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,648 POSTS
You are welcome!
Thanks again for using 2CarPros.
Danny-
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Sunday, September 30th, 2018 AT 4:00 PM

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