Mini overheating

I read a topic somewhere that was a how-to on adding a heater core (or something like that) to the grill of the mini to address overheating problems. does anyone here have a link to that or know where it is??

How old is the car? Some ofthe 60s 70s blocks had inadequate galleries and had to be well flushed or even steam cleaned. We had a problem with one of our race blocks which I think came from an America and the only solution was to change it. I have seen in England a slightly offset fan which was claimed to help.
There's been some stuff recently on"Jaguar lovers on line" about whether thermostats improve or diminish cooling and whether electric fan do likewise. It was on the Etype thread in the last month or so
Good luck
Hotdoc
70 TR6
68 Etype
&0s mini(cooper S sort of)

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by outoway:
I read a topic somewhere that was a how-to on adding a heater core (or something like that) to the grill of the mini to address overheating problems. does anyone here have a link to that or know where it is??<hr></blockquote>

Maybe this is what I was thinking ( last line about the radiator). This was copied from someone's Mini website.

All was not lost though, the Mini Cooper was to be re-launched in June 1990. A special run of 1000 cars was produced, called RSP Coopers (Rover Special Products). This new Mini Cooper took its engine from the MG Metro and had a top speed of 92mph and 0-60 in 11.3 seconds. Due to tougher environmental regulations production of this Cooper ended in September 1991. It was replaced with the fuel-injected version in October 1991, this had the same engine as before but now had single point fuel injection and an electronic management system. This version was to be replaced in 1997 by the twin-point Mini Cooper. This still has the same engine that was the in the first ever Mini in 1959 but now has been fettled to include twin-point fuel injection, front mounted radiator and lower final drive for better motor way cruising.

Is this a street car or racing? I had an overheating problem but by doing some mods inside the engine water channels it runs great now. Also cleaned up the radiator and made sure I had a good water pump.

I have not seen articles on either extra or moving the radiator but I have seen it done. If I find anything I will post it.

I have a heater core hung on my Mini. I live in Florida, the engine is a warmed over 1380. I don't beleive it would require the core if it were a standard 1275. The car ran and runs fine at 70+ MPH with out it. My only problem was in town, traffic light to traffic light. The core helped in this area.

Here are some other suggestions to try before going the core route.

Antifreeze does NOT dissipate heat as well as plain water! Do not use more than you need. If you live in a place like Fla. I recommend using water wetter, because it inhibits corrosion and go with 25% antifreeze.

There are a number of superior radiators available for the Mini. There are 4 core and new "improved" 2 core units that take heat away more effectivly than the standard unit. If you want to get fancy, someone actually makes an aluminum unit. The transformation to a front mounted radiator in not often attempted, because it is difficult to do.

Thermostats: Always use a thermostat or at the very least, a blanking sleeve in the A series engine. Removal will cause cylinder #4 not to cool properly.

Fan: make sure the previous owner did not put the fan on backwards. It needs to PUSH the air through the radiator and out into the fender well. This is unconventional, so it is often put on backwards when the water pump is serviced.

If you still want need pictures of how a heater core is installed, I'll be happy to post pictures.

Very good advice from one and all. Just as an aside, would it be possible for the addition of an oil cooler to have a similar cooling effect, but without the hassle? It was a period modification, and worthwhile for such a small, hardworking engine and transmission such as the Mini's. Good point about the cooling fan though, anyone, unless they already knew, would mount the fan the wrong way.

I would not argue with an oil cooler. Not too hard an installation. Many Mini parts suppliers have them available.

I would think you should be able to get the heating problems solved. I drive in 90 plus temps sometimes and not highway. The engine gets hotter but not overheated so you should be able to solve this without a radical conversion. Make sure your gauge is accurate.

Never used water wetter but have been told it can cool an engine quite a few degrees. Also told it was rather caustic to skin. If so wonder why it is not caustic in an engine.

Thanks for all the replys. This is a street driven car. and is a 1975 or at least that is what the title says!! I have thought about the Oil cooler as well. Mine isn't a cooper and only has the 998. Another thing I have thought about is putting a overflow tank on it as well. Thats a very easy fix as well.

Sorry haven't gotten back on here, but I seem to be having an IE 6.0 and Java problem. Alot of times the board doesnt load.

A Mini fan but not a Mini owner...

I would first verify the timing is correct as this can easily cause or increase an overheating problem.

Water wetter should help too, it may also find any tiny tiny leaks in the system but you wanted to find those anyway didn't you?

The rest of my tricks are more TR specific... good luck!

OK, here you go. I told you it was warmed over....



Engine compartment showing auxillary on left side of photo.



Taken from RH side of car. Top unit is auxillary radiator lower and to right is oil cooler.



Looking down on aux radiator.

OK, here you go. I told you it was warmed over....



Engine compartment showing auxillary on left side of photo.



Taken from RH side of car. Top unit is auxillary radiator lower and to right is oil cooler.



Looking down on aux radiator.

for some reason the pics aren't showing up. Can you email them to me??

smcnett1220@comcast.net

many thanks
Stephen

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by ThomP:
I have a heater core hung on my Mini. I live in Florida, the engine is a warmed over 1380. I don't beleive it would require the core if it were a standard 1275. The car ran and runs fine at 70+ MPH with out it. My only problem was in town, traffic light to traffic light. The core helped in this area.

Here are some other suggestions to try before going the core route.

Antifreeze does NOT dissipate heat as well as plain water! Do not use more than you need. If you live in a place like Fla. I recommend using water wetter, because it inhibits corrosion and go with 25% antifreeze.

There are a number of superior radiators available for the Mini. There are 4 core and new "improved" 2 core units that take heat away more effectivly than the standard unit. If you want to get fancy, someone actually makes an aluminum unit. The transformation to a front mounted radiator in not often attempted, because it is difficult to do.

Thermostats: Always use a thermostat or at the very least, a blanking sleeve in the A series engine. Removal will cause cylinder #4 not to cool properly.

Fan: make sure the previous owner did not put the fan on backwards. It needs to PUSH the air through the radiator and out into the fender well. This is unconventional, so it is often put on backwards when the water pump is serviced.

If you still want need pictures of how a heater core is installed, I'll be happy to post pictures.<hr></blockquote>

Yeah, I would love to see some pics of the heater core trick. That would be awsome!

After a little research, I found this front mount radiator set up for your Mini:

LOL It would def be molested by the time I added that to it!!!

Can a fan be put on "BACKWARDS"
I think you will find just like nuts and bolts (you don't make them left hand thread by turning them over) turning over the fan will not make any difference to the way the fan actually pushes the air.
It is important to make shure that a previous owner hasn't substituted a wrong type of fan for the correct one though.

Good luck

Graham

U.R> right! Backwards only reduces the efficiency of the fan, it still pushes some air through the radiator. The plastic fan I have laying about would be difficult to put on backwards (and it doesn't look like it would matter much), but the tropical fan I have on my car appears to be an easy one to get on backwards and it WOULD be less efficient, because of the asymetrical shape of the blades.

Adding an overflow system is a good idea.

Oil coolers certainly don't hurt, but don't bring the engine temp down much....and, if located in the grille, may even impede the airflow to the radiator. They're a must on a race car, but of marginal value on a road car with a stock engine

I'm wondering what kind of radiator you have in your Mini now. If it's an OE radiator that came with the stock Mini 1000, it's probably just barely adequate for a Southern U.S. climate....even less so if it's a bit crudded up.

You might want to consider switching to a 4-core radiator, or better still, one of the new Super 2-cores.

If you're going to go to the trouble to change the radiator, might as well put in a new water pump (they're fairly cheap) and replace that silly many-bladed plastic fan with a Tropical Fan (a four blade metal fan...a bit more noisy, but they push a lot more air).

Some good advise. Yes it is the stock one that came with the car. So it may be part of it. I still need to check the timing and compression on it as well. At least it has electronic ignition.