Hey all,

My mini has twice had steam coming from the little spout underneath the radiator cap, the first time after it happened i checked the radiator and there was nothing in the top tank at all so i filled it back up to where its supposed to be.

The second time was on christmas day and after a long drive i reversed it back down my drive and steam started comng out again, the next day i checked the radiator and again the top tank had nothing in it at all.

During driving on christmas day when i would turn a corner i would have a few drops of very hot water spill out from somewhere in the heater on my foot, now it didnt feel like there was enough that would come out to drain the top tank but im not to sure if there was lots of water in the heater housing itself and turning the corner made some come out and onto my foot and carpet.

The heater on my car is this one:



Upon looking at the hoses going to the heater today i found one has a kink in the heater - see white arrow in pic below ( i couldnt get a better angle with the camera to show kink properly)



Im just wondering if this may be a return pipe for the water from the heater and it is kinked enough for the water flow out of the heater to be restricted so much that it leaks inside the heater, causing me to lose fluid from the radiator and then the car overheating?


Does anyone have any links to anything that will explain to me how these heaters work ie a diagram of the inside etc so i know what goes on to see if what im thinking might be right?

What would be the best option replace the pipe, cut it shorter and refit?

Thanks all, and sorry for the long post, i have no knowledge of cars what so ever so i am just trying to learn as i go along

I'd replace those hoses, they are probably soft now and kink easy.
It shouldn't overheat with no flow through the heater, many Minis have NO heater. In summer the tap is turned off anyway.

<edit> water flows from the tap on the head (hot), through the heater and back into the (cold) bottom radiator hose. IF the tap is on.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

but im thinking that with the heater leaking water, would that be the cause of the car overheating ie not enough water in the radiator and it is overheating?

If your heater is leaking then you are loosing pressure. The cooling system is pressurized to raise the boiling point of the water and that keeps the system 'full' if you loose pressure the water boils at the normal temperature of 100°C and you loose water as steam.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

if you were losing that much water via your heater you'd either have scalded feet or a sauna mini...

i'd sy that if the heater hoses are like that your other rad hoses are too. did you wind up flushing the cooling system? if you did, did you replace all the hoses?

if you didnt, get some cash together and go buy some hsoes!

also, use coolant not just water. rust inhibitor

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince