Think I've found the reason for the coolant smell

[Justin S]

Ever since we have had the JCW R53, has had the aroma of coolant. Today I pushed it out the garage to clean it and heard hissing from the expansion vessel, even though it hadnt been run for 12hrs. Took the cap off to inspect the seal in the cap and looks a bit worn, so tried to turn the seal over as a temporary fix. Then saw a flaw in the moulding of the expansion tank, where the seal is supposed the seat. It has a dip in the mould.
So been looking for a new tank.
Options
1. Buy an OEM replacement. Not sure on the cost of one of these at the moment. Ones on ebay look a bit poor quality around the middle where it joins. So probable call to the main dealer in the morning. Anyone know approximately how much they are?

2/ alloy replacement. This is the cheapy ones on ebay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-MINI-WATER-COOLANT-H...
They dont list them as Cooper S specific unlike the standard plastic ones on ebay, so not sure if the 'S' had a different size one to the standard R53.Will need to get a cap on top.

3/ The forge alloy one. Very nice, but £200 for an expansion tank?

Any other options I might have missed or anyone know any good places for a replacement tank.

Cheers

[vanman]

I know a couple of people who are using the ebay ones on a cooper s with no issues,i'll be getting one for mine soon too as it's a common issue for the standard item to leak.

[AndyACB]

Just get another new OEM one, you can't see it when the bonnet is shut - ie 99.9% of the time!

Brand new from MINI they are £50

[Justin S]

When 'a' mini dealer eventually calls me back £6 inc vat for the cap, £50 plus vat for the tank. So have ordered the cap and for the same money will get the alloy tank to replace the standard one.
Also £20 for the sump gasket and £30 for the JCW charger belt, which is next on the list of to do's......

[johnoz]

Justin S said:

When 'a' mini dealer eventually calls me back £6 inc vat for the cap, £50 plus vat for the tank. So have ordered the cap and for the same money will get the alloy tank to replace the standard one.
Also £20 for the sump gasket and £30 for the JCW charger belt, which is next on the list of to do's......

Arr sump gasket, just had our's done.

[cptsideways]

Can you file the top of the tank down till its flat?

[Justin S]

cptsideways said:

Can you file the top of the tank down till its flat?

You could do. Was thinking about doing it last night,with a block of wood and a bit of wet and dry, but it has a raised central ridge to stop the seal from sliding around.