So I have an 06, I just got it with 84k on the clock. I noticed a little oil in the drive and I got under the car today. From what I can tell its from the rear (closer to firewall). The valve cover looks good. I thought maybe the Oil filter wasn't tight but I ran my hand around it and it seemed dry. I don't think its the oil pan gasket, it seems higher up. I believe the oil on the pan is just from the leak above but I could be wrong. There is a fan, guessing to cool trans? and that has some residual oil as well. Any ideas.....anyone with oil leaks maybe offer some advice? If it is the oil pan so be it but before I spend the $ Im wondering if its something easier or more pricey. Just got the car, ugh......my winter car but I want to get it all tidy before I put my BMW away. Thanks!

 

Check your power steering reservoir hoses. They are known to leak on high mileage cars.

 

OK, ill do that. seems like oil, its black....but Ill check my PS too....cant hurt!

 

Oil filter housing gasket and oil cooler gaskets are common leaking points...the job isn't the hardest but reaching bolts and turning bolts you can't see is not enjoyable.

 

Clean off all the areas that have oil residue and keep an eye on it to determine where the oil is leak is originating from. Yes, check the filter housing gasket and cooler for leaking points.

 

mine is leaking from what appears to be the oil filter housing as well. There is oil collecting on the lower housing bolt, I was about to ask the same question, but it appears to be answered here. I have my subframe off right now so it looks easy to fix, just more parts to order....

 

Rear main oil seal? Leak at the back, on the left, look at join between sump and block, and where box joins, wet there usually first right after cleaning off, will blow onto pas fan and subframe. Often diagnosed as a sump gasket, sometimes also visible through an oil escape hole at the bottom of the bell housing, or even the clutch fork bush.

 

Update...

I get a call - its the crank sensor o-ring. Fine, I said take care of it. They recommended doing the sensor itself and even though it probably wasn't bad, the car has 85k on it so, why have to go back later in the event the it actually went bad. I dont believe they were just trying to make some extra $, they charged me 90 total in parts..... That's all fine and good, 300 bucks. but I get a call and they had it up on the hoist running for a while after driving it and they now told me the oil pan gasket is also leaking. I am just wondering if they misdiagnosed the original issue?? Im not totally in denial that there can be multiple leaks, buy I hope I just didnt pay 300 when I really needed to have the oil pan gasket done. Thats 500, ugh! Just got the car as a winter car, thought I got a deal but with these repairs, im not better off. But, I guess for the same money I have some of the work/leaks done and out of the way. I said hold off on the oil pan gasket. Ill drive it another 1000 miles and see how had it is, and ill be closer to needing an oil change (included in the price).

 

More than likely both leaked and they couldn't tell which was leaking.

 

Leave it there a little longer and they'll tell you your windshield is leaking.

Seriously though, the O-ring is a known issue, the sensor itself - not so much. And it's not like it's such a PITA to get at them when/if the sensor really did die. Well you've already paid for it, so you get that peace of mind.

The actual Mini dealer here told me my pan gasket was leaking. It was actually the CPS O-ring, and they probably knew that - it's their job to know that.

When I bought my '04 about 6 months ago, the (used) dealer told/showed me how they replaced the valve cover gasket because they noticed some oil leakage. Okay, I saw the RTV. They also supposedly changed the oil (but I doubt the filter was changed). And because I change out all fluids when I purchase a car, I did the oil [again] myself only to find that the large O-ring on the filter canister was not in the groove where it was supposed to go. It was there, just in the wrong place. Since correcting those two O-ring problems, not one leak, engine doesn't burn one drop of oil @ over 100K.

 

Filmy, sounds like your local MINI dealer isn't too great. Hard to find an honest mechanic these days. I had the dealer replace my oil pan gasket and cps because they both leaked, gets old adding oil.

 

The Crank case position sensor is a 30 cent O-ring and is a DIY in about 20 mins, The Sump gasket is around $35 and a 30 min DIY job. The old school way to trace oil leaks was to wipe the areas clean and then dust with talcum powder and look for tracking. If your Oil filter, Rocker cover, sump gaskets are OK and the CPS O-ring are OK, the most likely places will be as indicated by ExclusiveWorkshops post with the addition of a failed front input shaft seal. With the exception of the Front gearbox input shaft seal and Rear main engine seal, all other possible points are simple DIY jobs. One way to test for the gearbox front input shaft seal if the leak has been long term is to drop the gearbox oil and measure the volume you drain. My R53 had a pinhole leak that was continuously diagnosed as a sump gasket by a prior owner/dealership. On dropping the gearbox oil, it only had 0.5 litres instead of the required 1.7 litres ! Seal was replaced but a continued leak revealed a pinhole in the bell housing (what would be the top of the Diff) that allowed the oil under pressure to weep in the areas described by ExclusiveWorkshop. At a cost of $50 to get the pin hole alloy welded up, gearbox has been solid since with no oil leaks. A rear main engine seal and Gearbox front input shaft seal is not a simple DIY but given a weekend, it is still a very doable job for a home mechanic.

 

Not to defend them, but...

I had the Mini in for a p/s pump warranty replacement, they added a new fan at no extra charge. While there, they did the cursory check for problems and listed three of the most common on a 100K-mile R53: engine mount, pan gasket and LCA bushings; the LCAs and upper engine mount are (still) worn so they weren't altogether lying, just doing their run-of-the-mill duty. The service manager even rolled his eyes when he told me about the problems and the cost for them to repair them, knowing there was no way I'd agree to Mini fixing them.

But yeah, they should've known better about the O-ring vs. pan gasket.

 

Talked about here: 12147514983

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...irst-post.html




Once its fixed wipe down that area so you cane see if its the pan gasket also.

Oil pan gasket: 11131487221

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-threads.html

 

The oil level is below the mating surfaces of the pan and block when the car is level so oil leaks are not severe, nor do they just spontaneously appear from being lifted in the air and ran for 5 minutes.

As near everyone above said, if it is a leak down the back of the block there are one of three leaks: valve cover, filter housing, oil cooler, or any mix of the 3.

The crank sensor does have an o-ring, and it can just be cleaned and resealed with RTV and never leak again, instead of putting the same o-ring back in to leak again.