I have been chasing a small oil leak some where on the back side passenger side of the motor and it finally drips on the front portion of the control arm-----the valve cover and timing cover are good. It seems to be around the oil filter area but for the love of god I can't find it. Any suggestions??

 

Its probably the oil filter housing gasket. Clean everything top the oil and run the motor checking every 10 minutes. Or get oil dye

 

I checked the canister filter housing and all is dry, the valve cover is dry. Is there any other place for oil to leak on the right side(exhaust side) of the motor? The drip is just inside the passenger side front tire and is even with the strut back of the motor. I have been under the car several times with every kind of light and can not find the sourse----any guesses to check?

 

Oil cooler gaskets
Oil filter housing gasket
Crank seal
Timing cover gasket
Passenger side engine mount failed and leaked its hydraulic charge
VC gasket

^All suspect leaks in that area.

 

thanks for the tips----all your items listed are good except the oil cooler gaskets----I can not see up there or down there to check----when I run my hand around the cooler as best I can which is not that good I do not come up with any oil on my fingers. I think I will have to a garage and rent a car lift to get the car in the air----then I hope I can run down the leak----when the car is on jack stands is is not enough room to really see well in that area----it going to be a ***** to service that area if and when we find the leak. I have done a lot of work on this Mini including changing all motor mounts strut mounts and struts and almost everything is a struggle. This car was certainly not designed with any maintenance procedures in mind!!!!!!! I really think BMW designed this car to be a throw away piece.

 

Noticed a leak on our new ('06 R53) Mini today and it's either leaking at the bottom oil filter housing bolt or (hopefully) at the filter cap o-ring and pooling at the bottom bolt then dripping right down on a bushing :(

Any tips for removing the housing if that's the culprit? Looks like taking off the (PS pump ?) fan gets at the bottom bolt - what about the other two (?), I'm thinking removal of heat shield and filter/cover and getting them from above might do it? Please tell me I won't have to pull the axle to move the carrier bracket.

And I didn't notice the oil cooler; where's that?

EDIT: oops, sorry - shoulda scrolled down a few more search results - found a housing how-to!

 

Here is video on the oil filter housing gasket. This is for an automatic and you hear the guy say that the manual has heat exhanger as well.

Yes working on Minis, I am looking for an Elf on the Shelf that is a certified Mini mechanic. The little guy could reach all the places that are such a PIA.

 

I did the oil exchanger O-ing change and now no leaks, not that bad but I did have the 1/2 shaft out and the control arm out for bushing and ball joints replacement. The old rings were very hard.

 

Thanks. A tiny mechanic would be a great Christmas gift!😂

 

I'm assuming that you had drained both the oil and coolant to perform the o-ring change?

 

No----not required----no coolant loss----a little oil loss from the exchanger----just catch with a pail and let it drip off. I did mine cold so no burns. Wipe everything off to clean up and then oil the O-rings with new oil""if you have new oil"" that helps keep them in place----do not get rough putting the exchanger back on or you risk relocating the O-rings which will renew the leak. A Torx30 on a long extension is the required tool----do not over tighten. I used about 8lbs behind the T30 tool and a little patience.

 

Good to know. I plan on changing mine in the spring when I replace a host of engine passenger-side components such as crank pulley, crank seal, belt tensioner, idler pulley, timing cover gasket & internal oil seals... I'll have the oil drained from the engine for those tasks, so while I'm there, I'll tackle the oil cooler o-rings.

Did you do it from the topside, from underneath or from the wheel well, or a combination of all three? I have to think the right/front wheel well is the best way to get to this, correct?

 

Passenger side---take off the rim/tire and then remove the fender liner, when you do the harmonic balancer(crank pulley) go the extra mile and go with a ATI---it will last a very long time. It is accessed through the passenger side as well so getting the fender liner out gives good access to that area. How many miles on your car?

 

It's in my sig; 130,000
Thanks for the info.

 

So it looks like the O-rings are shaped, er, like an "O," , but the grooves on the housing are oval in shape. I assume the rings, when pressed into the oval channel, sort of pop into place and are suspended rather precariously? I wonder if a bead of hi-temp RTV sealant in the channel would facilitate holding the O-ring in place, thus improving the seal to the heat exchanger?

 

With the angle of the oil filter housing pointing slightly down, there is a chance of the rings falling out, however, the rings will sit in the channels.

I gave both of the rings a little pre-stretch before installing. Not sure if it helped, but seemed to do the trick and they stayed in place while I re-positioned the cooler to reconnect the two parts. No RTV was used.

 

RTV will help but it is a mess and makes cleanup a problem next time. I did not have any problem with the oval rings staying in with a little oil as well---I did not stretch the O-rings----just pushed them into the groove. After completing the install of the exchanger I changed the oil and guess what----when putting the new filter in I found the drain back valve in the bottom of the housing-----at $400.00 for a replacement I will get creative on this one. BMW really dropped the ball on this one----a $5.00 plastic valve with a spring---what crap.

 

Just to revisit this...

Oil loss from the exchanger?

Shouldn't there only be coolant circulating through the heat exchanger?
Where did the oil come from?

======

Duh!

I think I answered my own question; the coolant loops through two-ports (outer hose nipples) of the top-half of the exchanger, and the oil loops through the two o-rings on the inner surface which butts up to the housing...

 

You got it, you will have a little oil drip from the exchanger when removed from the housing so have something to catch it.

 

Sherman, check this thread out to see if this will work for you? Worth a shot @ $12 to fix the valve and not spend the $400 just yet.

R53 drain back plunger - $12 fix

 

I will check that out----my son had told me about the Ford diesel having a back drain on the filter. I have the part # and will follow up with OReillys----thanks Zsm so much for the tip.

 

Gonna revisit this once more...

Since I plan to do the o-ring change along with a few other passenger-side engine oil seal/gasket related tasks this coming spring, the oil will be drained from the engine.

I'd also like to replace the oil housing gasket if possible. Since both the oil housing filter cap and heat exchanger will be off the housing (making it substantially smaller), is it possible to unbolt and remove (or at least tilt sideways) the remainder of the housing through the passenger-side wheel well?

I do understand that there's a heat shield what has to be detached from the upper side of the housing.

 

There are 2 heat shields that need to be moved out of the way, with housing cap and the exchanger removed you can take the housing out through the top or out the bottom. If you try to put the housing back in with the exchanger attached the fun begins, I had to remove the exchanger from the housing and then went back in from the bottom----you can go from the top without the exchanger but you are blind and feeling your way only as you can't see. You need to remove the inner fender but will still need to jack up the car and go in from the bottom. You can start the top bolt from the bottom and finish off from the top but the 2 bottom bolts will need to be done from the bottom.