2009 mini with 73000 burling a lot if oil. No leaks a quart a month

 

How much per 1000 miles....
Some folks drive 200 miles in a month...some drive 4000.

 

I would say I drive 1200 a month

 

It's burning more than the motor being high temp running. There is no blue smoke but there is a lot of black around the bottom of tail pipe. Is this valves

 

Unfortunately chappy, this is NORMAL for our cars. We all add a quart of oil every 1000-1500 miles... =(

 

Pretty normal for many/most mini's.....
Some don't....
But about 1 quart per 1000 miles is pretty normal....
The blackish soot around the tail pipes are normal....
Mini's are tuned to run a bit rich....
What you want to watch for is a SUDDEN CHANGE in the amount of oil burned...
But be sure to check your oil frequently.

 

I burn a quart every 5k miles. I sometimes top it off a little more then 4.4 quarts so I can see if anything changes. It's normal.

 

The dip stick is hard to read is there an aftermarket one.

 

no they don't . My 2011 S hardtop about 1/4 qt every 6K , new 2013 S none yet

 

CravenSPEED..AKA, craven, makes a nicr , easy to read dipstick....
Not all mini's burn oil....but a LARGE percentage do...enough that it us not uncommon.

 

Yes, yes there is.

http://www.cravenspeed.com/mini-dipstick/

 

The excessive oil consumption tends to be an "S" turbocharged issue but every Mini owner should keep a very close eye on their oil levels.
The newer (2011-2013) may have lessened this oil consumption in the "S" models but the verdict is still out on those.
Hopefully the new (2014 and later) models without the "prince" engine will not have these problems, but again time will only tell how good these turn out to be.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I have an 09 s and burn maybe 1/4qt every 6,000 or more miles. I usually change the oil more often then recommended though, so I change around 6,000 or so.

 

Mine burnt 3 quarts in about 3k miles. Blew my turbo as a result. Now I know to check and add every 500 miles. I guess we just need to maintain our minis like an old beater jalopy...

 

so you have an s or a base?

 

My S uses about the same as some other posts, about 1/4 qt. in 6,000 miles. I end up changing it each year about 6k miles a year.

 

How can a car burning that much oil ever pass emmissions tests?

 

It is an industry standard, a quart/1000 miles is in the range of acceptable oil consumption, it doesn't affect emissions testing.

Dave

 

Not everywhere has emissions tests. Washington doesn't unless you live in a couple of specific counties. When I was a kid, growing up in Oklahoma we used to have annual safety inspections, which included emissions, but about 10 years ago they did away with that. I remember all the trouble I had getting my 84' firebird to pass. Once I had to replace a windshield because of a 3" crack. Another time I had to replace a whole tail light cluster because of a bb size hole in it. It was ridiculous...glad they did away with it.

 

The kind of oil used can have an effect on consumption as well.

For instance, in an '08 Subaru Forester XT I had, Pennzoil Ultra 5W30 would be consumed like **** through a goose. Shell Rotella T6 had very little consumption over the course of the 3000-3500 miles between oil changes; maybe 1/2 quart. Royal Purple HPS showed no consumption.

In my '06 MCS JCW, I have about 3000 miles on the Royal Purple HPS 5W30. This is the first oil change I performed since taking ownership. The car has almost 70K miles. I have yet to add a drop since the changeover. I commute with this car easily logging 500 miles a week with 75% highway and 25% city driving.

Keep in mind that this has been my experience and your mileage may vary.

 

There are some threads on NAM about this issue, the cause of the issue is back pressure created by a small flow blockage in the catalytic converter that has been contaminated by oil. If you want to know why it is happening read the second section at the link http://www.jmturbocoopers.com/Cooper...ton-Issue.html. If you don't fix this issue you risk engine damage from oil getting into your intake system, inter-cooler, and combustion chamber. :(


07 S burned 1 quart of oil in 2k miles