I have an 07 S. When I make an aggressive turn (and I am talking the type of high speed turn that would make a fighter pilot sick) the alert chime will go off and the red oil can light will flash on the BC screen for a split second. My oil level is good and it is clean oil. I am not too worried about it....but should I be? Is this possibly a sign of the pump being weak or anything like that?

TIA for your opinion.

 

Uhh... Have you checked your oil level.

tHat sounds awful, if you are low on oil and driving you are risking blowing your **** up.

My GTi would do this and it turned out to be a bad oil pump, and led to a bad motor.

 

Yes, oil level is fine, oil is clean.

 

Anyone else have this happen to them?

EDIT: Just spoke with service dept at Motor City MINI and they have not heard of this issue. I made appt for Wednesday.

 

If oil level is fine, I'd say you have an oil pump issue. Get it looked at ASAP.

 

I've seen this before in other cars with low oil level but if yours is fine... Idk. I would change it and see if it changes

 

Its not a low oil level light, its most likely a low oil pressure light.

 

Sounds like low oil pressure probably the pump.... Do let us know after your appointment it will be good to know what they say

 

Same started happening to me few days ago on my 07 Justa. When I take a sharp turn the oil pressure light goes on for a split second with a chime. Oil level is fine. Very odd.

 

Add oil until you are on the high side of the safe area. It made my issue go away. I used to keep my oil in the middle if the safe area, now I top it off as high as I can go without overfilling and it seemed to take care of it.

 

From what I understand, what you are experiencing is a momentary oil pressure loss due to all of the oil shifting to one side of the sump, and the pickup going dry. I can't understand how a weak pump would make a difference , all else being equal, but I certainly won't argue the point. Like anything else, I can see how extreme situations will bring out weaknesses. The way to test an oil pump (as I was taught) is by comparing pressure at a given RPM against printed spec. I doubt PSI is available through the diagnostic port, so I'm assuming one would need to replace the idiot light pressure switch with a gauge temporarily.

To the OP, I'm assuming by "high side" of the safe area, you mean you are filling to the top of the top mark, and rechecking cold. If you are overfilling (barring a mismarked dipstick) to alleviate the issue, I would have to say your driving habits exceed the design of the car. You either need a baffled pan, or something with a dry sump system (Porsche, etc), hehe! With all of the people racing their MINIs, and attending track days, I think the car can handle your driving. Perhaps the dipstick really is off?

 

Something isn't right here...

I run my R53 in the 1.1 to 1.2 G range without seeing this problem...

Respectfully suggest that the OP takes this seriously...

There are baffled sump options out there I think, but I am not at all sure that this is a mod which is considered necessary for reliability when cornering hard. I might be wrong though - I just haven't heard of it.

A tired pump won't scavenge as well as a good one, but if there is no oil available to the pickup a fresh pump won't change that.

Anyone out there aware that this is a R56 weak spot???

 

Mine has done this and i was low on oil.. added oil fixed the problem. now I just constantly check my oil levels.

 

I should amend my earlier post by saying that I actually took the MINI to the dealership to have it looked at for this issue. They said my oil pump was fine and that my oil, while within normal safe driving levels was on the low side. I now keep it on the higher side of safe per the dealership instructions and haven't had an issue.

Before I used toe keep the oil level in the middle of the safe area, now I keep it in the top of the safe area.

 

Indeed, my oil was low. I check my oil regularly and always believed I was at high mark. But the dipstick was deceiving. Using the paper method I read about here, I checked the oil this morning and realized I was below minimum. Added oil, few sharp test drive turns - issue fixed.

 

Please elaborate on the "paper method" I can never get a repeatable dipstick reading (because I am over 40 and am going blind!)

 

The R56 engine take 4.5 qts of oil. You should be able to "calibrate" you dipstick after you fill it up (if you do it your self). If you have someone else do it, they will likely short you the 0.5 qt and leave you a little low. I have tracked my car and never had the oil light come on, but I have always had it full to the top of the line.

Do a search for vaccum pump problems. Appearantly these get destroyed quickly with low oil pressure and when they go, they take out the whole engine. I would get it replaced ASAP.

 

Press the dip stick against a paper towel and roll it. Then compare the oil on the towel to the dip stick.