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I found an 2009 Mini Cooper S with around 98,000 miles that I am interested in. The owner is the original owner and has taken excellent care of the car including servicing it at the local MINI dealer.
The most recent visit to the dealer she complained of a "burning oil" smell. The mechanic reported that they "Found several engine oil leaks from engine area. Oil Filter housing, turbo oil return line, vacuum pump, High pressure fuel pump o-ring, and vacuum line is soaked with oil."
The dealer recommended replacing "those components" and recheck. To me that seems ridiculous and that there is more than likely only one source of the leak. She has continued to drive it and it just loses oil over time.
He says the car loses approximately one quart of oil every month if driven as a daily driver. I have not actually seen the car but am very interested.
My 2009 S had an oil leak when I bought it and you could occasionally smell oil when driving. It was the turbo oil line (**** poor design with an o-ring in a rotating coupling. The heat fries the o-ring and you get an oil leak right on top of the hot turbo). It's easy to see when you open the hood. The oil line is right on top of the turbo. It would occasionally drip on the ground, but never very much. The engines use oil. Unless there is a pool of oil on the ground, I would suspect just normal oil consumption.
oil filter housing leak is no simple leak that should go unnoticed. If it warps, you're f'd. A new housing is at least $400 + labor. If its not warped, then the gaskets need to be replaced. The oil filter housing and turbo oil feed line should definitely be fixed before you consider purchasing. The last thing you want is oil dumped along the freeway and your engine seizes from oil starvation.
One thing that you must learn if you purchase a MINI is how to check the oil. It is not simple because of some design flaws.
It is common for this family of engines to use oil. It is also common for oil leaks to happen.
To replace the turbo oil lines and oil filter housing gaskets is about $300 in parts and 6-8 hours of labor. This translates to $1200 at the dealer, less (but still significant) at an independent mechanic.
Vacuum pump is $275 and 30 minutes to change.
Don't be afraid to buy a MINI, just be aware that maintenance (and checking oil) is required. They are not as trouble-free as most other cars.
You should either have these things fixed before purchase, or get $1000 off the purchase price.
Typically, an idea to try and figure out where the source of the leak is coming from is to clean off all areas that have oil residue as best you can. Then drive it for a week (depending on how severe the leak is) and get under it to see what areas are wet again. Otherwise, as stated above, negotiate the price to compensate for the cost of repairs in some way. Good luck!
One thing that you must learn if you purchase a MINI is how to check the oil. It is not simple because of some design flaws.
It is common for this family of engines to use oil. It is also common for oil leaks to happen.
To replace the turbo oil lines and oil filter housing gaskets is about $300 in parts and 6-8 hours of labor. This translates to $1200 at the dealer, less (but still significant) at an independent mechanic.
Vacuum pump is $275 and 30 minutes to change.
Don't be afraid to buy a MINI, just be aware that maintenance (and checking oil) is required. They are not as trouble-free as most other cars.
You should either have these things fixed before purchase, or get $1000 off the purchase price.
Mike
+1 on how to check the oil. The 2007 and early MINI R56+ have the full metal design stick, then they went to the plastic ( red tip end version )
Thanks for everyone's help! I am very into this Mini since the price is right... I would/could definitely repair it and would plan to do the work myself.
I'm curious why so many people called out having to replace the vacuum pump? All I read from the mechanic's comments was that the pump had Oil on it. Is it common for the vacuum pump to leak oil? I am assuming that not ALL the oil covered areas are leaking and I would instead need to isolate the leak as Pelicanparks described.
i believe it is hard to say without actually seeing the car. if you have to replace those oil lines though please go with the Detroit tuned version. Or any other braided line version. Fix it once with a better part save money in the long run.
The vacuum pump has internal seals and a seal to the block. Both are known to leak, the internal seal results in oil consumption, the seal to the block is just messy.
People have been known to lose an engine due to a vacuum pump internal leak. Some have reported that the pump seizes, which jams the exhaust cam, or the oil consumption can be severe. Again, the average consumer doesn't know that these cars use oil, so the vacuum pump can suck enough oil that the engine runs dry and seizes.
If you are fixing it yourself, do the following work together:
Turbo oil feed line (braided version as suggested above)
Turbo oil drain line
Oil filter housing gaskets
Oil cooler gaskets (bolted to the oil filter housing)
Anti-freeze change (you need to drain it to change the gaskets)
Oil change (there is a chance that you can get coolant in the oil when changing gaskets)
The labor overlaps for these jobs. You should also get a new exhaust clamp and downpipe-to-turbo gasket when doing this job. See Detroit tuned or WMW for part kits. There are other site sponsors that can provide these parts at significantly lower prices than the dealer.
Yes , on the vacuum pump the other seal that sandwich between the pump and the head can be replaced. The seal that connects to two main halves of the pump is not a separate part.
Go over the car with my links above and see what needs done, make a list.
To respond to your original post, this is a MINI, so the chances of there being just one leak are small. The leaks that they diagnosed sound like typical R56 leaks which, unfortunately, cost a little bit to fix. Find a reputable independent MINI shop and you'll save a boat load.
I have seen 3 N14 engines, and talked to other MINI mechanics at dealers that have found the block leaking oil between the upper and lower halves. This is a really expensive leak to fix. So price it with the worse case in mind as you don't want to find out too late and have more than the car is worth in fixing it.
The rest of the gaskets can all be had pretty cheap and a little time to replace.
Also FYI 2 of the guys we had that had the block leaking went and traded the car in rather than fixing it due to cost, so they ended up for sale somewhere.
I am in the process of replacing the Oil Filter Housing and Coolant gaskets as well as the turbo feed and drain lines!
The gaskets in the Oil Filter Housing looked pretty new and undamaged. I reviewed the Mini dealership notes from the previous owner and it appears that, although the oil leak was identified as coming from this area for over a year, the part had never been serviced. The only part of the job that appears to have been done about 30k miles ago was replacing the "Turbo Oil Feed Line."
The Turbo drain line does have some oil leaking where it attaches to the bottom of the Turbo. It also looks like the Turbo feed line may have been leaking. There was some oil soaking on the top of the turbo. Both of those lines will be replaced but I did notice there was another Turbo line that I am not familiar with next to the feed line?
I'm concerned about the vacuum pump. No sign of replacement in the vehicle's history and it has quite a bit of oil on the bottom and sides of the pump. The bottom is pretty soaked and previous mechanics called out a soaked "vaccum hose" that I haven't identified yet. They claimed both this hose and the pump should be replaced.
Unsure if this pump is a job that should "definitely" be done now, with everything apart, or if it will be just as easy in the future if the leak persists.
I am in the process of replacing the Oil Filter Housing and Coolant gaskets as well as the turbo feed and drain lines!
The gaskets in the Oil Filter Housing looked pretty new and undamaged. I reviewed the Mini dealership notes from the previous owner and it appears that, although the oil leak was identified as coming from this area for over a year, the part had never been serviced. The only part of the job that appears to have been done about 30k miles ago was replacing the "Turbo Oil Feed Line."
The Turbo drain line does have some oil leaking where it attaches to the bottom of the Turbo. It also looks like the Turbo feed line may have been leaking. There was some oil soaking on the top of the turbo. Both of those lines will be replaced but I did notice there was another Turbo line that I am not familiar with next to the feed line?
I'm concerned about the vacuum pump. No sign of replacement in the vehicle's history and it has quite a bit of oil on the bottom and sides of the pump. The bottom is pretty soaked and previous mechanics called out a soaked "vaccum hose" that I haven't identified yet. They claimed both this hose and the pump should be replaced.
Unsure if this pump is a job that should "definitely" be done now, with everything apart, or if it will be just as easy in the future if the leak persists.
Any thoughts?
Did they say the whole pump needs to be replaced or just the o-ring? Signs of a faulty pump are: low brake booster vacuum, hard brake pedal, and brake fade during application when stopped. If not specified you may just need to replace the o-ring and not the whole pump if leaking oil is all that is apparent. 11667566483 here is the part number. Otherwise, if that isn't the leaking point and it's the inner o-ring, you may in fact need to replace the pump (specified at this post here). Pump is 11667556919 here and we have a great DIY here if you feel you could tackle the job yourself. I would replace whatever needs to be replaced in order to fix the leak sooner rather than later.
Sorry, vacuum pump was a poor description of the part I was referring to.
After dropping the oil filter housing and oil drain line the bottom of the turbo is covered in oil. One of the parts that this includes is a small canister that is on the bottom of the turbo with a slide rod coming out of it parallel to the turbo's inlet/outlet axis. This canister looks like a vacuum canister but I have no idea what it is. In the Bentley manual it is included in the picture of the "Turbocharger Assembly."
Anyway, I also should not have said this looks like it is a location for a leak. It just looks like the whole bottom of the turbo, on both sides of the drain line, are covered in oil equally! Maybe this is all just from over a year of that oil drain line leaking? It seems the previous owner had complained and the dealership had identified this turbo oil lines as a point of oil leakage for well over a year.
Finished the oil filter housing and turbo lines last night. Actually had a huge setback when I fired it up partly assembled and realized I failed to tighten down the nut on the end sleeve of the stainless steel turbo feed line. Oil was GUSHING everywhere!
With that behind me I was able to get everything together and run it for a minute or so. No significant leaks, I'll keep after it.
BUT I noticed a lot of valve noise. I'm worried about the timing chain. According to the car's records the valve chain was replaced in Oct 2013 along with the valve guides. It was reinspected about a year later for valve noise. The notes said that they noted Tensioner #2 was installed and no service was required. I thought that one was strange, when I get home I could try posting the exact verbage from the dealership.
Can this valve noise be from the oil change I just did? It is perhaps a half quart low since a lot leaked out. I originally put in 4.5 quarts, then lost maybe 0.5 qt (or more?) during the banjo bolt oil leak. I added the rest of the jug to bring it back to what I figured was at least 4 quarts. But I have not yet run the car long enough to get a proper oil check.
I will likely do the oil change next, unless there is an easy way to inspect the timing chain? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!
It took 8 years and five redesigns to get a reliable timing chain tensioner out of Mini/BMW, engineering excellence! It's this reason many have gone through more than one timing chains and related components, so installing another badly designed tensioner only delay the inevitable.
On top of that these N14's burn oil and in some cases leak oil, this has lead to many running super low on oil which can starve the valve train of oil as well as the oil operated timing chain tensioner, it's a single event that can cause multiple serious problems!
You're far from finished shelling out money for your 09 MCS, just giving it to you honestly.
Last edited by Systemlord; 10-01-2015 at 08:10 PM.
06-01-2015, 08:05 PM
