So far we have had FOUR oil filter housing failures posted on the 2014 Minis.
If you are one of the listed, please add build date, miles, and summary comments,
so we may be alert to the situation.

PLEASE reply on the topic: Mini Oil Filter Housing Failure


1) Morty73 (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...le-of-oil.html)
Build date 5/13/14
Miles 11,500

2) MarcoPolo (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...le-of-oil.html) post 35
Build date is 2/27, 2014.
5k miles


3) Melor - 2600 miles (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...600-miles.html )
Production date 4/15/2014.
2600 miles

4) kgehrig - 4500 miles (https://www.northamericanmotoring.com...ml#post3986389 )
Production Date; 3, 2014
4501 Miles at failure
.
.Motoring file saying Cars affected are between the dates of the 13th November 2013 to 14th March 2014?
Two of the above failures are after those dates.

 

I looked at mine the other day, wanting to change my oil but didnt have a size 32 to remove housoing.
So i looked at it and it was sit in correctly, what is causing this failure?

 

Would be good to add if the failure point could be identified too. That way folks have something to focus on when doing an oil change.

Is it the filter bucket that cracks? Or the housing that's bolted to the block? I'm at 10K miles and ready to do an oil change this weekend. I've been pulling the entire underpan so I get a good look at things when swapping the filter.

 

Good questions. I haven't even seen the filter can on this car and would like to know what to expect.

Porsche had this affinity for cartridge filters for a while. Absolutely hateful things. Plastic. Highly prone to cross threading and jamming. Jamming as in frozen so thoroughly that I had to resort to a pry bar to break the plastic jammed thread. Fortunately it was just a little in a noncritical place. I've since replaced it with a machined adapter from LN Engineering that takes a conventional spin-on filter. I'd install one of those on the Mini in a heartbeat.

 

Maybe it's an European thing.

All my BMW and Mercedes had the cartridge with housing setup.
So, it's a no surprise for me that MINI is using the same setup.

None of my American/Japanese/Korean brand cars had that during my 35+ years of owning and working on my own cars.

Some of my motorcycles (especially older design from 70's) had the cartridge/housing set up but the housing was actually a part engine case (metal) with a metal cover.

Maybe an aftermarket company can come up with an Aluminum housing or more durable plastic housing that doesn't easily crack for MINI.

 

.

 

Here is the info for my failure:
Build date 5/13/14
Miles 11,500
No warning lights for oil level, but SA called today and let me know the car was only down about a quart of oil. Looks like we caught the issue before it caused other problems.
Shield under engine was replaced and there is no smell of oil whatsoever. Overall, I think I dodged a bullet for future issues, but will watch carefully for any signs of future leaks and be overly cautious.

 

Someone with a failed housing should post a picture of it to see what it looks like after failure.

 

That will be only possible IF:

1. The owner of the failed car removes the filter housing and take a pic before taking to a dealer.

2. The repairing dealer shows the cracked housing to the owner and let him/her take a pic of it.

 

Thanks for the info!

Build date of my MCS is 6/25/14 and I have now 7000 miles.

I wonder what the build date or VIN range of the 2014 MINI with this faulty filter housing?
If mine is in the affected range, I sure like to replace with an updated part asap.

 

In an attempt to find the affected range for this issue, I stumbled on this and it says the build date is from 11/13/2013 - 04/14/2014.

http://www.totalmini.com/forum/120-2...r-housing.html

Maybe that range applies only for UK market.
Or this is the case of "you never trust everything online".

We need an official response from the MINI USA to find the affected range.

 

Yeah, it's like when my timing chain and tensioner were replaced by Mini when they were found to be stretching and failing, I asked to look at the old parts. Same thing with my first Mini that had a defective clutch, I asked to look at the bad clutch just to get better understanding of what was going on and why it failed. Just a matter of asking.

 

- my build date is february 27th, 2014.
- it is NOT part of the recall list
- had 5k miles when this occurred.

 

What is the content of that Recall?
And can you post the affected VIN or build date range?

 

I have a question and also want to say that I'm not trying to pick a fight by asking it:
"What do you hope to accomplish by creating this thread?"...

From what I can tell so far...

1.) We don't know any statistics beyond what is reported on this board, which is probably a fraction of the total F56 ownership out there.
2.) We don't know what actually causes said failure.
3.) We don't even know what range of VIN numbers actually are affected.

So basically, we know that four people on this forum had some sort of leak and that the dealers are apparently getting or have gotten them taken care of. In other words, we don't know a lot more than we know and more importantly, nobody (that I have yet seen) has decided to dissect their bad filtr housing and see what the actual cause of the leak was. The standard response seems to be, "Take it to the dealer".

So, what will you do with the information in this thread?

 

take it back. that hault/recall was coolant leaking around the oil filter housing. this was clearly oil, so there is no current recall notice.

i will continue with a timeline.
occurred: 10/28
arrived @ dealership: 10/29
currently: waiting on update from dealer.

 

MINI USA STATEMENT
“At MINI, our owner safety and confidence is our first priority. Earlier this week, as part of our ongoing quality analysis, our team discovered that certain new MINI Hardtop vehicles could experience some engine coolant leakage from the oil filter housing. This can result in a power reduction and subsequently cause the yellow/red “engine overheating” warning light to light up. We immediately brought this issue to the attention of all of our dealers and issued an immediate stop delivery on all affected vehicles. For the small number of Motorers who have already taken delivery of their new MINI Hardtop, we are working to quickly and effectively replace the needed part at no charge.”
http://www.motoringfile.com/2014/04/...due-to-defect/

Corporate entities will typically address concerns with vague non inflammatory statements.
Is oil considered a coolant?
In a 911 it is, it even runs through a radiator.
Leaking a little coolant sounds less imposing than an oil leak.
Many variables remain undefined, a picture of a failed housing would certainly be welcome.

 

As I understand, above MINI statement has NOTHING to do with the problem that 4 people on this forum had experienced, correct?

 

Morty, one of the above failures says:

"Picked up the car this evening. They replaced the oil filter housing and the 'skid plate"

You decide Chaz.

Looks to me like the failure is a little more significant
than a little coolant.

 

Looks like multiple issues at play with the oil filter housing. My 370z oil filter sits on a base that circulates engine coolant through it, this is to keep the oil temp more uniform. Does the F56 have a similar set up? If so it sounds like some owners are having coolant leaks in that area and some owners are having a cracked filter housings that leaks oil too. Two problems, same component. The R56 didn't have have that set up.

 

That's what I'm thinking as well.

People are reporting "oil leaking".
MINI is saying "coolant leaking".

 

As I stated above, people are having two issues; some coolant leaks and some oil leaks from the same component. But as usual BMW/Mini is just addressing one issue.

 

Interesting... I'm finding out the R56 has the same set up as the F56. The oil filter housing is also an oil cooler and it has engine coolant circulating around the oil pathway to cool the oil. Depending on how the housing cracks, it can either leak coolant, engine oil, or both. On the R56 the oil filter is located towards the top right side of the engine and the F56 it's on the lower left side of the engine.

 

Any idea which of the 4 people who posted in this forum reported the coolant leak due to the filter housing failure?
I only remember the reports of oil leaking.

 

None that I know of but of course this forum is but a small percentage of total F56 drivers out there.