2007 Mini Cooper S with ~80k had a leaky turbo oil line for the past year - just enough to get one drop of oil the garage floor each day. It recently got worse to where there would be a little smoke so I decided to replace the turbo oil line. I followed the steps created by "Everyday I'm Motoring" in the following thread -https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/stock-problems-issues/236526-help-turbo-oil-feed-line-is-leaking.html I got the feed line, exhaust clamp and gasket. Everyone else in the thread was fine so I'm not sure if I messed up somewhere or something unique happened. I took my time and thought everything was going to be fine...


I started the car, seemed ok for the first 10-15 seconds. I started backing the car of the ramps and heard a squirting sounds. I got out of the car and saw oil gushing from the downpipe. I turned off the car immediately and oil continued to drain from the downpipe through the v-clamp joint. There wasnt that much new oil around the top turbo line connection Did the turbo fail? Did the oil feed line fail? I'm assuming I'm going to at least have to replace the cat now - anything else?

Here are some pics.

 

What parts did you replace for this install, specifically the feed line parts.

Was it the kit from DT as he did in that thread or did you just purchase the line from MINI Parts Counter.

I am not able to expand photos for some reason.

 

If that's the Detroit tuned line - the line fitting to the banjo doesn't look completely made up? Just looking at the photo on DT's site, and your photo. The DT photo looks like the line fitting is closer to the banjo. Yours looks like there is a greater gap.

 

I got the same line as everyone else - detroit tuned. I decided not to get the kit and just got the line, clamp and gasket.

 

I'll have to get a closer look. Didnt really consider it since there wasnt much oil at the top of the engine bay. It was all below, mainly where the clamp connects the downpipe.

 

I would start with the simple stuff: are both copper crush washers in place (above and below the fitting on the line), is the banjo bolt tight going into the turbo, is the flare fitting tight on the braided line.

Wash the oil down with some brake cleaner and let it dry. Get someone over to start the car while you are watching the oil line so that you can see exactly where the oil is leaking. If there is a crush washer missing, or there happens to be two of them together (if the old one stuck on the turbo housing, for example), then this will leak.

It is unlikely that you did any damage if the engine just idled for a little while.

Mike

 

It looks like you didn't tighten the fitting next to the banjo bolt. Maybe something on the threads? You could have a helper momentarily start the car if you can't find it.

 

So far I agree with everyone above. It doesn't appear oil flowed into the exhaust system but just traveled down the outside. I would recommend grabbing a couple of new crush washers first. Check the size and either grab them from an autoparts store or the Mini parts counter. Then clean the oil off with break cleaner just as mbwicz suggested and re install the banjo bolt making sure crush washers are in their proper place. I doubt you did anything damaging to the car other than making a big mess.

 

Thanks everyone, that is definitely the issue. As slowly as I went I still managed to miss the line in the instructions about tightening the fittings. I didnt give the fittings on either side a single turn.

Even though the job was a PITA I'll happily do it again considering I thought I would need to replace my cat and maybe turbo.

 

Judging from the pics the oil is flowing down the downpipe, but where is it originating? Chance are it's one of the 2 oil pipes you worked: (1). High pressure oil feed line and its bajo bolts that weren't tighted to spec; (2). Oil return line that wasn't seated properly, or didn't have it's bolt tighted to spec under the turbo *hard to reach one*.

Here is the link to DT instructions with torque specs:
https://store-zhkcqkob.mybigcommerce...0TOL%20INS.pdf

I would:
1). Clean up all visible oil spills with paper towels
2). Briefly start the car and watch for where the new oil spills originate
3). Deal with the source of the oil spill.

Chances are it's something really simple that slipped your mind when you were assembling pieces back together.

The cat and the turbo are most likely just fine.
That's oil spraying onto, and flowing down the outside of the exhaust system.

Have a beer tonight, and attack it with clear head tomorrow morning!

Good luck,
a

 

Judging from the pics the oil is flowing down the downpipe, but where is it originating? Chance are it's one of the 2 oil pipes you worked: (1). High pressure oil feed line and its bajo bolts that weren't tighted to spec; (2). Oil return line that wasn't seated properly, or didn't have it's bolt tighted to spec under the turbo *hard to reach one*.

Here is the link to DT instructions with torque specs:
https://store-zhkcqkob.mybigcommerce...0TOL%20INS.pdf

I would:
1). Clean up all visible oil spills with paper towels
2). Briefly start the car and watch for where the new oil spills originate
3). Deal with the source of the oil spill.

Chances are it's something really simple that slipped your mind when you were assembling pieces back together.

The cat and the turbo are most likely just fine.
That's oil spraying onto, and flowing down the outside of the exhaust system.

Have a beer tonight, and attack it with clear head tomorrow morning!

Good luck,
a

 

I agree with the above posts, I am a hydraulics mechanic by trade and looking the fitting it almost looks as though the coupling nut going into the fitting isn't fully torqued. Also those universal swivel type fittings will def. Leak if one or more crush washers aren't in there or fully seated. Just double check everything you did and everything around it. Make sure everything is torqued.

 

Im going to redo it in a couple hours - needed a mental and physical break. I'm going to buy a 1/4" air ratchet and finger ratchets that will hopefully speed the process up this time around.

 

Consider putting radiator into "service mode" - it takes another ~45 minutes to get it done, but the extra 3-4" of room it buys you are ... priceless.

a

 

I completed the job and there are no leaks this time. Also did an oil change. There is some smoke from around the turbo shortly after I start the car and about a minute or two later it will start smoking from around the downpipe area. I removed the top heat shield to get a better look where the smoke was coming from.

I figure I should expect some smoke since about two quarts of oil were spilled by the turbo oil line before I tightened the fittings. I used some brake cleaner but it was hard to do a good job without getting it on all the rubber parts unless I laid directly under the area I was spraying - I would say I removed about 75%.

I let the car run for about 10 minutes and it was still smoking. Here's a video - smoke is exaggerated a bit because the shape of the light fixture. https://www.dropbox.com/s/nep1bk9xyk...419_165838.mp4 Is this normal?

 

You've still got oil coming from somewhere. If the turbo feed line isn't leaking, maybe the return line is.

 

I cant see anything leaking from below, but there is still some oil leftover from the spill during my original attempt.

 

Take the heat shields off and with a little judicious use of a pressure washer you should be good to go. The operant word is judicious! Then, if you don't have another leak the smoke should dissipate.

 

If you dumped 2 quarts of oil onto the exhaust system earlier, expect the remainder to linger in multiple joints, until in burns up. There is no way to clean it all up unless you take the engine out of the car and pressure wash the block from all angles - in other words - no way.

I don't know long that will take, but take the car out for a drive to get it properly warmed up, and tell us what you see when you park it 30 minutes later. If there is still some smoke, let engine cool down, and crawly under the car to look for a fresh oil leak.

FWIW, when I replaced my gently leaky oil line (gently as in "I couldn't detect drop in engine oil at all"), I tried my best to clean up all oil residue that I could see. Afterwards, the engine still smoked for at least 5 minutes. Then the smoke stopped and so did the oil leaks with the DT line in place.

a

 

FYI - when I did mine a few months ago it took a good 2 -3 days before it stopped smoking ( depends on how much you drive). Between the oil and the PB Blaster I used it took a while.

 

I ended up getting some citrus degreaser from home depot and used some trash bags to isolate the affected area. Let the degreaser sit for 5 mins or so then rinsed with the hose. Most of the oil was gone but there was still a little bit of smoke. Took it for a 10 minute drive at night and when i stopped at a light i could see smoke coming out from under the hood withthe help of the headlights. A few minutes later the smoke stopped and everything has been fine since.

After doing the job twice, first thing I did was order an inspection camera and also looking to maybe get one of those tite-reach wrenches. I'm starting to value tools that can help me see and reach the difficult nooks and crannies.