I bought an 08MCSa in October 2011, just under 50k on the clock. The car was serviced at the dealer, and had service work done just before I bought it (timing chain, turbo replacement, HPFP). Unfortunately, this car appears to be another victim of the 'car will tell you when to have the oil changed'. There were only 2 oil changes done in the history of the car, about 16k intervals, plus one when they changed the turbo at 49k. The car did not have any records to confirm if other oil changes were done.
I got the car from a Honda dealer, and they did an oil change. I had some warranty work done on the car, and MINI did an oil change as well. I noticed that the oil looked dirty, and looking inside the cam cover (through the oil fill cap hole), the engine seemed to have lots of discoloration on the head. I figured that the double oil change would help clean it.
I did the seafoam treatment before changing spark plugs, and put about 1/2 pint in the engine to help it clean. The engine used about 1/2 a quart over 5000 miles. I installed an OCC, and get about 8 oz of fluid every week through the winter.
The dealer did me a favor and 'forgot' to reset the oil change trigger. I just had the oil changed at 55k about 2 weeks ago. When I checked the oil today, it was pretty dark. The surface of the head looks a little cleaner, but still not what I would expect from two oil changes with synthetic.
My plan was to do oil changes with MINI oil and filters at 5000 mile intervals. Should I shorten the intervals to try and clean the engine better, or is the 5000 mile plan good enough?
Am I just being too ****?

Mike

 

In the past 5k was too long. I used to do 2k, but with new oils I think 5K is about right for most drivers. It will clean itself over time. You can also use "marvel mystery oil" right before the next change. Drive 50 miles, or whatever they say (might be 5 mins for all I know) and change the oil right away. This will help speed up the cleaning process.

 

If you are super worried about it, you can pull the head and have it cleaned and that will put all your worries to rest. But honestly unless you saw sludge don't worry about the discoloration.

 

I would stay away from Seafoam and Mystery oil etc. Breaking loose deposits with flushing products and/or machines is not a good thing in an engine or transmission.

I go with 6 month oil changes on ours, which is rarely over 5,000 miles for this grocery getter.

 

To get the oil to "look" clean after a day or 2 in the car. The oil has to be pretty clean when you change it. All the oil doesnt come out of the engine when you change the oil, some of the old oil stays in and if its dark colored will tint the new oil. To get the oil to look clean all the time you'll need to run very high grade synthetic oil and change it as soon as it starts to brown. For a street car I would guess thats something around 1500 miles.

 

I guess I am stuck back in the small block chevy days where 95% of the oil was out in 1/2 hour. You guys are right, probably nothing to worry about. There is no sludge, I was just used to seeing clean castings in the engine, not dark brown castings.

Mike