Hello everyone.

I'll be the first to admit, I don't usually listen to my engine with the hood open. However, I just successfully completed my very first oil change. Turned the car on to run for a bit then recheck the oil (pit in just under or at 4.5 quarts) and my engine sounds like this ...

I intend to keep Zippy for many-many years, certainly beyond the warrantee and free maintenance period. Therefore, I want to treat him right from the onset, and give him fresh oil every 5k instead of every 10k. Also, I didn't use MINI oil. I researched it over and over again, and decided on Amsoil European Formula w/full SAPS 5W-40.

Here are a few pics of my first venture. Note, at 1,500 miles in I had a repair done and they changed the oil then. It just broke 7k, so the oil change was effectively done at 5,500 miles since they did it last. I examined the oil color, texture and filter (with my very limited knowledge). The oil wasn't amber as before, it was sorta brownish or caramel colored (not bad). The feel still had some oily texture to it, it wasn't watery like, and the filter (after the oil drained) could still see some tint of white on the elements.

Now, this could very well be a placebo effect, but for the life of me it seems the engine is smoother and I can't hear or feel it as much when I'm revving above 3 to 3.5 RPMs. Again, more than likely a placebo effect.

**** Also, on a separate note: Does this engine sound normal? I can't immediately describe it except to say, gurglely or valve tapping?? Heck I don't know. Certainly not quiet like my mom's (also a 4 cylinder) Mazda.


Should I be concerned about this sound??

Regards,
David

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@DavidOrtiz

Your a blast to follow Mr. David
From your gas saga to the many threads about oil, you my friend are amazing.
I say this with a smile on my face and a hardy chuckle under my breath.
Know that you are doing everything right to keep your car in pristine shape for the very far future.
I will in fact, ask to get in line for this wonderfully kept car in the very distant future as good clean well kept low mileage cars are very hard to find.
I do wish you great motoring and much enjoyment if and when you actually get your pristine MINI out for some very spirited driving.
You will be amazed at the fun you can have actually MOTORING on the highway an byways of this great country.

Remember.......the gas pedal is on the right!

 

Lol. Bubba. Amen to that my friend. It's my first MINI - I'm learning as I go along. Well, trying to anyway.

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you should hear it when you put an open air intake and exhaust on it. My car sounds like a 6 flags ride. And direct injection is noisy and the variable valve timing has my car going through a host a different noises at start up.

I like you will be doing oil changes more often than what the car says. I drive mostly city and mine is saying about every 7K. I changed at 1500 (my dime) and the car hit 1 year mark at 2500 ( mini freebie) and now at 6500, I plan to pull some oil at 7500 odo (5k on oil ) and have it tested at blackstone to see if it will be good for another 2K, If not I'll change it myself early again.

 

Sounds normal to me.

 

Sounds good to me! DI engines are loud. Almost diesel like.

 

The non-s are not DI, but the VANOS can be noisy.

 

Ha! You're right, I didn't watch the video, I just played it and listened.

It also helps if you read the sig as well

 

Thanks everyone. I had to scroll to see what "di" means. Shows you how much I know. :(

Sorry for the ignorant questions, but I'm of the old carburetor days when my dad had my 1974 T-Bird 460 4/B Carburetor purring like a baby. Steady and quiet. If I even heard anything like I hear in this MINI now, it was assumed we had a valve or piston problem. I'm not shamed to say it, I was listening at the MINI engine from all angles trying to find where that tapping, clonking sorta sewing machine sound was coming from. I don't hear it from the inside. In fact, inside it's whisper quiet. Although sometimes I let off the clutch in a gear to high and he sorta bogs a little (like a faint gurgle noise) until he gets to speed.

Here's the embarrassing part. I try to keep him below 4k between sifting gears. However, everywhere I read I keep seeing where MINIs "Like to be revved high". Heck, sometimes I bring him to 5k and I think I'm going to damage my engine.

Can these little engines really take that kind of high revving (5k) before shifting of more than just rare occasions?? Or will doing such invite trouble down the line?

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VANOS??

Ahhhhh, nevermind. I had to google it, and now off to do some reading.

"VANOS is a variator system that varies the timing of the valves by moving the position of the camshafts in relation to the drive gear. The relative timing between inlet and exhaust valves is changed.

At lower engine speeds, the position of the camshaft is moved so the valves are opened later, as this improves idling quality and smooth power development. As the engine speed increases, the valves are opened earlier: this enhances torque, reduces fuel consumption and lowers emissions. At high engine speeds, the valves are opened later again, because this allows full power delivery.[1]"

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/t...ble_vanos.html

Now I understand what VANOS means. Well, sorta.


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"DI" in this context means Direct Injection, where fuel is squirted directly into the combustion chamber rather than into the intake port. The 2007-2013 S models have DI, the 2007-2013 non-S do not.

VANOS is basically a way to rotate the cam relative to the chain sprocket that drives it. If you were to hold the cam sprocket in your hand and activate the VANOS, you would see the camshaft turn some amount one way and then the other as you de-activated it. I believe that they can twist it either direction, and they can vary the amount of twist linearly instead of all-or-nothing.

Changing the cam timing (when the cam is pushing the valves open relative to where the pistons are in their motion) can shift the power band up in RPM, or give you better low-end torque. If you can do that on the fly, you can get both of those things.

 

Thanks Slave for that informative post.

Unfortunately, you have me at a disadvantage as I don't possess the skill set to fully understand what you're describing. I understand the the description of what you're saying, but am unable to fully put it into perspective.

Nonetheless, if you feel my sorta "diesel sounding" MINI is normal, I'm certainly OK with that as it's obvious you know your stuff.

Cheers!
David

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Have fun bounce it off the rev limiter!

Seriously you can take it up to redline and not worry. The majority of the time you can extremely good care of your car, so running it through the pace every now and again won't hurt. It's actually more harmful to lug the engine (full throttle at low RPMs puts a tremendous amount of torque on the engine).

 

Thanks Cerenkov. What's odd is with this Amsoil oil change, I can go to 4k without hearing the engine as much. As I said, it's probably a placebo effect, but it does seem a tad smoother.

Would you say playing with 4-5k for shifting is OK? Of course, with "maybe" an occasional 5-6k

I'm at 7k miles, so I imagine I'm broken-in already. That said, I have taken him maybe twice to 90mph on the interstate and he seems to handle that quite well (on 6th gear of course).

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After the engine is warm I typically shift around 4k. A few times a day I'll go WOT (wide open throttle) and shift much higher, sometimes redline but usually just before ~6k.

Rarely do I hit high speeds, don't want the ticket, it is fun going down an on ramp wide open, but I prefer the short sprints.

I think all engines prefer new oil. Clean oil is important for the VANOS system since it works off oil pressure.

 

Hence the reason why I prefer to change the oil every 5k miles, and not 10k or once-a-year as recommended by MINI. Especially in SW Florida.

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Hello Mr. Ortiz,

It sure sounds worrying, I know. I took mine back to the dealer with a couple hundred miles on the clock. The tech told me it sounded normal to him, and I didn't really believe it till I listened to the brand new loaner they gave me; it sounded identical to mine.

So...it makes me wonder...does every single one of these motors need to be fixed?

 

Thanks MINI,

I'll keep changing the oil at 5k then. Just to remain on the safe side.

Cheers,
David

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Perhaps a look through these would give you a bit more perspective?

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/direct...ion-engine.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/camshaft.htm (especially page 3, which talks about variable cam timing)

 

Slave, that was some good reading. I'll have to review it again tomorrow from my office as some if the animations wouldn't work on my iPad.

Thanks for the valuable links and info.

Regards,
David

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