I went in for a routine oil change on my 2013 Cooper S (32k), left for home, and just twelve miles from the service station an alert popped up on my computer screen that the oil pressure was critically low and said something to the effect that continued driving was not an option I should consider. There were no secondary indicators of a problem - the engine was smooth and quiet, there was no smell of burning, etc. I was at a light when this alert came on so I immediately shut down the engine. Fortunately, it was a quiet country road, so I could just sit there with my hazards on.

When I looked for further secondaries - such as a dribbled path of oil on the road behind me, smell or smoke from the engine when I opened the bonnet, etc - there were still none. The dipstick showed full with clean oil. I was wondering if this might be a bad sensor but took no chances restarting the car, called the Mini service station and they sent a crew out.

They discovered that the portion of the newly-installed filter that interfaces with the engine was warped (image enclosed). I noted that there was no evidence of cross-threading on the plastic threads of the filter, and that is clearly visible in the image as well. They replaced the filter (no additional oil necessary), and I was on my way after they did a continued idle check with some revs.

The explanation was a defective filter, although I cannot help but suspect it may have been over-torqued on installation. In any case, the drive back was fine; I set my Mini Connected app to monitor engine temp for that portion of the drive, and it showed a pretty steady 220° F for the remaining twenty mile trip.

My big question is if the engine may have been damaged or unduly stressed (= shortened life). Is there even a way to check for engine damage from this? Despite researching the issue, I still have no idea what oil pressure trips the warning, and how much safety margin - if any - that warning gives me. What is really frustrating is that I have been pretty proactive with oil changes - going from 5-8k mile intervals (this was the longest interval between changes at 10k). This car is a keeper for me probably for many years, so this mistake was painful for me to see, and a concern that their mistake may have caused long-term implications for me that I may have to deal with down the road (so to speak).

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on an approach to this from a customer service perspective, and of course any further technical insights would help as well.

Lee

 

If you shut the car down when that warning came on I don't think you will have any problems. That being said I would want the service record for the car to reflect what happened, date time mileage etc.

 

My seat of the pants opinion is no damage was done. You caught the problem fast and had not driven hard by the time the issue was caught.


I base this on two experiences ...


ONE: I went to the dealer to get the oil changed ... drove away happy and about 5 minutes later the gauge dropped to zero ... drove straight back and we found ... OOPS ... forgot to put in the oil. I drove that car for another 100,000 miles and sold it to a guy 7 years ago who's STILL driving it. No significant engine repairs have been required yet (hoses, a water pump, radiator and routine maintenance items)


TWO: At a car show I was attending they brought in a V-8 on a test stand and sold 'numbers' for how many minutes the motor would run with no oil. They drained the oil and ran the engine up, and raised it to a normal driving RPM. That motor ran for almost an hour . . . certainly some damage was done b4 it crapped out but for the first 30 minutes everything sounded and smelled completely normal.


I don't know anyway you could check for damage short of a complete tear down to check bearings and the like ....


(p.s. my example car was a 95 Miata - those were damn good solid cars - still are!)

 

I think you are OK, but if you want peace of mind you could send an oil sample to blackstone labs. See if it has any metal contamination that would point to premature wear caused by the low oil pressure...

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

+1 on both points.

 

IMO you're fine.

+2, I've been using blackstone for the last year on my Mini (new engine) and Volvo (former fleet rental). It gives me some piece of mind.

 

Yea, low pressure is not the same as "dry no pressure". Sure the filter may have been mushed, but you still would get some oil flow going through the filter housing.

Strange problem indeed, I doubt it was a torque issue since you can't OT the housings without real breakage and leakage.. My guess is someone mushed the filter trying to install it.

Sucks, scary, but it sounds like you got it before bad things happened.

 

You should do your own oil changes from now on. I think you are OK. I enjoy doing almost all of my own maintenance! It's a great way to get into modification as well, but be careful about scratching that itch... it'll only get itchier!

 

My first job, 40 years ago, was teaching auto shop in Brooklyn. We had a number of engines on stands. One afternoon we experimented and ran a Chevy straight 6 with no oil. It ran for over an hour. Then we drained out the coolant and it still ran fine. Hot but running. Then we reved it to about 4000 and kept it there and it was only then that it ground to a stop after a couple of minutes. The interesting thing is we put oil and coolant back in and it started fine the next day.

Clearly the tolerances in a late 60’s Chevy straight 6 are WAY different than modern engines. But if you shut it down immediately, I think you are good to go and predict in 1-2000 miles, you will begin not to think you are hearing noises.

///Rich

PS-We later tore down that straight 6. The bearings didn’t look too bad so we figured that it was the pistons that got hot and expanded that stopped it. It was an interesting lesson for the students and I am sure they have never forgotten it as we expected catastrophic failure and were prepared for that by watching this thing run from across the room.

 

Thank you to each and every one who replied! Generally speaking, it looks like I dodged a bullet, and the car has driven fine in the hundred miles I've put on it since the incident. I don't have an oil pressure gauge (like most here I suspect), but I have had my Connected's engine temp gauge on my display since that could be an indirect indicator.

I have decided to go with the suggestion for Blackstone's analysis since it at least establishes a baseline for a case if the analysis proves questionable. I suspect (and hope) it will be fine.

Thanks again!

 

I agree on this.

I'd say you get some document stating what occured.

Some sort of record or trail for you to fall back on if there is any damage later. Regardless you are still under warranty for sometime so should be ok