I am doing an engine swap on an '07 base model. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...th-photos.html

The original engine lost all oil and most of the coolant after it was driven with a loose oil filter housing cap.

I decided to disassemble this engine (curious) and took some photos of internals.

Attaching a few photos. Oil/coolant sludge in water pump housing. Melted thermostat housing. Very melted #3 piston.

Steve H.

 

Photos of melted pistons, pieces in oil pickup screen, and crankshaft rod journals with oil holes plugged.

Steve H.

 

Ouch!

 

That'll buff out.

 

Wow...
Amazing what driving with that little RED LIGHT SHINING IN ONES FACE WILL DO...ouch....
Amazing how often folks keep driving...
Maybe these photo's will help folks understand....red light means STOP!!

 

That red light should be $$$$

 

People can be beyond stupid. Way back when Chevy had the fuel pump in the Vega hooked to the oil pressure sender. No oil pressure no fuel. Maybe the only smart thing on a Vega.

 

A few more photos - valve cover plastic melted to the top of the cylinder head & melted oil filter.

Steve

 

This gives me some hope... That Minis don't deserve the bad rap they get in terms of quality.

 

My gen1 has been great....
It seems 75% of issues on these boards are from folks who
1- fail to do basic mantaince
2- ignore minior issues...the old head in the sand on a minor thing...then big things happen
3- get in over their head trying to DIY...and create more issues than they fix or fix the wrong thing ...
4- ignore basic operating principals/basic abuse....things like run 500 rpm below redline in cruise all day cause "it fun and it is below redline, so it is ok!!"....or they change their oil every 1000 miles ( and bebate the "best" oil) then forget to change their coolant resulting in issues...or...er...never check their oil.
MINI owners who do the basics imo tend to do fine...there has been the cvt issue, on going carbon issue and timing chain issues..but 2 of those 3 were solved (court actions/and or recall fixes)....
Then again... The average mini owner does have ocd tendencies... So even a squeaky weather stripping issue gets a Service builitin official "repair"....lol...
The old PDF/letter about the exhaust burble in 2005 said it all...
Called a feature...many owners returned their cars for repair... Others of earlier ones went to great Lengths to try to GET SAID BURBBLE....

 

Looks like an aftermarket oil filter. Maybe the cap was never able to sit flush with the oil filter/cooler module since the aftermarket filter was too long?

Either way a very careless owner here. I do love looking at pictures of destruction. Especially when it's not on my dime.