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Hi,
Had my 2005 r53 apart to service the supercharger (preventative - no oil in the PTO side so it was good timing) and decided to address some nagging oil leaks. The oil pan was pretty wet at this stage so addressed:
crankshaft o-ring (where most of the oil was coming from)
valve cover gasket
oil pan gasket
oil filter housing to block gasket
oil filter housing to heat exchanger gaskets
I've driven about 20 miles since bolting everything back up and still have a drop of oil under the car. Looks to be coming from around the heat exchanger still. I'm sure I torqued everything back up okay.
The droplet right now is sitting on the bottom corner of the heat exchanger.
Assuming I did everything right with what I've already replaced....what did I miss?
The oil pressure sensor switch is dry. Is there a cam position sensor o-ring?
Anything else?
Yes there is -- it's on the passenger side of the head, behind the engine mount, which has to be removed in order to get to it.
Unfortunately, the car will need to be in front-end service mode to perform this service.
To change it, you need to have the car up on stands, support the weight of the engine from underneath with a block of wood on a jack, Remove lower engine mount, remove nut on upper engine mount, remove ground cable (on engine mount), slide fuel vent cartridge and associated lines to the side, then jack engine up enough to clear stud on top of upper engine mount, loosen and remove the four bolts holding it to the block and wiggle it out. You will then see the camshaft sensor on the side of the head attached similar (10mm bolt) to the crankshaft sensor you replaced earlier.
Other sources of oil seepage that you could have are the crankshaft seal (on the timing cover behind the crankshaft dampener pulley), timing cover gasket or timing chain tensioner.
Last edited by AoxoMoxoA; May 28, 2016 at 03:17 PM.
FWIW, you don't have to put it into front-end service mode to do the cam sensor R&R.
You do have to support the weight of the engine and remove that upper motor mount.
Same area has the chain tensioner cover. You will need an inspection mirror to check that.
Pretty sure I changed my cam sensor without jacking anything, could be wrong though. It's a little tight in there, mine leaked quite a bit. It's a bit of work and money to get all the oil leaks fixed but it's worth it in the end. I just have the oil cooler left to tackle.
Havind been in their about four times, my experience is that you can unbolt the bracket for the upper mount without supporting the engine, but the engine will drop when you do and stress the lower mount. Then when you go to reassemble it, you will find it is hard to get the bolts lined up, at which point you will organize some mechanism to lift the engine.
Might as well do so from the beginning...
Do you have to change the complete cam sensor or can just the gasket be changed on the sensor. I assume it is the red ring in the picture from AoxoMoxoA.
Do you have to change the complete cam sensor or can just the gasket be changed on the sensor. I assume it is the red ring in the picture from AoxoMoxoA.
Don't waste your money on an o-ring that is going to leak again, just apply a bead of black RTV over the existing o-ring, clean the surfaces and reassemble.
Yeah, I broke down when I did all of my work and just replaced the sensors. Need to still replace the valve cover but I am loving how dry everything is again.
The cam sensor threw a CEL at 114k miles so it was replaced. While the MINI was in service mode, I was not messing with the o-ring and replaced the crank sensor as well while I was "in there".
