Hi all,

I am new here. I bought a Mini Cooper S 2005 recently.

I started looking carfully under the car becasue there is clearly an oil leak. I found the main leak which is the oil filter housing gasket. Oil drips on the driveshaft CV joint and splashes all over the place.

However... I think I can also see an oil leak from the front of the engine. After reading the net I assumed this must be the famous crankshaft sensor o-ring. However after looking more carfully I wonder if it is from the plastic air tube going to the supercharger intake. Here is the best photo I could get, the whole front looks wet. What do you guys think?



If it is the intake gasket, can I change this without taking the front of the car off and lots of othr bits? I wonder if I could just take the pipe off and then pull the engine back with a ratchet strap to get a new gasket in from under the car?

Secondly, if the leak is from the intake gasket, can this be a sign that the supercharger is loosing oil, or is it just as likely oil vapour being recirculated from the engine?

Thank you!

 

I don't really have an answer for you, but welcome to the forum!

 

I would clean it up and look again later...
The sc holds about 4-8 ounces of a very light oil with a unique smell....so doubt it is the sc lube oil... likely just getting blown around from other leaks....and I would not try to move the motor with a strap to change it...

 

Thank you. You're probably right that the sc oil would not be copious enough to make the mess. Good point!

Any chance of topping up the sc oil (80k miles on the clock) without the hasle of entering 'front end service mode'? I know it wouldn't be easy to get the old oil out but I just want to ensure it doesnt dry out!

 

Nope.
You need about $75 in gaskets (most are one time use only) and about 4-6 hours of shop time...or maybe a day for home diy...you cannot access the fill/drain bungs as mounted.

Been debated thousands of times....if it makes sense to even do it.