Hey guys. New to the forum and to Mini's. I live up in North East Pennsylvania and I just bought my first 2012 Cooper S Hatchback in March after previously owning volvos.

I just took my S to the dealer this week for an old recall dealing with the coolant temperature sensor that just started showing problems. They also said that they will look the car over for any possible issues. Upon completion of the work they come back to me and say that the Oil Pressure solenoid will need to be replaced as it appears to be leaking around it. He said that in time if left untouched the leak could push its way up the wiring harness and oil could make it into the ECU where it could cause even more damage. $$$$. They quoted $500+ to get that taken care of. They said that it was labor intensive and that the wheel and axle would need to be removed to get to the Oil pressure solenoid.

I do most of the work on my own vehicles and was wondering if anyone here has dealt with this situation before?


Thank you

 

We have a 2012 MCS, that leak is very common. And they are correct, if it gets bad enough it can leak into the ECU. Bunch of threads on NAM about it. We had ours replaced under warranty. I can't tell you how to replace it, but would bet a few searches on NAM will get you what you want..

 

Yup, also needed to have mine fixed.
Iirc there is an updated harness that can be replaced instead of the entire solenoid valve. The dealer may figure if they're that far into it do the whole thing. I seem to remember just replacing the harness+labor was in the 300-350 range

And welcome! I too was much into fixing all my own cars- perhaps it was getting a little older,wiser, and lazier but the value in having the dealership do work on mine is worth it to me. They're not terribly hard to work on but after time wasted, specific tools needed, diagnosing etc. The dealership gives 2yr/unlimited miles warranty on parts and labor, loaner car, mine has been very reasonable on labor hours (something that may take me half a day on Saturday theyll bill 2 hours)

 

Isn't the leaking oil control solenoid a recall? I know mine was covered under the remaining factory warranty when I bought my 2011 MCS used in 2014. The oil control solenoid and the harness were replaced free of charge at my MINI dealer. Definitely look into any recall or warranty extension on this known-defective part.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah shortly after posting this I dug around on the site and found this is a real common problem. Usually found when it goes in for the coolant sensor recall. But since my car is now out of warranty and I just found that 4 yr old recall it looks like I'm stuck paying for that repair. Surprised it's not an actual recall since the part is clearly defective. Not to mention the class action lawsuit involving it.

Might try to call around to different Mini dealers to see if there's anyway to get the repair covered.

 

When I had a timing chain done one my 11 mcs I had them replace this solinoid also and my local mini tuner shop only charged me 300.

 

Finally found a picture online and it does look like the wheel and axle have to be removed to access the solenoid. In the next couple of days I'll have to get underneath it to get a better look.

Probably just going to buy the solenoid and replace it myself. $150 VS $530 plus atleast 4 hours of driving and tolls.