I just bought my used MINI a few days ago. Being a used car I expected it to have a few item that would need attention. Today, on the beginning of a long drive home, I noticed the oil pressure gauge was registering no pressure at all. I had no choice to drive this way and think that it has been this way since I bought the car and just didn't notice. There is also a light that is suppose to come on if the oil pressure is low but this light has not come on and the car seems to run fine.


My questions is, does it sound like a faulty pressure gauge or could the car run for over 200 miles with no oil and have no issues?


Thanks in advance for your help.










-Gunner

 

I presume you checked that there is actually oil in the engine and it's properly filled. But in my experience the chances that the oil pressure gauge is fault is much more likely than the oil pressure is zero. But please check this yourself ASAP. If it's really low it needs to be fixed ASAP.

Yes, you could drive it a long way with LOW (but not ZERO) oil pressure and you may or may not do damage. Just depends on how low.

 

Bet the filter was done wrong at the last oil change....think 2004 was the last year of the inner cage that got reused....many got tossed out in the trash...later gen1 cars did not have a inner part that had to be reusd....so folks are sometimes confused and toss the part out...newer gen1 uses the same filter...but has no cage that fits in the center of the filter... Not sure of the month of the change...
Results in zero psi at idle, but OK when reved a bit...maybe...the no light makes me wonder...

 

Zippy is talking about that spring that some gen1s have that has the tendency to be discarded w/ the filter. Without it, car won't build oil pressure at low rpms & oil light pops intermittently. Wonder when MINI really eliminated that as mine is an 02 & has never had the said part come w/ it.
If you've an aftermarket pressure gauge, check your oil level & tubing for leaks. Some came w/ the risky plastic ones. Or, check if it's actually hooked up.

 

I was digging around in my memory and decided to do a little Google work for you and found what you should be looking into.

If it is indeed the filter that is crushed, "MINI recommends replacing the entire Oil Filter Housing module"

http://new.minimania.com/MINI__02-04...roblem_-_Hints

Obviously, check to make sure there's oil in there. Yes it could be a bad sensor, but you may also grenade your engine if you really have no pressure.

 

Thanks for the input guys. That will help when I do my first oil change.


Right now I am trying to figure out if the gauge is bad or if there is no oil pressure.




My question is could an engine run for 60 miles or more with no noticeable issues with no oil pressure? (no over heating, no excessive engine noise, no oil pressure light)


My guess is the mechanical oil pressure gauge has gone bad. I was researching on line but didn't find a definitive answer, but most signs were pointing to no the car could not run that long, there would be extreme engine damage almost immediately and definitely within a few minutes.

 

Honestly I don't know if any of us can answer that question. I suppose there are so many variables to deal with (oil type, running conditions etc).

Either way, it's a relatively easy thing to try and remove some possible problems:

First thing I'd recommend is immediately doing an oil change. You don't need to toss the oil, just capture it and use it again if you know how long it's been in there.
Take the filter and inspect it, see what style of housing module it is and if the filter is crushed.

That will eliminate that possible problem, and give a chance to wiggle free any stuck springs/relief valves.

Capture some of the oil as per Blackstone Labs' technique just in case you want to send it out to them for analysis (I recommend doing that just for piece of mind). They can look at it and tell you if there are metal particles and what internals may be shedding the metal.


FWIW, I know it's not the same problem - but my original engine ran out of oil and spun a conrod bearing. I never received any oil pressure lights because the pressure doohickey was seized.


Either way, perhaps you should contact the seller and bring them up to speed on your problems. Since it happened immediately after you bought the car, they may be able to help.

 

think 2004 was the last year of the inner cage that got reused.

the cage was only on the Cooper and not the S

I had a 2002S and work on a 2003S

neither had/has the cage

 

Good info captbj...
If you want to inspect the oil filter...
No need to drain...just crack open the top...let it sit for 20 minutes...the finish taking it off...you can lift out the cartridge with nearly zero drippage....then install a new one with a new o-ring....
But with bj's info...might not be worth it....should be fairly easy to find the oil line the guage is using...the fact you have no idiot light (red) is a good sigh....maybe the guage was not installed right ...bad ground wire or failed sending unit....

 

Thanks guys. I am doing an oil change either today or tomorrow and will do some trouble shooting along the way. I will update what I find. And I intend to send the oil out, just looking the oil on the dipstick I can tell it isn't pretty.


I already like this car so much I intend on fixing whatever breaks , even if it is an engine overhaul. That would just mean I have a new engine.

 

just looking the oil on the dipstick I can tell it isn't pretty

so oil IS registering on the dip stick? So you were not running dry . . .

I noticed the oil pressure gauge was registering no pressure at all.

Show us a picture of that g' and we can tell you if it is factory (accessory) or not .... I'm gonna guess it is third party ....

 

Good philosophy!
That's what I did, makes me smile every day. It cost me more than I bought the car for originally, but there aren't many 20,000km JCW engines rolling around.

 

I already like this car so much I intend on fixing whatever breaks


this is the mindset that gets you to a Mini rather than a MINI

 

Here ya go. I think they are stock and it's the gauge. When I did the oil change the dash oil pressure light came on for a few seconds (maybe 8-10 seconds) after the car was running and then turned off. And the filter does not require a cage, I can tell my looking at the oil filter cap.
The oil wasn't as bad as I thought. The only odd thing was there were little bubbles in it.


Thanks everyone.