Hi NAM Members,

Been a while since I last posted here. I have a 2004 R53 with just over 330,000km, or about 205,000 miles on the original chassis and engine. I can only imagine this is considered "normal" for some of you folks.

The engine is burning and leaking a lot of oil, and of course, the world famous power steering leak. I imagine the engine will need to be rebuilt at some point. Given the mileage, I think selling the car will be difficult, and would likely be well below market value. (I am in Vancouver, BC, Canada.) The car is fully functional and drives great, so I see no reason to dump or give this away.

With that being said, I'm looking for opinions on what my options are . I was thinking of getting a rebuild, but unsure which shops can do this for me, or if it's easier to do an engine swap, but i would assume this costs more than the value of the car. I'm happy to keep the car as it's always a blast to drive it. I would like to do the occasional HPDE day. Car is otherwise stock, except for the Orannje header. Open to any opinions and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

The engine is pretty tough. Do a good cleaning, and identify your leaks ( crank sensor, oil pan gasket, oil cooler housing, are some of the common fun places ). Power steering pumps can be found. I have 170k on an 05, so some of this is familiar ground.

 

Thank you for that.

Aside from the leak, it's burning quite a bit of oil.

How would you suggest the cleaning?

 

Black or grey smoke coming out of the exhaust or just an inordinate of oil consumption/loss?
Smoke maybe an indication of worn piston rings, carbon build up or burnt valves....= top end rebuild. A compression test may help to identify.
I have no experience with using the "seafoam" product to aide in "cleaning" carbon deposits in the engine.
Not sure if it helps/effective, but I've read others have used or tried similar products for whatever reason.

BTW: Any OBDII fault code readings?

 

Thank you for the reply.

Compression was measured at a shop back in 2021 where all four cylinders came back at 175psi. I was surprised.

There is no visible smoke at the tail pipe. I've asked friends and family to watch while I was driving and nothing. You can definitely smell strong oil burning from the exhaust. When running the fan, you can smell oil burning in the interior.

I've run a can of Lubromoly engine cleaner before but may need to try another bottle or two. I would say the engine burns half a quart of oil every 1000 kilometres.

 

Valve guides plus one or multiple external leaks, perhaps?

 

By my middle school math that's about a quart every 1000 miles, or 5 qts in 5000 miles== automatic oil changes! A very efficient machine as long as you keep up with filter changes. 🤣

Jokes aside-if you have the garage space and some basic tools (and alternative transportation) you can do this yourself. If you're serious about any kind of performance driving you will want to dig into it to fix all the leaks, and to evaluate the condition of your rings and valves. These are stout motors but pushing them hard for extended periods will find, their weaknesses. Oil starvation will take out the #1 rod bearing pretty quickly, and at the rate you're consuming oil for regular driving you will run low much faster than you think when pushing it hard.

My experience is that you can find a quality rebuilt short block for cheaper than having yours rebuilt if it comes to that, but depending on your location and who you know that may not be true for you.
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175psi = That's pretty impressive.
Smelling burning motor oil outside or inside the cabin might lead me to think that your valve cover is blown. Oil maybe seeping out from the valve cover gasket from the backside and running down the exhaust manifold.
I remember when my powersteering lines finally began to fail/leaking bad. The hydraulic fluid was being blown onto the exhaust and cat causing an oil burning smell.
Any number of oil leaks can be blown around the engine bay and onto the exhaust while driving. Thus making it difficult to pinpoint the origin of the leak.
Outlandeshness pointed out some of the most common leaks in these cars. A good spraying down/cleaning with a couple of cans of degreaser around the engine block and a good wipe down would be where I would start.
At one time I too had been loosing nearly a half quart of motor oil per 500miles. The cause turned out to be a leaking oil filter housing and oil cooler gaskets.

 

Funny enough, my father said the same exact thing about the oil change part, so someone else out there has the same thought process. I did get a good chuckle out of it, so thank you for that.

My first world problem is I am located on the East Coast (Toronto.) The car is in Vancouver. My brother drives it mainly, but hasn't driven it much since he recently went back to school. Given the circumstances, for me to wrench on it is not really an option. I can't think of any shops in Vancouver (Canada) that know these cars very well to tackle something like this. What I'm really trying to do is to maintain it as best as possible without getting into a situation where the motor, and its components, fail hard.

I see Detroit Tuning is not far from Toronto (about a 4 hour drive.) Had the Mini been here, I would have just done an engine exchange or rebuild through them. However, with economic factors such as the Canadian Dollar against the US Dollar, time, logistics, and such other real-world constraints, makes it a bit impractical to achieve. I did consider getting a rebuilt engine from Detroit Tuning or Way Motor Works, but this will end up being a $10,000 pursuit.

Thanks for that. I'll have to check if the valve cover gaskets were changed out. We did swap out the exhaust manifold to the Orrange exhaust header. Previously, there was some kind of eBay'ish header on it when we bought the car and the exhaust leak was serious. I didn't feel like dying from carbon monoxide poisoning (it was that bad.)

Power steering - It leaks like crazy. In one of my previous threads (several years old now) I asked whether this car uses Pentosin CHF11 or your typical ATF fluid. I was confused because the cap shows "ATF" so I dumped a bit of ATF into the reservoir and it spat it all out. There is a class action lawsuit in Canada against Mini Canada for this, but I'm unsure if this will ever materialize into something.

Some of you may be wondering why I'm so persistent on doing something about this car. In all honesty, it'd been a really fun car to own and drive. I've owned a lot of different cars and the Mini definitely is unique. Looking at the local market, there are no other fun cars in this price range you can get. Between my brother, my father, and myself, we've put a bit of time and effort into the car to make it reliable, so we are proud of that.

 

I understand completely.
There in lies the dilemma. I've had my 04 R53 since the day It arrived (Oct 2003) from overseas with 3mi on the OD.
I am absolutely OCD about this car. I've been changing the oil & filter every 3,500mi (since 2012), wash & wax it every week and ragging down the engine bay almost daily.
I agree with you - This has got to be one of the funnest most personable cars I have ever owned (from the factory).
Should I ever find myself in your position or (the unthinkable) blow my engine, I would most likely replace with used or go for a rebuilt...as finances dictate/would allow.

I feel/empathize your anxiety. But IMO it doesn't sound as if your engine is at that point yet. Pace yourself if you can, by starting with general maintenance and gasket replacement & repairs.
I think the Mini is worth keeping...if you can afford the time and $$.

Best regards!

 

I'm betting you're leaking more oil than you're burning in the motor, r53's are infamous for that. I certainly wouldn't dive into a motor rebuild with good compression numbers. Pressure wash the engine bay and motor (flame suit on) give it a day to dry out, note oil leaks (this is where all the smells are coming from) and start replacing gaskets, ps/oil cooler hoses and seals etc... Unless you'd rather work on it than drive it.