Gas in oil help
 

Hi all,

All Gen2 guys, please feel free to chime in.

Two things:

I have a 2010 R55 S. Slightly modified:
NM CAI
NM charge tube
NM discharge tube
Forge FMIC
Miltek exhaust
Cravenspeed Koala intake
BSH Oil Catch can and boost tap plug (its scary what this thing collects)

Running a mild tune with about 17psi.

1. Anyone know if the F56 seats from the Gen3 mini S will fit in my R55? Just had one as a loaner and really like the new seats better (leg extension really makes it more comfy) and the lateral support is much better.

2. A couple weeks ago, car would misfire under load (low-mid RPM with mid-WOT) in most gears. Misfires in 1 & 3.

Swapped coils in 1 & 2. Misfire did not follow. Assumed plugs. Bought some NGK 5992 (thought they were OEM), but dealer informed me that they are the mystical one step colder Iridiums I've heard about, but never seen (only see the platinums). I thought they were OE as its the part listed on NGK website and they have that annoying 12 point socket.

Went to install the new plugs and saw some reddish stuff on coil 4 (assumed water intrusion) so I stopped all work, put it back together, removed Oil CC and reverted tune to stock.

Attempted to reproduce the misfire, but only happens now at WOT in high gear at low speed (very high load) - hard to reproduce, but managed to trip the blinking CEL and log the misfires in the computer. Ok, this exercise shows that the tune has identified a weak point in my system. Misfires still there, so off to dealer as the car is still under CPO.

They have a few days, find a couple leaky gaskets, but nothing major.
-Coke test indicated it needed walnut blast, but it was just done... they agreed after opening it up and seeing it was pretty clean
-Indicate no water intrusion on 4... it just has 'normal' rust...
-Plug gap moderately larger than spec (but they have 49K so expected)
-oil leak at crush ring for timing chain (which was in spec)
-replaced PCV (& valve cover) which also had a slight leak
-The zinger, though is they said I have gas in my oil. Anyone have any idea how that could be?

I have the car back, oil leaks and valve cover fixed under CPO, Oil changed, new plugs installed. So far, no misfires (only 5 miles though), but I need to monitor for gas smell from dipstick. I will maintain stock tune for a bit.

Any help on the gas in oil greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I smelled gasoline in my MCSm's crankcase oil. The service crew at MINI of Des Moines suggested a long drive every week or two, to boil off crankcase gasoline that accumulates from short drives. Cold starts mean extra fuel, which passes by the rings and condenses in the cool crankcase. It accumulates there unless the engine has a chance to go for an extended run. The situation is worse in winter, of course.

I tried doing as they suggested, and have not noticed any recurrence of the problem.

How long is your typical drive?
A fuel odor to oil is typical with lots of short drives...especially if the car was running rich due to carbon issues, or had incomplete combustion due to other issues, like sparkplugs...

Did you get an oil sample to send off and get tested?!
This would give you a % reading of gas in the oil, rather than just "smelled like gas" which frankly us common....
I say this cause with a DIRECT INJECTED MOTOR, a drippy/failing injector will manifest itself as oil level going UP due to fuel in the oil.....a car will run, just OK (with rough running, and misfires)..when it fails worse, and "streams" it generally will stop running.
So DO keep an eye on your oil level...SOME OIL USE IS GOOD and expected in these motors.... if you never add oil...something else is making up the volume...usually moisture or fuel...both very bad.

Hi both,

Thanks for your replies. Very good points.

Yes, mostly short drives (commute is ~14 miles with half on highway, half on side streets). Similar to the long drive suggestion, another local race shop recommended flooring the car every time you get on the freeway (WOT to redline). He said it would help with carbon buildup and could possibly help with gas fumes in other areas.

I don't think the car is running rich. I monitored A/F during the tune process and think its dialed in pretty well... but stopped monitoring after we resolved the overboost condition (car in limp mode) I had with 20psi.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a sample for testing, but the dealer described it as very black and thin with a mild gas odor. ~1 quart low as well (within normal as far as volume goes). I do need to change the oil more often than advised... I just get lazy. The dealer spent quite a bit of time with the car (3 days) and I'm fairly certain they performed all the tests to investigate. At this point, I'm guessing it was the plugs (which had 48K on them). The new colder plugs should probably help (no misfires with stock tune yet) and I'll change them at 30K next time. Intake was clean (as previously mentioned, cleaned in Feb, and Oil CC installed after). However, the coke test indicated it needed to be cleaned, but inspection proved otherwise. Any idea what else could have caused the coke test fail? I forgot to ask that question before I left the dealer.

Thanks again!