HI all--

I'm breaking in my new MCS ... today we logged about 4 hours of cockpit time. After we got home, I noticed a fine misting of oil where the bottom of the grill mates against the top of the front bumper - see picture below. The oil runs the entire width of the grill (on the grill surround as well as the top surface of the bumper). A look under the bonnet reveals a similar misting over most of the engine surface (like on the stock airbox cover, on the top of the shock towers). The rest of the bumper as well as the top (outside painted surface) of the bonnet aren't oily so I'm convinced it's coming from the engine.

Anyway, I can't seem to find any information on this topic so I thought I'd ask around to see if this is common or not. The MCS has ~ 250 miles logged and all have been conservative driving ( < 4500 rpm and 80 MPH ).

Anyone have words of wisdom here? I know the intercooler can see blowby but that should be completely contained within the hoses/intercooler.



Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
-jeff

 

I don't think that is RIGHT...

is the oil dipstick pushed all the way down and cap tight. May have been over filled.

 

Mine doesn't have that problem.

 

Yeah that's not right. I had some oil come up on to the engine after an oil change, turns out the mechanics at MINI put in a quart of oil too much. So check your oil level and definitely take it in for service.

 

I'm no expert here, but many of us have a somewhat similar situation unrelated to the oil. Apparently when shipping these vehicles across the ocean, Mini uses some material to prevent the ocean salt from starting the oxidizing process on the exposed surfaces.

There is a name for it and should have been removed by the dealship when prepping your car for the $650 delivery charge. I especially notice it on my car along all of the edges between body parts after I wash it that drips down on the bumpers and wheel housing covers. I personally am in no hurry to remove it as it gives me some peace of mind with having a seal for protection.

Don't know if this is your case or not, but your dealer needs to hear from you. Good luck and report back.

 

Check that the clamps are tight on the boots at both sides of the intercooler.

 

With that location it could be the oil feed line. I have the same issue on my current turbo car. The seal just got loose over time due to constant heating in that area. I would have the dealer check the oil feed line to the turbocharger. May also want to look into a catch can.

 

are you positive its oil... could it maybe be from when your dealership detailed your when delivered( if they do that) it could be some cleaning material lingering. and as for the name of the sealant they use its called cosmolene. not sure how its spelled but is pronounced cawz mo leen

 

As it turns out, I got a call from my MA tonight to check in. I asked him about it and, although he hadn't heard of any issues, he suggested that cosmolene was the probable reason. I tend to agree. He also suggested that when I'm getting LoJack installed next week to bring it up to the service manager.

I wiped the surfaces clean before heading to work today and nothing has formed since my initial sighting. I did a quick check of the dipstick, oil fillter cap, oil fittings to the turbo, and the lines from the turbo to the intercooler. I will update when it's back or hasn't returned after some amount of driving.

Thanks all for the input. It's great to get information and perspective from the collective

-jeff

 

Or perhaps the thicker body sealer wax that tends to leak out a little bit when the car is warm. In my case, this weekend I found a dirty film on the leading edge of the bonnet just under each headlamp. This seems to be caused by the body sealer wax leaking out and dirt sticking to that.

For areas that didn't easily come clean I used some goo-gone followed by a coat of wax. For the plastic fenders goo-gone worked great to remove the stubborn leaking wax. I followed up with a treatment of black-again (similar I'm sure to black-wow).