Hello everyone, new here. Just bought a used mini and had the clutch changed, the mechanic told me the oil was low (or almost non existent) and added oil as well.

I got home and decided to clean the air filter (with a compressor) and take out the spark plugs and clean those as well, I was unable to take the spark plugs out as I didn't have the correct socket so I put everything back together and now the check engine light comes on, the car stutters some and also turned off once already by itself.

I took all the spark plug solonoids out and cleaned them, pushed them all back in tight and also took the air filter out again and cleaned that as well again and put it all back together. I then read the vvt solonoid could be an issue so I took that out and cleaned it with a rag as it was full of oil. I put it back in and the car doesn't seem to stutter anymore but the engine light is on.

In addition, the engine oil seems to be overfilled by probably up to one quart and it didn't help I added an oil additive for cars with over 50k miles (I have 81k).

Sorry for all this crap I did and I know it could be multiple issues, but I do notice that removing the oil cap or dip stick has a lot of negative pressure and the car stutters when I do that.

Can anyone help or guide me to the right direction?

 

NAM thread on codes P0300 and P0304
NAM thread on Code P0012 (Specifically post #7 since oil is overfilled)
NAM thread on Code P0301
NAM thread on P0302 and another here.

See if any of these help resolve your issues. Good luck!

 

Looks like the previous post should help diagnose your codes. BTW, don't use compressed air to clean your air filter. It enlarges the holes and ruins the filtering capability.

 

The p0012 could be a VANOs solenoid, which could cause misfire..

 

Thanks for the info on the air filter will stop doing that didn't know that would damage the filter.

Thanks guys for all the other info, ended up taking apart all the plug cables again and pushing them down firmly. The car then started to act normal and then took it to the mechanic here where he reset the CEL as he said once it is triggered it stays on (is this even true)?

Anyways seems to be ok now.

 

yes, the cel will stay until cleared even if the problem is fixed.

 

So you bought a Mini with almost no oil? You messed with a lot of things (Vanos solenoid and coils) , you might try driving the Mini some distance (30 miles) to see if the codes clears. I had my Mini in for a check-up and my boost tube popped off on the freeway, clamped it and drive to the beach, code cleared itself.

Was the screen dirty on the Vanos solenoid, VVT as you called it same thing?

Pelican to the rescue.

 

whoo-hoo!

Can read up on some information about the VANOS Solenoid here too if interested. Hopefully your issue is resolved. Let us know what happens and if anything changes!

 

Yea the screen on the Vanos Solenoid was very dirty, I ghetto cleaned it with just a rag. The pelican part site is freaking awesome. I am afraid to clean it with the brake cleaner are you guys sure it won't screw up something?

 

Brake cleaner, why not use compressed air can? Do your engine a favor, next oil change pour BG EPR into oil crankcase and follow instructions. It will liquefy all built up carbon everywhere oil travels, every time you turn off the engine oil bakes itself to engine parts. I had 55K miles when I used the BG EPR and you haven't seen black oil until you see what comes out after BG EPR!

I wish I had taken DSLR pictures of my oil draining out, it had black swirl marks in the oil as it drained. I hade to use up an extra 5 quart jug of good oil just to do a second flush, it was that bad. Here's what my Vanos Solenoid looked like when I removed it for the first time. Link

 

It is fine to use. Use non-chlorinated (not sure if chlorinated is still available) and dry it out before reinstalling. That is about it. If you are uncomfortable, which is understandable, use dish soap and water and allow to dry.