So it was oil change day today. Got the car up in the air and noticed a small drip of coolant onto the garage floor. Couldn't figure out where it was coming from. While the oil was draining, I removed the heat shield from the exhaust as best I could because that's the area it was coming from.




Circled area was all wet before I wiped the coolant away. Figured maybe it was the oil filter housing gasket, but that would have to wait for another day. Finished the oil change and decided to start it up with it still in the air to see if I could spot any obvious coolant leaks. Well, I didn't, but as soon as I started it up oil started leaking in a steady stream from the area of the oil filter canister. I shut it down, removed the oil filter, inspected the o-ring and housing, then re-assembled. Re-start revealed the exact same problem.

Oil filter cap is tight, it appears to be leaking from the base of the oil filter housing. Do these gaskets have a tendency to just let go all of a sudden like that? I had the car towed because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting it into service mode to drop the whole exhaust and get at the bolts that hold the oil filter housing in place. Whatever engineer signed off on that arrangement deserves to be drawn and quartered.

 

Yes oil filter housing gasket leaks are very common in the N14 engine, there are quite a few threads on the forum of people who have experienced this and also completed the DIY repairs. Detroit Tuning makes a super kit that includes a better turbo oil line, OEM return line, and new oil filter housing gasket (oil cooler gasket also recommended because it sits on the oil filter housing but is not included in the super kit). I bought the super kit and replaced everything in about 14 hours with the help of a friend, and no service mode.

You'll most likely have to remove the DP and associated heatshields, and also move the aux water pump. it's a real pain in the bottom to get to, that's for sure.

 

This is an n12, but yea. I looked at what was involved and the weather coming up and decided to have it towed for someone else to deal with.

 

Here is the connection , has the oil and the coolant.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lant-leak.html

 

Picked up the car, and I have a confession. Apparently I'm a moron.

The o-ring wasn't seated properly on the filter cap. They reseated the o-ring, and no more leak. They also pressure tested the coolant system and found nothing, so I'm not sure what that was all about either.

I removed the cap and checked it in the course of my own diagnostics, but somehow missed that the o-ring was on wrong. This is my second oil change on the MINI, but I've been dealing with BMW M30 and M50 oil canisters for 16 years. You'd think I'd have it figured out by now. Too much on my mind I guess.

 

Thanks for the post to remind us that even a relatively simple job can go wrong even when it's been done many times. At work I run a very complicated microscope and when a problem crops up the service engineer I call always asks what routine service did I last do. That usually is found to be the cause of the new problem!

 

Couldn't agree more....did the same thing on a Volvo oil filter years ago....

 

Didn't realize until this post that the Justas don't have the oil cooler sitting on the oil filter housing! I guess that makes sense without the heat load from the turbo.

 

This is a good reminder that when you have a problem, figure out the simplest thing that could cause it, and look there first. It's amazing how often that works. (Cranks but won't start? Is the gas tank empty?)

It's so darn easy to immediately figure out complicated stuff that could go wrong, and bypass the simple stuff. BTDT many times.

 

written on my wall in BIG letters when I wrote computer code:

When you are SURE everything is right

and the program does not work

something you are sure of

is wrong