Like it says.... so 2 days ago my daughters mini 2008 S with 79k miles had a new light. gear with exclamation point. automatic gear box i believe. 2 days before this the after cat o2 sensor threw a code. I have a foxwell NT510 reader i hooked up to see if the gear light had anything. while it was reading I checked oil, it was a smidge low so I topped it off. while I was putting in the oil I noticed the coolant was a bit low. I cracked the lid since it was warm to let it vent. threw away the oil bottle checked the reader and completely forgot the oil cap. doing the 2 things at once screwed up my system i think but either way I screwed up. by the way - the reader had nothing for the light.

so next day, shes driving to do her clinical's for school 90 min away. she gets almost there and she says the battery light comes on. then the air bags then seatbelts. radio shuts off, she pulls over on the highway of ll places and turns it off. she says the dash is a Christmas tree of lights flashing and beeping. car wont restart. no power windows. she gets a ride to school and I go get her car. I am 10 feet away and all I see is oil.... everywhere. 1st think I though is the engine seized. I pop the hood and I see the cap is off.... no power. I barely get it in neutral and on the trailer. I get it home and check the battery, its deader than a door ****. I put the charger on it and put it in nuetral. check the oil. its low but not empty. car starts right up.

I believe i killed the alternator. which I consider best case scenario. as opposed to engine locking up.... i put the front in service mode and degreased the front end last night. I'm going to hit all plugs with contact cleaner. I plan on changing the alternator and belt. so my questions:

has anyone done this and what did it do?
should I change the voltage regulator?
any concerns with AC compressor?
any concern with lingering issues due to my screw up?
what is that damned gear light..... it only comes on when I shut the car off

thanks guys

 

Hello,
I have a 2009 MCS with ~160K miles and I recently replaced my alternator. If alternator is bad (i.e. not charging) car will show red batery symbol on dash. Also, if you have a volt guage (I have a scanguage2 guage) it will show < 12 volts with engine running.

I guess its possible alternator was damaged from oil running into it. But, I'd confirm its not charging before replacing it. If you do replace it, remove it first and confirm if you have the 120amp or 150amp alternator. Veleo makes the 120amp one and I belive Bosh makes the 150amp one. Mine had the Veleo 120amp one.

Good luck

 

1) Accidents happen.
2) What GSXR1000 said. If the alternator died, she'd be able to go as far the charge. Seems like the case and I don't have anything else productive to add, but I'm very interested on the outcome.

Good luck.

 

Yea its just aggravating is all....

Im waiting on parts. Just got the old alternator off today. 1st day off work since it happened.

I read that alot of oil will kill one. It was saturated.... The car is still dripping oil from the engine to the rear wheels. But ill keep you posted. Apparently its not done much lol

 

Update for anyone interested...

The cooper is back running. Charging and about 14.3 volts.

In the process i i changed:
Alternator
Serp belt
Both tensioners
oil change
Both O2 sensors ( one of them threw a code a couple days before hand)

I lost 2 qts of oil in this mess in 60 miles or so. Def fried the alternator. Belt was due. Water pump pulley looked great and looked like the updated one. I tried to degrease and clean as much as i could. Also makes me wonder when the low oil light comes on?

When i restarted it intially it sounded great. Put the front end back together got it off the ramps and went to pull it out of the garage and when i i started it it sounded funny. Shut off inspect and restart and sounded fine. So i gotta keep an eye on that.

I could see the exhaust smoke. Which i dont recall before.... But it is 50 and has been raining all day so that might be a factor in visibley seeing it, idk.... Ill keep on it also

I imagine the car will burn oil off the block etc for a week.... And drip for a Bit too. Oil is literally from bumper to bumper underneath and I tried to degrease but it was a fruitless effort.....

I broke the yellow tab that puts it in nuetral with no power. Idk what ill do about that

I still need to flush the trans fluid. I just ran out of time. That is what got me side tracked in the beginning in the 1st place when i forgot the oil cap to begin with.....

I bought a tensioner for the timing chain and a slack measurement tool also. I ultimately decided against it. The car is a 2008. No racket and from what I read you can put extra strain on the plastic guides expediting failure . I have it for future needs. I read good oil and service history can make a difference in this so ill let it ride for now as i am diligent with service.

One more thing..... I have always tried to avoid putting the car in service mode. Its a lot of work but wasn't as bad as i always dreaded. And it really helped.

Thanks all