Wow! I did something so dumb, or so it would seem. I changed my oil as I have many times before (04 S), this time I think I may have over filled it. After I changed the oil I put 4 qts. in started it and let idle for a bit,turned it off waited and checked the oil. It was not showing on the dipstick so I added more. Afterward I checked it again looked good, started it to check for leaks ,saw none. Went to the car wash, when I got there, oil was all over the underside of engine. took it home and it was leaking bad. Not at the drain plug or the filter housing. I must have overfilled it,(uugh) there is a pressure relief plug on the mini, maybe thats where my problem lies. Anyone heard of anything to this effect,or experienced this. Thanks for any input. Jim

 

Was your oil cap (where you put the oil into the engine) properly screwed back on? If either the drain plug or the filter housing was incorrectly placed, you would have known it immediately upon start up. You only added about five quarts and changed the filter, right? If all was well, and you drove around some, the only thing I can think of is an improperly positioned oil cap.

 

Wish it were something so obvious. My guess is I overfilled it, I didn't do things in my normal pattern. i have done all the mods to this car myself, changed the oil at least 12 times in the past. This time there was an oversight ( i think). What I need to know is how the pressure relief valve works when there is too much oil.

 

This just happened to me two days ago. I am guessing your oil leak is on the right side below the filter?? I removed my filter to find the O ring in pieces! In search of a new O ring I went to NAPA and bought a GOLD filter. To my surprise the NAPA filter is far supperior to OEM. Place a rag under the filter canister and remove. I had lost so much oil that there was nothing left in the canister. This leak is hard to detect because of the angle of the filter canister. In the end I added 3/4 of a quart of oil, bought a good engine degreaser and gave the engine bay a good cleaning.

 

I didn't have time to pull the filter tonight. Hoping this is the problem, oil pours out when the engine is running, not at all when off.

 

Check your dip stick too, if it's not seated, oil might be pushed out.

 

Not to hijack the thread but I changed my oil yesterday and had a bit of a spill down the engine when I took the filter off. Now I get a small drop of oil when I pull into the garage. I'm just wondering if it's from the spillage or if it's from the oil filter not being on properly.

If the oil filter didn't seat correctly, wouldn't there be a HUGE mess or could the leak be small?

 

The time I broke the o-ring there wasn't a small drip. With the engine running there was a spray.... Unfortunately I didn't notice the problem at idle....when the engine got to speed and the psi went up. 'old faithful' blew out about a third of a quart pretty quickly!

A drop or two for a couple of days after an oil change isn't unusual on my cars, not just the MINIs. There tends to be a little spillage down the block and onto some frame & suspension parts no matter how careful I am. ....just try to do a better wipe up next time.

 

Thanks. I assumed a leak around the filter would be very noticeable and not just a drop from time to time. I'm certainly going to keep an eye on it and if it continues to drip for more than a few days, then I'll take the filter back off.

 

Thankfully, my oil "leak" was only some stray dripping caused by the spill from removing the old oil filter. All drips have stopped and everything is looking good. Next oil change in 5,000 miles.

 

Why let that excess oil just sit there and make you think there is a leak??? If youre doing this yourself, why not clean up after yourself????

 

Well, I thought I had cleaned it all up. It wasn't much of a spill to begin with but a small amount of oil can look like a lot. I used paper towels around the oil filter but somehow the oil dripped below the filter onto some part of the engine that I couldn't get to.

I'd never think of NOT cleaning up after my own spill. Believe me, I tried to get it all.

 

Jim, a couple thoughts/suggestions:

In the future, I would just add the amount of oil recommended in the owner's manual, regardless of what the dipstick says. If the manual says 4 qts, add 4 qts. Check the dipstick a day later to see where the 4 qt mark comes to, and consider that your "full" mark.

Overfilling the oil does not cause the pressure relief valve to activate any differently. The pressure relief valve functions during cold oil conditions and/or high engine rpm, and is not influenced by oil level.

My guess is your oil filter O-ring is not seated properly in the filter, or the O-ring from the old oil filter stayed stuck to the engine, and now you have double O-rings, which do not seal very well. Remove the new oil filter and give things a visual inspection.

The key here is: did you ever get a "low oil pressure" light/alarm? If not: no harm, no foul.

My "ten-tenths" method for oil changes: after every oil change, always start the engine, and watch the dashboard for the oil pressure light to turn off. If it turns off, then you did indeed remember to add oil! (don't laugh; you wouldn't believe the mistakes I've seen, especially when someone gets distracted in the middle of an oil change!) After the oil pressure light turns off, keep the motor running, get out and spend the next 30 seconds peering under the car in the vacinity of the oil filter, watching for any signs of oil dripping.

In 30 years of doing my own oil changes, I've lost track of how many times the old oil filter O-ring stuck to the engine. Only once did I have the new filter o-ring get knocked out of position when installing. What a fricken' mess after only ten seconds of run time!