My 03 Cooper has appeared to develop an oil leak. Is there a more common place than another that could be the cause of this?

 

Have you attempted to look for the source? Where do you see the leak?

YD

 

The valve cover is a common source and fortunately a relatively easy one to fix.

 

Oil pan gasket , costly to fix at the stealer.

Mark

 

The crank sensor on the front of the block is a common leaker.

YD

 

The podcast WhiteRoofRadio had a discussion on this recently, and there was a full article on Motoringfile.com.
http://www.motoringfile.com/2009/09/...king-your-oil/
Some very good info....

 

where????

fluid filled motor mount problems are common . . .

 

On an 03 I'd say it would be either an oil pan gasket, supercharger inlet gasket, or valve cover gasket. Just had an 03 in that had all 3 leaking today.

 

Don't forget the oil cooler on the back of the block. I had that, valvecover, and oil pan all leaking at the same time.

 

It can also be the o-ring on the oil filter housing. I've had 2 leaks with 2 new aftermarket filter o-rings. Their just a bit smaller and it's enough for the oil to seep through and drip down. If you have a car jack, I'd recommend jacking it up, cleaning all spilled oil and changing out the o-ring on the oil filter. That would be a good and cheap solution to start with.

 

I just noticed a leak and looked under my car to identify the source. Is this the SC inlet side?

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


The picture is from the under side looking forward.