What level of oil consumption would cause you to take your car in for repair (i.e. engine teardown or something major)? I am up to 1 quart every 1000-1200 mi. The last time I had the dealer look at it no leaks were found and the compression checked out fine. I have no leaks, smoke or drivability problems, just a car with a drinking problem . At what point do I pull the trigger and ask someone to tear into him?

 

Let me add that I had Nigel checked out at 51,000mi and am now at 65,000. Consumption has been increasing nonlinearly; sometimes higher, sometimes lower between changes. Input is appreciated.

 

Mine uses a lot less. But I'm sure it varies a lot engine to engine and also based on driving patterns.

As long as it continues to run well, adding a quart every now and then is going to be a lot cheaper than an engine tear down!

 

My car, this last time around, is using about the same amount of consumption. Since I bought my car close to 60,000 miles ago it had always used about 1qt/3000 miles. This last change, I switched oil brands to Castrol Syntec 5w30, because there was a sale, and I also threw in some oil seal leak conditioner. Now, my car seems to have been using oil up at about twice it's normal rate. Very strange. No smoke, only the occasional drip on the garage floor. I also keep the revs relatively tame most of the time.

 

Something else to beware of... If you switch from BMW's approved oils to another synthetic, like Mobil 1, and later return to the BMW stuff, consumption may increase.

I'm not clear on the exact mechanism but it has something to do with the non-approved oils' effect on the engine seals. It's not a problem if you keep using the other oil but you can't go back to the approved stuff without side effects!

 

That is quite a statement. Not sure I buy it. My MINI has had MINI's brand of oil put in at every free oil service. Between those services I changed the oil with Mobil 1 5W30.

Back on topic...

My MINI currently uses 1/2 quart of oil every 3,000 miles with 68,000 miles on the odo. I'm very happy with my engines condition.

 

I'd have to dig out the maintenance booklet but I think there might be one or two Mobil 1 viscosities which are approved, but in general it's not an approved oil (which surprised me).

 

I am aware that not all Mobile 1 viscosities are approved.

What I did not understand was the statement that if one uses the BMW brand oil & then uses Mobil 1 & then switches back to the BMW stuff the oil consumption may increase. How did you come up with that? I doubt it is in the maintenance booklet.

That increase in consumption did not happen to my car which used both oils for the first 40,000 miles.

 

If I were you, I'd do one or two oil changes at only a few thousand miles apart......perhaps you have a set of rings that are gunked up or stuck.... some some fresh oil, in quick succession can unstick them. Looks like yet another reason to do oil changes more often than MINI reccomends!!
I Don't want this to become one of "those threads" but mind if I ask how often you are changing your oil?



One thing to watch out for...seal leak conditioner is like an addictive drug for your car....it works by swelling the seals...and when it is no long present, the seals shrink...smaller than it was before....so use it very prudently!! If you do see oil on the floor, it sounds like you have more of a leak than a consumption problem....most of it is getting blown away...I'd look at it more closely, and keep a close eye on you oil level, since it can change rapidly!!

 

I've only used leak conditioner once. And the leak is an occasional drop on the floor, not enough to warrant the amount I'm actually losing IMO. I did read that in the case of certain seals leaking in the mini, such as the oil cooler seal, they usually leak when the car is actually running, therefore I wouldn't be seeing it on the garage floor. I'm going to inspect this one soon.

 

Oil changes according to the OBC initially (first 25-30k mi.), every 5,000 since.

 

Oh well....then not too likely the rings are stuck, leading to high oil consumption....worth tossing out there anyways...

 

Its always been my understanding changing brands of oil can cause a short term increase in oil consuption. The reason is the difference in additives. Some of the cylinder glaze gets desolved so oil use increases until the glaze builds back up. This may not be valid with the new oil formulations - my experience dates back to the days of American big iron.

Kevin

 

I think it did make a difference back in the age of dinosaurs when engines used cork gaskets & carbon soaked rope for rear main seals. I was there & saw the asteroid.

 

No, it's not in the booklet. I was told that by a trusted Mini mechanic. I didn't just read about it from some anonymous poster in some car blog on the internets!

Curiosity got the better of me and I dragged out the maintenance booklet. You happened to have used one of the approved Mobil 1 viscosities, FWIW.

You'd think that synthetic oils would be compatible with each other. But apparently they're not, although it's presumably not as bad as adding the wrong kind of coolant to a Mini. That last tidbit, I'll admit, came from an anonymous poster...

 

I agree that it is best to stick with one kind of oil & not switch. But if one finds themselves having to switch for some reason & then go back to their original oil it isn't going to be a problem. You read it here on the internet. There is lots of good info to be found on-line & bunch of carp too. Let the reader be aware.

When in doubt, one will never go wrong by going with what the maker spec's.

 

oh give me a 235 straight 6 pls. 20+miles to the gallon pulling a 4000+pnd . car . but we've come so far !!!!! loooool all b.s. pull all the emission crap and prices would be better and i'll wager mileage wouldn't suffer a bit . probably improve . oh but it's .05% of a % of all green house gas so it's worth it . looool

 

Thanks to all for your input.

I still want to know how the oil exits the car in the absence of leaks or smoke.

Guess I will keep adding oil; at this rate I should only need filter changes as the oil is changing itself .

 

Your next door neighbor is slowly siphoning it off a few cups every Monday night when you sleep....you need to buy a locking dipstick!!

 

Oil elves most likely. Mah precioussss!!

 

You're only losing about 1ml per mile driven. You probably wouldn't see smoke if you are burning it. You also may not notice much oil under the car when it is parked since it may only leak when you drive and the pressure is up.

 

As far as where the oil is being lost if no leaks visible, my guess from past experience with a Ford Pinto of all cars, is that the it is the valve stem seals. I am not an engine mechanic and I am not familiar with the insides of the MINI engines but back in the days when I had a new Ford Pinto (my 1st car with an overhead cam engine and...it was a German mfr engine) was that I was losing about 1 qt of oil/1000 miles. At the time, the dealer told me that these overhead cam engines usually do burn a lot of oil...and me being realtively inexperienced with cars at the time....accepted that response. A long time later...maybe 2 years or more, I then discovered there was a service bulletin out on the oil stem seals. By this time, i was then bringing my Pinto into a different dealership and they indicated that it was definitely the stem seals. After they replaced the stem seals, I was then not losing noticeable oil between oil changes which back in those days was around 3000 miles betwen oil and oil filter changes.

Right now on 2009 Clubman, I only have about 12000 miles and have changed the oil once so far with my annual service coming up in March...which will be well before the service indicator gets to what will be a total 19000 miles when it is recommending the first oil change. Oil consumption so far has been very low with down about 1 quart at time I did my first oil change at...~ 9000 miles. I have been checking the dipstick every 3-4 gas fill-ups but so far no noticeable change in oil consumption since last oil change. I am using Mobil 1 0-40W.

 

Isn't a sign of leaking valve stem seals, smoke on startup when the car has bitting sitting overnight?

 

Yes, it is. Some Toyota 4-cyl. engines are known to do this prematurely because of inferior valve stem seals. But I haven't heard of Minis having such a weakness.

 

[quote=nigelthecooper;2964847]

I still want to know how the oil exits the car in the absence of leaks or smoke.



You can thank your catalytic converter for the absence of any smoke. The converter gets so hot that it vaporizes any oil that would otherwise turn into smoke. I had not given this much thought until I had a Cvevy Astro some years ago that mysteriously started to use a lot of oil, I could see no leaks and no smoke. My mechanic enlightened me. I had never realized it but since the advent of the catalytic converter you rarely see vehicles exhausting a great oil smoke trail. I am old enough to remember that prior to catalytic converters it was quite common to see all kinds of cars burning oil. A lot of them are still burning it, it is just unseen because of the catalytic converter.