I have been replacing parts from the ground up on a used 04 mini s that I bought. There was oil leaking from the valve cover and oil gasket so those parts where replaced too. Everything seemed good for a week or so until today. I found a puddle in the garage and checked it out. Its oil and its dripping from the passenger side of the bottom of the motor somewhere. Anyone have any ideas of where it could be coming from?

 

Just a guess but maybe the oil pan gasket. It is a know problem with 1st gen MINI's. Not an easy repair.
I had my first gasket replaced under warranty but now have a small leak again. For me I am waiting until it gets worse or I need other work done and watching the oil level.

 

+ 1 for the oil pan.
Also check frt crank seal.

 

I guess it could be the oil pan gasket again. I just replaced it 2 weeks ago. Does anyone use a silicone on the gasket as well or should it just be the gasket?

 

Since you already replaced oil pan gasket....it might be something else.
Why don't you clean the motor...drive a few miles...then look more closely. Might be the seal/gasket behind the crankshaft vibration damper...
I would do some more investagation....maybe pay some $$ to get it diagnosed before throwing more parts and time at it!
Good luck!!

 

Okay, that leads me to another question. About 4 days ago I noticed vibration from the engine when accelerating on the highway. It actually seemed to get a bit worse lately. Could this have something to do with the crankshaft vibration damper?

 

Unlikely...when it starts to slip/fail...the car is usually not moving for long...it can coast...but no sc, no waterpump, no sc, no alterntor, no ac.....
You still have the oem damper?
Thevundampened aftermarket ones do physically fail...they can crack/brake, and they can also cause faster wear of the seals on the crank, and the bearings....
The ATI ones (aftermarket)are lighter weight, dampened, and avalable in stock and oversized...very nice, and cheaper, and more relilable than oem. Waymotorworks has both...the stock sized ati, and the oversized!!

 

I got under the car and found that oil is dripping from right underneath the oil filter area. What might be there that would be leaking oil? I cant pin point the exact spot. Thanx again for the help.

 

Could be oozing from a slightly split o-ring. Might want to pull the canister, check/re-oil the o-ring and reinstall.

 

If it isn't the O-ring, it is most likely the oil filter housing. I had to replace mine as well. It's a $10 gasket and takes about 1hr to complete.

 

Have you checked the hydraulic motor mount? It's filled with oil and when it fails, oil will leak down the passenger side of the engine. Mine split about 6 months ago and gave me a small heart attack when I saw the oil on the ground. That might account for the additional vibration you noticed. I was lucky and it didn't actually get on the engine or even worse, the belts on the front of the engine.

 

No, It cant be the mount, Im missing quite a bit of oil from the motor too.

Just curious, does the oil filter housing screw off?

 

The oil from the motor mount is kinda thick....it's kinda hard to mix it up with engine oil. The oil filled mounts are on 05+ mini's too I think...
I believe to always rule out the simple stuff first.
Was an oil change done recently? Even if not...it might be worthwhile to take the filter off, and put a new oem filter and O-ring in the filter housing... Then check for leaks. The o ring is easily damaged during install, and some aftermarket filters sometimes have an o-ring that is undersized, allowing a leak. Sometimes the oring can end up in the wrong spot too when installing the cover...cost to try this fix...maybe $8 for an oem filter.
An oilchange at the same time...harder to justify cause clean oil might be harder to spot a leak...but definetely top off the oil to full...

 

True. I actually pulled the filter which was in correct. I noticed that there are 2 hoses side by side directly underneath. Are these the coolant hoses going to the heater core? If not could these have something to do with the leak? The oil is coming right from the general area which again is directly beneath the oil filter. Sorry, Im waiting on a Haynes book coming in the mail.

 

The hoses are the in/out for coolant for your sandwich oil cooler. Past that is where the whole assembly mounts to the motor. This is most likely where your leak lies. If this does prove to be where the leak is, no worries, the gasket is under $10 from the dealer.

 

It's probably your oil filter and gasket. A lot of gaskets from non-oem oil filters do not sit right and usually causes leaks.

 

Right on, found this online. Who needs a manual with the internet? Lol. I will pull this and replace the gaskets, Im 100% sure its within this component. Thanx to everyone for your help.
http://www.allminiparts.com/showAsse...sembly=c_d_157

 

I second the oil filter gasket. I just put a new filter in and had a leaking problem. I took it off and then tightened the **** out of it when i put it back on. No problem since.

 

Over tightening the filter housing is not a good idea. The seal is entirely the O-ring so if it is leaking the O-ring was not seated correctly. Gorilla force on the housing will not stop a leak like a traditional spin-on filter.

Rich

 

Mabey not the best idea going ape on the filter. Ignore what i said earlier. thanks rich.