Hi all,

Went out this morning to find a pool of oil under my 2005 MCS. Looked under the bonnet and found a slick of oil which seems to be originating under the round, silver-colored cylinder on the right side (i.e. passenger side) of the engine bay (brake or clutch cylinder?) This is located ABOVE the supercharger pulley, and the leak is seeping oil onto the painted engine bay strut, then dribbling down over the side of that strut and from there onto the floor.

Here's a shot of the location:



I don't yet have a Hayne's Manual so I don't know what this cylinder is - any ideas why I'd be leaking oil (pretty badly) from this location all of a sudden? The car has about 53K miles on it.

Thanks!

 

Upper motor mount - pretty common, not difficult to replace.

 

Is it a bushing or a gasket/seal?

 

The OEM hydraulic engine mount usde on '04-'06 MINIs uses a fluid to dampen engine harmonics. Very commonly, the seal goes bad and the fluid leaks out. When this happens, harmonics are not properly dampened, and the engine actually sits at an uneven level (i.e. leans to that side).

You can opt to replace it one of two ways. First is to get another OEM part. From my understanding, even the replacements eventually leak. The other option is to go aftermarket, such as the TSW mount. It runs about $200 plus cost to install. The primary disadvantage is the NVH (i.e. negative vibration harmonics). Because the TSW mount is a large peace of polyurethane, is had a reduced amount of flex (i.e. "give"). Some have posted they have a break-in period. I've had my TSW mount since having it installed at MOTD in late April, and I still have some NVH. It's mainly at idle and lower RPMs. The primary advantage is the mount will never fail.

 

Hey Matt your upper motor mount has gone tango uniform. You will need to replace the whole mount. As far as I know they are not serviceable. I'd go with the oem part as I hate NVH. Classic MINI has a nice NAM discount & ships fast.

 

I'm debating whether or not to just have someone do it for me - MAG has quoted only .75 hours to replace it, as it's fairly easy if you have access to a lift (which I don't). Just waiting on a quote from NorthEnd Wrench as well - for that amount of $ I'm tempted to just let someone else renew it.

 

GREAT suggestion, Chuck... Classic MINI had the part for literally HALF what MAG quoted me. Even with shipping that's a substantial savings. I'll decide whether or not I'll do the work myself when I get back from India (I'll be out there for the next 3 weeks, starting next week). :(

 

May I suggest that you remove as much of the goo from the car before you leave. It will stain the paint when it dries and really makes a mess. Use rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and rags and elbow grease to remove. It's not hard to replace the mount.

 

Will do - like I said, 90% of it just wiped off since it's still wet, so cleaning the last traces with the mount off should be no problemo...

 

You need a special socket to remove the lower bolt that holds the mount in place, just FYI. It's available at most auto parts stores. I have one but for the life of me I can't remember for sure what the size designation was. If you decide to DIY (it's an easy job) then I'll check the number tonight when I get home, or someone else with a better memory than me can chime in.....Davester should know, he bought the one I have (I'm the official club tool keeper for the KC MINIacs)

 

Pretty sure it's a T-12 reverse torx socket (female torx socket) - at least, that's what's called for in some how-tos I've seen.

 

That's it......

The how to's all say you have to remove the inner fender liner, but I think you can easily get to the lower bolt just using an extension - saves a lot of hassle and time...

 

Yea, I bought the torx socket T12 for $3.95 at Clark Tools. Kinda like Harbor Freight stores.