Major Oil Leak
 

I was just on my way home on the highway and my low oil warning light comes on as I am getting off my exit. As i pull to the stop sign the engine is VERY rattly. I struggle home and I jack the car up, only to see oil everywhere on the left side of the engine bay (looking from front of car), it is now all over my garage floor, and even on my right front wheel well and wheel.

No clue what happened but I am not going to drive it ANYWHERE until I know what is wrong.

I cannot tell if there is a bolt in the sump so does anyone have a picture of what a correct looking sump looks like on an R56 S?

Oil spatters even made up to the noisemaker area. No clue how it got there.

NOT HAPPY :mad:

I have heard of a few cars with massive oil loss caused by the timing chain tensioner walking out of the head.

:sad:

Have it towed to the dealer?

She is on her way there as we speak.

Now I have to clean my garage floor.

I will post back when I get a diagnosis.

sometimes the cap that seals the oil filter can leak... Ive had the rubber seal underneath the cap twisted on the threads and have oil spill everywhere. Id give that a quick check

Yep, this seems to be occurring with some frequency lately. See experiences and speculation on causes in this other recent thread:

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

Did you have the oil changed lately ?

If you have some kitty litter, it works great for oil on cement floors. Pour it all over the area about 1/2 thick and let it sit and soak in for a few minutes.

Remove it and put more down. Only this time while holding a small piece of 2x4 (about 8 inch long) grind that new patch of kitty litter into the floor using sweeping motions back and forth pushing down so as to grind it into the floor pulverizing it into dust.......This help to get it into all the defect areas of the floor....

If you want to save some time, grab two small pieces of 2x4 one for each hand and work it in like you are skim coating a plaster wall.....It will remove about 99.9% of the oil....

Then just dispose of the contaminated kitty litter properly.

On the wrong side of the engine.

Thanks, everyone. Looks like I had the same issue as many others. The timing chain tensioner came out and the chain went loose, breaking some of the chain guides. All being replaced, and CLEANED, under warranty. Result!

Do you know if the rattling sound was caused by timing chain slack, or lack of lubrication? Since you described it as rattling as opposed to knocking, I'm hopeful it was chain slack.

Yes, I believe it was the lack of tension in the chain that was the noise I heard. The engine still had a good amount of oil in it. I know this because whatever was left is now on my garage floor, under some kitty litter thanks to gray raven.

Very Similar Issue not I have to pay $2600
 

I noticed that my 2009 MINI Cooper S that I bought in 2009 had its Engine Pressure Sensor light come on while driving. I immediately pulled over as instructed under the car manual. I took it to the dealership and was subsequently informed thatt the Tensioner next to the Timing Chain seemed to have broken resulting in the oil leak. The dealership could repair it for $500 as it wasn't covered by warranty seeing as my car was over 50K miles. I A couple of hours later I was informed Timing Chain was also damaged and it would need to get replaced for $2100, again not covered by the warranty.

A little researched revealed that many other MINI owners had the same problem with the Timing Chain on the R56. Also, dealership staff told me that they had seen up to 15 MINIs with the same problem with the timing chain this past year alone. I called the MINI Customer Service line about this mechanical defect and asked what the company was doing to remedy the situation. The representative informed me that all she could do was open a ticket and let me know that a service manager would make a decision whether to reimburse me in 3-5 business days. I was told that the service manager could not make a determination in a shorter period of time and I was advised that I should not pay for the repair first and then seek reimbursement because that would make it less likely that MINI would assist me with the costs of repairing their cars' defective timing chain.

I was able to call the dealership holding my car and procure a loaner for the time being as I wait for my ticket to work its way through the system. I don't understand why a known issue with the engine in my car wasn't fixed sooner by MINI since I took my car each time to the dealership to be serviced, especially since the Timing Chain seems to be a defect that is well-known to the company. I find it hard to believe that the part in question wasn't deteriorating over the past two years. I am even more disappointed that MINI is trying to pass off the high costs of a mechanical defect in its cars onto its customers who did not create the problem in the first place.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up, I got a call today saying my claim was denied. Looks like I'll have to front the cash for a car that's not even two years old. I can't believe that MINI nor the dealership is taking any responsibility for not checking on the timing chain when there was a service bulletin out for this issue.

Very disappointing. I think I will be filing a complain with NHTSA.

Massive Oil Leak Linked To Defective Timing Belt
 

My Mini Cooper Clubman Suffered A Complete Oil Leak. While Driving To My Office The Oil Pressure Warning Light Came On And The Car Started To Rattle. I Checked The Oil Level And Replaced It Only To See 4 Quarts On The Ground. Had Road Side Assistance Tow It To Closest Dealer. The Dealer Informed Me That The Timing Belt Had Slipped/ Degenerated And Had To Be Replaced (the Tensioner And Or Belt Has Been Re-engineered-- According To The Dealer). I Still Am Not Sure Why It Causes This Sort Of A Major Loss Of Oil. It Does Happen

Fortunately, No Engine Damage And It Is Being Returned Tomorrow

The Start Of A Class Action Lawsuit
 

To Noirsith

You Need To Contact A Lawyer. Sounds Like You Have The Basis For A Lawsuit And I'm Not A Lawyer (rather A Physician)

Mechanism Of The Timing Belt -oil Leak Problem
 

I Need The Service Department Or A Mechanic To Explain To Me How This Massive Oil Leak Occurs In The Mini As A Result Of The Timing Belt Failure And If There Solution Will Fix The Problem Permanently Or I May Not Be Able To Trust The Car. What Is The Recurrence Rate Of This Problem After It Is Fixed?

Chain issues do not cause oil leaks from chain tensioners. They were incorrectly tightened at the factory. I have seen cars with 50 miles leaking from loose tensioners. Someone at the factory must have finger tightened them. They have an aluminum crush washers that have been removed on leaking cars to find they have not been crushed. I am sorry the dealer is passing the blame to the customers, they make more money off customer paying jobs than warranty/goodwill repairs.

Just thought it should be mentioned that the Mini does NOT have a low oil light, only a oil pressure light.
Check your oil regularly, the N14 engine (turbo R55, 56, 57) are using aLot of oil, not uncommon for turbo engines to use upto a quart every 1500 to 2000 miles. With oil changes due only every 15k or so, do the math.

To Ax Racer
 

I Had Quite A Long Conversation With The Mechanic Today About The Timing Chain And Tensioner. I Was Informed That It Did Indeed Cause The Oil Leak From My Mini And The Mechanic Has Seen This Multiple Times Before.

I Am Aware That These Cars Do Burn A Little Oil And That One Needs To Check Periodically. Thanks

Please continue, What did the mechanic say?

Dave

Mini Timing Chain Problem
 

Unfortunately, I am not the best person to describe the problem as the mechanic relayed it to me (I wish I had better understanding of the mechanics of the interaction of the timing chain/tensioner and lubrication involving this car). I can put you in touch with the mechanic through the service department that worked on my car. It was serviced at Midwestern Mini in Dublin Ohio. I was told they have had to change out quite a few of these. Apparently the chain or tensioner has been re-enginered but no recall has been issued.

You can make a call to this service dept to inquire about the mechanics of the situation. I dont have a design or schematic in front of me to help elaborate.

Here is picture of the tensioner where it goes thru the head to put pressure against the timing chain guide. Also a photo of the tensioner that shows that it is side fed oil pressure from the engine to move the piston outward against the timing chain guide. This keeps the chain tensioned. The threaded portion and the head of the tensioner is what keeps oil in the head. If oil is leaking its because it came unscrewed and the crush ring is no longer sealing against the head. The rattle noises that is common with old style tensioners is caused by weak springs inside(spring keeps pressure when no oil pressure is present) and too short of a piston in tensioner. updated tensioners have stronger springs and extend a small amount more. I have seen plenty of failed tensioners without oil leaks. A loose leaking or failed tensioner will cause chain slack and skipped timing/bent valves ect. But a chain will not cause the tensioner to leak. hope this helps clear things up.

Massive Oil Leak Linked To Defective Timing Belt
 

Thanks For The Diagram And The Information. So The Chain Itself Did Not Cause The Leak Rather A Defective Tensioner Caused The Leak?

That's a great explanation Eurotechsaz, there has been a lot of confusion on this....

Tyield, yes, the tensioner is the problem, however in many cases it's not defective, it just uscrewed itself from the block - causing the chain to be loose and oil to escape under pressure from the head. That's what happened to Ladybug's car. Sometimes the tensioner itself fails, not holding proper tension against the chain, as Eurotech explained. When that happens there can be extensive internal damage to the engine.

Seems pretty simple to those of us with a mechanical background, but the combination of inexperienced SA's trying to explain complex mechanical things to people without a mechanical background makes for some very confused posters....

Bottom line is check your engine oil frequently, while you're in there check for leaks too.

I had my tensioner replaced on my '09 at about 3K miles, no issues since - no chain noise, no leaks....nuttin. I've posted many times about what a quality dealer Baron MINI is in KC, I urge anyone in our area to use them for your service.

I'm also a little surprised that MINI is taking such a hard line on not paying for these repairs, it's not like it's anything an owner would have an involvement with - it's definitely either an assembly problem or a tech problem, and a lot of people just don't understand what those noises are and why they are a problem till it's too late.

I'd be willing to bet her a coke that Ladybug's car has been making all sorts of noises in the few weeks or days leading up to her car failing - but she didn't hear them or realize what they were.

Is the right side of that picture the front of the engine (crank pulley, belts, timing chain...etc.)?

correct, that is right side photo from rear of engine. you can see the water pump under the tensioner.

Scary stuff, a friend's 08 MCS auto had a big oil leak but it was a rear main seal. Our 09 6spd had one from a loose turbo oil return line. Just took it in and it had a coolant leak with a bad sensor, what is going on with these cars?

Also ours has a rattle only on cold start, reason to be concerned or do they all do that?

When you have a discussion thread dedicated to problems, it's going to seem worse than it is. Every car has problems. There are plenty of R56s in the Michigan MINI club that haven't had any huge issues like this.

Agreed, I just don't want to find out 4000 miles later out of warranty. Time to decide whether to ditch the car or not once it's not covered.

My wife just had the chain, tensioner and guides replaced on her 07 S. The shop foreman told her to check the oil every 750 miles. I find this highly unacceptable on a newer car.

I'm sorry but don't give me it has a turbo B.S. I have a 97 850 Volvo turbo and it doesn't loose any oil and it has 155,000 miles on it the mini has 36,000.

What I find hard to understand is I was under the car after I had to add 3 quarts of oil and could find no oil leaks. It was loosing a quart a week until it went in to get serviced.

We had to wait a week for the parts because the dealership have been replacing so many they were out of the parts.

If I have to add a quart of oil every 750 to 1000 miles I'm running conventional oil and getting a different turbo as I'm not going to be paying $10 for a quart of oil because of a design flaw by BMW and it is a design flaw to be loosing a quart of oil every 1000 miles.

I have a 2010 Mini that hasn't used any oil in 5000 miles.

Dave

most turbo car (audi,vw ) spec oil consumption at 1 quart every 1000 miles. obviously this is on the high side , dependent on driving conditions . its kinda a CYA(cover your a$$) type of clause . personally i think it is crazy to have 15k oil change intervals. 10K maybe in a non turbo application . but as long as u you ad here to the manual while under warranty you will be covered. i use mobile one for mini's and my personal vehicles 07 srt jeep and supercharger 98 cobra and never had any issues.

There are a lot of us out there who's cars use no measurable amount of oil between changes - for me that's every 7500 miles, and yes it's an MCS with a turbo - I'm at 30K miles now.

However I have had even non turbo European cars that used oil from day one - including a new Audi I owned. I think a quart every 750 miles is excessive too, but before I got too concerned I'd watch it awhile and document the usage.

I think the tech was merely trying to instill a good habit - that is, check your oil frequently till you establish the real use pattern.

Major Oil Leak
 

Prior To The Timing Chain/tensioner Malfunction, My Car Did Not Seem To Burn Any Oil. My Mini Clubman S Had Approx 32,000 Miles On It At The Time Of The Malfunction And I Had Check My Oil Level At Least Monthly And It Had Been At The Dealer One Month Before The Event Occurred (not Requiring An Oil Change At The Time).

At The Time Of The Event (the Oil Pressure Warning Message Coming On), I Found That All The Oil Was Out Of My Mini. I Had My Wife Bring Me 4 Quarts Of Oil Which I Proceeded To Put In My Mini Only To See All Of It Spill On To The Pavement Below.

One Of The Respondants To These Threads Has Said That The Timing Chain/ Tensioner Malfunction Cannot Cause An Oil Leak Like This, But The Repairing Mechanic Informed Me That They Occur Often Associated With This Malfunction. Other Than Replacing The Timing Chain And Tensioner, There Were No Other Sources Of Oil Leaks Found. Thus Cause And Effect


Now My Only Question Pertains To Reliability, Which Is Yet To Be Answered Since I Have Not Experienced A Problem Like This On Any Bmw, Mercedes, Cadillac Escalade, Volvo, Or Subaru I Have Ever Owned

Add me to the tally...

This all happened to me 2 days ago as well. My '10 MCS with 21,000 miles had it's 1 year oil change in early December. All along I've been checking the oil religiously, and only once (maybe around 5k) I needed to top it off ever so slightly.

I had ~1mile to go, low oil pressure light flashed, I slowed a bit and started hearing the rattle so I threw it into neutral for most of the remainder. When I got out to look it over, my little black and white car bore a striking resemblence to a penguin in the Valdez spill... I got it towed to the dealership on Mini Roadside assistance, and was nervous that an engine rebuild was on the horizon. They gave me a loaner right away, but my car was ready by the end of the day. Diagnosis: timing chain tensioner stretched, backed out of a block. All in all, everything was covered under the warranty.

I was surprised by how sudden it all happened, considering that there was no evidence of a leak in my parking spot from the night before...

Major Oil Leak
 

It Is Good To Know That This Has Also Occurred In A Moderate Number Of 2010 Cars As Well.

I Think Mini (bmw) Needs To Issue A Recall For This Problem. I Do Not Know How To Put Pressure On Them To Do It But I Will Investigate This Issue.

By The Way, Honda Just Issued A Recall On The Fit Due To A Defective Spring Which May Cause The Engine To Stall (i Wonder If They Use A Similar Engine Design)


Tyield

2009 Mini Cooper Clubman S: Ordered 4/009 -delivered 6/2009
Automatic With Navigation, Horizon Blue With Silver Strips, Parking Sensor, Anti Theft, Comprehensive Communication Package And Roof Rails, Premium Stereo With Siruis

Tensioner leaks are different from most oils leaks as they are pressurized with oil. It would be the same effect if you oil filter or oil cooler hose with a hole in it. It will empty the system in less than a minute in most vehicles. That is why most instances are sudden. The cause is still the tensioner coming loose and not a loose chain causing it to come loose. The tensioner is nothing more than a large bolt with piston and spring on the end of it. Bolts with crush washers do not come loose when properly tightened, which MINI forgot to do on quite a few cars as we are seeing. They are making it quite a while before they break the finger tight fitment but i does work until it stops working. I have seen drain plugs that were finger tight come in on several occasion, not leaking.

What are the odds?
 

I was less than a half mile from turning into my MINI dealer for a fuel injector service appointment, when my 2009 MINI Cooper S (10,300 miles) started to make a terrible rattling noise; my oil pressure light came on almost immediately. Half way up the right side, the rear and about a third of the way up on the left was covered in oil spray. Oil was also pooling at rather alarming rate under the car. Long story short the chain tensioner had broken-at seemingly just the right time! Fortunately, the problem is being covered because it was caused by a manufacturers defect.

I'm trying to orient the photo of the head to what I'm seeing under my bonnet; can someone describe to me where to look for this tensioner bolt on the head?

:popcorn: me too!