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Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for MINI Clubman (R55), Cooper and Cooper S(R56), and Cabrio (R57).
The local Mini dealer misread and overfilled the oil on my 07 Cooper S, and after I got home and checked the level I went back and had them drain off the excess. That was about 1 1/2 months ago and I have driven probably 1000 KM since.
I just noticed yesterday that my car was leaking oil, and after taking it back to the dealer they informed me that my PCV valve was shot and I needed to replace the complete valve cover because the PCV is not replaceable. They also said I need to replace my intake hose because the oil will degrade it over time. They quoted me 376.00 for the valve cover (Part # 11 12 7 585 907), 199.00 for the intake hose (Part # 13 71 7 555 784) and quoted about 2 hours labour, for a total of 900.00.
Because the car was 1 1/2 months out of warranty and they didin't want to help me I took it home and pulled off the valve cover and and cleaned out all the oil off the PCV to turbo intake hose, sensor and main intake hose, as well as a bit of oil on the turbo intake.
The valve cover seems to have a fair bit of oil inside the PCV valve, it almost seems like there's a puddle of it inside, and if I tilt the valve cover around I can drain off a bit of oil from inside the pcv inlets. The pipe that comes up from the left side of the engine(passenger side) and goes to the left pcv intake is oily as well.
Should that left side pipe be oily or would that be a result of overfilling? I think it should be, as it's probably connected to the crankcase somewhere on the back of the engine, so it'll get hot oily vapor sucked up from the crankcase. I am thinking if they overfilled it perhaps a bunch of oil got sucked up into the pcv valve and has gunked it up, and once it was gunked up started sucking it into the turbo intake.
If that's the case then maybe the pcv valve is just gummed up, and it looks like doing a few seafoam treatments may fix the problem. I sure don't want to dump close to a grand for what should be an easy fix. I also don't want to find out that I've just been suckered by the dealer.
If you've been using synthetic oil then I don't see how anything in your motor would be gumming up. Don't take this to be rude, but I don't think you have a technical understanding of your issues, which leads me to believe your dealer is taking you for a ride.
Are you leaking or losing oil? Is there any other information you're leaving out? I don't see the reasoning behind the dealer's recommendation to replace the cover and intake. There will always be a puddle of oil everywhere in your PCV.....it's just how it works.
No offense taken. I am asking the questions because I want to make sure I understand what's happening.
My car was leaking oil, and it was quite a bit. When I would park for a couple of minutes and then move there would be a 6" wide puddle. I went into the dealership because of it. The funny thing is it stopped all of a sudden the yesterday just before I went in. I don't know how long it had been leaking but The amount of oil that that was leaking seemed to be way more then the amount that I found in the pcv hose going to the turbo inlet.
It couldn't have been happening for very long because it would have drained the oil out of the engine if it was more then a few days at the rate it was leaking. The bottom of the engine below the turbo/oil filter was soaked. I am thinking maybe it was leaking from around the oil filter cover although it was fairly tight?? Maybe they drained the excess oil from there instead of climbing under the engine?
I think I understand the whole PCV valve thing. The left side PCV inlet comes from the crankcase I think and needs vacuum, the right side goes to the turbo inlet and provides vacuum, and there's a one way orange valve inside the valve cover. That one has me a bit mystified because it seems like it would suck air into the valve train when there's vacuum in the upper engine, Maybe when Accelerating/ decelerating?
Hopefully the pictures will help make sense of this.
You obviously have a leak and you need to find the source of the leak. This is done by tracing the fluid trail from the bottom up, which is not always that easy. What exactly is pointing you towards your PCV line? Check where oil film is the thickest or puddled.
I checked the PCV valve and it seemed fairly blocked, so I tried to blow it out a bit with some air, and I seafoamed the crankcase and fuel. I could feel a bit of air coming through so it's not totally blocked, but I have no idea how restricted the pcv valve should be.
I also tightened the oil filter cover a bit. When I started the car it was dripping like crazy, and right below the oil filter cover. I looked around and I backed off the oil filler cover a bit in case it was too tight and tried again, and no leak! I went out for a drive and came back and still no leak and only a minimum amount of oily residue was in the right side pvc hose, and only on the end closest to the engine. There didn't seem to be any oil down by the turbo intake.
I think the "tech" (lot boy) who drained off the excess oil didn't bother undoing the oil plug on the oil pan, he just loosened off the oil filter cover and let some oil out. When he did it up it was either too tight or not tight enough and over time oil started seeping out, maybe only when the engine was cold? Once it warned up it expanded and sealed itself.
Time will tell. Right now it seems to run fine, there's no leak, and so far my repair costs are 10.00 for Seafoam.
I think I'm going to also get a catch can. They are not very expensive and I should have less oil vapours getting back into the intake, so the valves etc. should stay a bit cleaner.
This doesn't go anywhere near the crankcase, this goes into the inlet manifold. This pipe is now obsolete on the latest THP engines, and should be removed. This one pipe is the cause of most THP engine detonation under load and carbonization of the inlet valves!
I never did trace that pipe back. I thought it was a bit weird going back to the crankcase but with all the oil in it, it looked like that must be where it was going. It sounds like that oil was being sucked in through the valve cover by the sounds of it, and it would be better off plugged up. I'll have to look into it.
The dealership made a deal with me and all I ended up paying was 1 hours labour, they paid for the new valve cover.
The funny part is they left it out for me to pick up after they were closed, and when I went to pick it up there was an oil patch under it and when I started it, oil was leaking at a fairly steady rate. I would have made it a few miles before the engine would have been dry. I left it there with a note and they called me back on Monday to say the oil filter gasket was toast, and replaced it as well.
So it was the oil filter gasket leaking like I thought, and I think overfilling the oil sucked extra oil into the pcv valve and that caused the other problems. I think that's why the dealer did everything and only charged me labour.
We talked about what might happen and they pretty much said what was going to go wrong. I'd end up needing a new thermostat, and that would be 400.00, and I'd need a new clutch at about 110K, The sliding mechanism on the sunroof panels get gunked up and that's more money. I'm sure other problems will rear their ugly heads. Based on what he's telling me I get the impression more and more my car is yellow for a reason!
I am deciding if it's better to sell it or hang on and see if the car will keep going. It's fun to drive but will it break my bank account?
I thought a BMW product would be built much better then that, but I always tell people it's made in Britain, so it's a typical English car!
i had mine serviced and the next day I got the engine light (orange ) appearing...the diagnostic tool reads P1497 which from reading other problems points to a possible valve problem and I think I am going that route of valve cover replacement.
i am taking it back to mini for them to have a look to see if service had done something like over fill the oil but how can you prove it I cant even read the dip stick as it doesn't indicate like normal car dipsticks where you pull it out clean it put it in and read the level,all I see is a line of oil everywhere?
I feel from reading these forums there are far too many problems to keep one of these beasts and make them cost effective...not sure how they hold there price?
i had mine serviced and the next day I got the engine light (orange ) appearing...the diagnostic tool reads P1497 which from reading other problems points to a possible valve problem and I think I am going that route of valve cover replacement.
i am taking it back to mini for them to have a look to see if service had done something like over fill the oil but how can you prove it I cant even read the dip stick as it doesn't indicate like normal car dipsticks where you pull it out clean it put it in and read the level,all I see is a line of oil everywhere?
I feel from reading these forums there are far too many problems to keep one of these beasts and make them cost effective...not sure how they hold there price?
Check that PCV hose in the pics above. Mine had a crack in it under the plastic sheath (you couldn't see the crack) that threw the P1497 code. I could wiggle the hose and cause the engine to stumble. $13 part was a lot cheaper than a new valve cover.
Hey, thanks for your posts about the PCV valve cover.
Mine was replaced on my 2008 S at 100k miles. Car has 145k miles on it now and is burning an obscene amount of oil (2 quarts per 300 miles) with no blue smoke or misfires. No oil leaks at present. I plugged those all in the last 2 years. (main seal, oil pan, oil filter/cooler, valve cover seal). Coolant is clear/blue.
According to my service records (last owner) and ECS Tuning's web site, I have an old version of the PCV valve/valve cover. Mfg Part #11127646555; Previous Revisions: 11127561714, 11127572854 and 11127585907.
All the other cars I've owned had PCV valves that cost $30 max. $330 for PCV valve built into a cover is heart breaking. Is there a good way to diagnose a bad PCV valve?
I'm trying to 1. not spend $330 on a plastic valve 2. diagnose my oil consumption which is likely either the PCV valve or turbo seals or worse.
No, just that valve cover that I know of 11127646555 . The one you have above is for the R50-R53 with the little tube/ valve/brass mount tab.
Some info here on what most people have a crack in the valve cover which first starts as a small leak, then oil residue will be found on the top center. Followed down the road as a CEL for a vacuum leak.
If you can burning oil, check the turbo, compression test for rings and also check the intake manifold and your valves. If the PCV system has a sticky valve the intake valves are very very dirty as it would be sucking more oil up. But they get pretty dirty with it working normally. So it would have to be carbon blasted then checked like a couple 1,000 miles afterward. I don't know of another way without a check engine light for a sticky valve at some point. Or the threshold for the valve itself.
Yes, to make sure the seals are not sucking in the oil. You will have a little oil in the system on the intake side. It's worth to look at the inlet side and the exhaust side, but again you would have take the dp off for the exhaust side and then it would be oil on the cat, which would show up in blue smoke if its allot. I have not found a good way to test the PCV yet.
I managed to broach PCV with powder used for pipes
Hi,
Maybe this can help.
I user powder that broach the pipes. It works for fat, so it works on solid oil.
You don't have to remove the small cover (I removed it - see in pictures). Just use powder in all in/out places. Then use hot water.
My output that goes in turbo charger was stucked 100%.
I had oil leaks few month ago, under the engine and didn't know from where. I repaired it.
How PCV works - from left inlet the admission sucks the gas from above engine - under coverage (see on youtube haw PCV valve runs). You can get out the left hose and see the vacuum.
The right inlet has the role to equal the pressure.
If right inlet is blocked, above engine you will have a vacuum - when you stop the engine you will hear how the air is sucked inside, to equal the pressure.
The normal pressure must be p0. Ewual with what is outside.
I understood that on high accceleration the pressure is too big.
with these big pressure differences - the gaskets will crumble.
seems my filter (inside engine coverage) is blocked again, after 20 miles. This is mot good :((((.
I'll try with more Peak and I let the solution inside for 1 h. Maybe will clean the filter better.
