So last night while I was driving my car, my oil warning light came on when I turned a corner. Then I soon started hearing a loud knocking sound coming from the engine. As soon as I got home, I checked the oil level and there was NO oil in it! So I added the 2 quarts that I had to see if that would help...well, it didn't.

Today I'm at Sewell MINI of Plano getting the oil changed and checking for any leaks or signs of damage. The SA showed me my magnetic drain plug which was COVERED with metal shavings. He also told me that the only oil that drained out was the 2 quarts that I put in. They could not find any oil leaks or anything leading to the problem.

So my conclusion is that I might have some internal engine damage...what do y'all think?

 

Metal Shavings = BAD news

 

change the oil and filter and monitor the level to see what happened . If you have bad noises when you have the correct amount of oil , you are in trouble.

 

Just changed oil and the knocking is TREMENDOUS! So yes, I am in trouble...looks like a new engine might be in my near future.

Has anyone here ever had a major oil loss? Any ideas on what might have caused this, or the damage that could happen?

 

My old 1.8T jetta had some oil consumption problems. It never leaked but for whatever reason the oil was always low when I went to change the oil. All I could do was just check it more often and add whatever was needed. I never looked into it because a lot of jettas consume oil and the car ran like a top

 

Toast....
When the light came on, you had SECONDS TO STOP.
Once the light was on, it meant the motor could no longer pickup oil in the pan, and pump it where it was needed...there was simply not enough to suck up and pump, then spray...
Once you heard it start to knock....its basicly all over...berings likely toast from overheating...
Motor time.

 

Many mini's consume a bit of oil...as much as 1 qt per 1000 miles is consideted ok...
Also if there is a oil pan gasket that leaks or a crank sensor that leaks...the oil often blows back...often resulting in little or no oil spots where you park.
Motor dammage in a mini due to oil starvation in actually pretty common...
Folks have gotten used to motors thst don't use much oil in many makes....the mini, both gen1 and gen2 frequently uses quite a bit especially if driven hard or i suspect, more depending on how it was orgionaly broken in when new....(seems to be more on cars broken in hard/fast, less on the gentle as per the oem recomendations).

 

When was the last time the oil was changed? When was the last time you checked the oil level, before this happened? Prognosis negative, I'm afraid.

 

I had the EXACT same issue. Ended up toasting the number 1 cylinder con rod bearing. The cost of a rebuild was the same as getting a used motor so I decided to go with the used motor. These MINIs will burn oil and now I know to regularly check the level. Learned a lesson, an expensive lesson but you live and you learn right?

 

yep ebay has many

 

I always change my oil in 7,500 mile intervals and oil loss has never been an issue. I last changed it in May which was less than 4,000 miles ago. Thing is I always regularly check my oil level and the last time I checked, ~ 1 month ago, it was fine.

@ K20K1LLA, so you think buying a new motor is the most cost efficient/easiest solution?

 

It was for me. I priced out the repair and it came out to about $900 for an oem crank, $400 for oem bearings, $400 for oem rods. $1700 for a motor with no guarantee to run wasn't good enough for me especially when I found a replacement with 20k less miles for $1750. RMW has long blocks from $3500. The swap wasn't bad, about a week working 4-5 hours each night. If you plan on doing it yourself get the Bentley manual...it will save your life

 

Wow, where did you find a deal like that?! Yeah I have the Bentley manual and it helped out a LOT when I changed out my clutch. Depending on what I decide to do, I may or may not be doing it myself. If I'm going to drop a couple grand into a new motor, I would like to do some performance upgrades while I'm at it.

 

With any MINI, it is important to check the oil frequently. I check mine with every fill-up.

With a 6+ year old MINI, I'd guess that your likely oil consumption culprit would be a leaky oil-pan gasket. The crank position sensor seal could be bad as well, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone lose the full 5 quarts from that location... It usually leaks harder at when full then tapers down so that you don't have complete oil loss.

 

The dealer checked for leaks and found no signs of an oil leak. Something must have caused it to consume 5 quarts of oil all of a sudden. I'm so confused/frustrated!

Everyone...CHECK YOUR OIL!!

 

If it sounds remotely like this vid, your engine is toast. Time for a rebuild?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbI_j3GrGyQ

That noise is only one rod bearing, I can just imagine if it where all of them.

 

Kriss Kross check out car-part.com. That's where I found my engine. It also just happened to be within driving distance so I didn't have to ship it.