I am atempting to my oil pan gasket this weekend and I know that the heynes guide says not to put any sealer on the gasket, but I just want to ensure a good seal, has anyone put sealer on it? If someone has done this, or if there is any other product that will ensure a good seal please let me know!


thanks steve

 

I replaced mine without using any sealer. The design of the gasket should seal on its own. Pay careful attention to the tightening sequence. Also in the Haynes manual the Foot pounds recommendations are on the right.

 

The oem gasket has been redesgined several times to try to limit/fix the leakage issue...
This is one case i would STRONGLY SUGGEST getting a fresh gasket at the dealer to ensure it is tge most current one, and not a copy of an earlier one that did not work right....hense the several changes over the last couple years.....

 

Thanks for the tip, Zip (ha!). I've been told the oil pan gasket is leaking on both of my R50's.

Val

 

Does anyone have a part number for the "most current one"?
(RealOEM doesn't provide an indication of current vs. superseded numbers.)

 

Chad from detroit tuned brought this info up a while ago on the podcast he is a guest on...whiteroofradio...
much like the thermostats with gaskets on gen1 cars, it seems older stock or copies of the early gaskets are sold cheap on many discount auto parts sites.
I bet if you bought the gasket from one of the usual vendors here that also turn wrenches, like dt tuned, or wmw, you will get the current one, like most any dealer.
Not sure if the p/n ever changed....just said if i remember right yhe newer gaskets were a bit thicker, and was different in shape a bit...was contoured or ribbed a bit if i remember right. Just figer with such a cheap part, and so much labour involed , why chance it. I kinda remembered the discussion cause mine will get done at some point..

Heck all gen1 mini's will every few years by the look of it...
mine is a slight weap....but heck, like any "mini" leak, things can change fast...

 

Current Oil Pan Gasekt Part No. 11-1-31-487-221

 

Does the new gasket make it leak faster or slower???

 

Thank you to ZippyNH and GrayRaven.

And as for Cadenza, we aren't talking about you grandfather's mini, where a leak provided the good news that there was still oil in the engine.

 

And do they make a JCW gasket that leaks at a higher pressure and greater lpm?

 

Late to the thread, but a lot of times it is the crank position sensor seal that is leaking, not the oil pan gasket. I talked to a dealer head repairman once and suggested the commonness of this crank sensor seal issue. He said he'd never heard of the problem - but I changed on my car and the leaks went away and I've seen the same problem on at least 3 other R53s....

 

+1 Replaced two out of our three crank pos. sensor o-rings. Stopped the seepage immediately. Before jumping to conclusions about the pan gasket, suggest you clean everything up and monitor for a few days, looking closely at the front of the engine where the CPS is located.

 

'Had my pan gasket changed out recently and while I was at it, had the sensor oring changed as well.

 

Those who have recently replaced the CPS O-ring gaskets, do you know if MINI has updated it with a better one?

 

I had my oil pan gasket replaced part # 11-13-1-487-221 the Mini Dealer did the replacement, total including the gasket, Labor $465.00, gasket $45.42. this included an oil change & filter.

 

This gasket is available for $14.25 at Pelican Parts.
$465 for labor is probably about 3-4 hours labor, sounds about right.

Did they do your crankshaft position sensor as well?

 

If anyone is going to do the oil pan gasket and Crank Sensor O Ring I would suggest you also swap out the front sway bar bushings as well while the subframe is down.

I went with the middle of the road Purple Powerflex 24mm bushings, ( MCS ) but next time would probably just go with the Powerflex black. They are the hardest and more durable. I've noticed that after some 60K miles the purple ones have lost just a bit of their "edge".

 

Does the oil pan gasket replacement require more than the sway bar removal? I was reading the Bentley manual and it has you do allot of removals. I don't have the Haynes manual. So I was wondering if there is over kill in some things removed.
BTW my dealer in VB wants $800 to replace the gasket, not $400 like you all listed.

 

I don't know but, for a little extra insurance, I added a swipe of blue RTV around the circumference of the O-ring to ensure a good seal.

 

I had an oil leak under warranty and dealer replaced the oil pan gasket. That did not fix the leak but the car went out of warranty. I replaced the Crank Position Sensor o-ring and that fixed the leak.
I also added a little RTV to the o-ring when I installed to ensure a good seal.

 

After replacing the pan gasket on a club member's car recently and looking at the design of the gasket, I'm convinced that 99% of the so-called pan gasket leaks are really crank sensor o-ring leaks, that run down and follow the lip of the pan around the engine.

Moral of the story, before spending the time, energy, money and work replacing your pan gasket, replace the crank sensor O-ring first, clean everything off and watch it for a while.

I've fixed a lot of crank sensor o-rings since, and not one has had a "leaking" pan gasket after that!

 

I did mine. I wish I had come across the tip on the fact the gasket has undergone changes. I am sure I bought an older design. When I got around to doing it, my thought process was to use sealer on it since the first gasket did not last more than a few years. I used red RTV sealant. It is dry now 1 year later, so we will see. It seems to me that a gasket like that should not leak for at least 8 years, so it is good to see that thought was put into improving it.