The car is a 2009 R56 S with 32,000 miles, synthetic oil and no engine mods.

The oil pan to the engine block gasket is leaking a little bit of oil. The area is wet and there is a drop of oil on the floor. Nothing major but it needs fixing.

What is the cause of that? Low mileage engines shouldn't have leaking oil pan gaskets. Too much crankcase oil pressure due to a defective PCV valve and restricted crankcase ventilation system?

Is there a history of that?

Thanks all.

 

age and heat cycles.. the gaskets leaking are a common issue and just need to be swapped out which isn't that hard.

phil.

 

It's a MINI.

If you hate oil leaks, count your blessings that you don't have a R53.

 

Your 09 MCS if original (never been replaced or serviced) has a different gasket (paper type) which has been discontinued in terms of its use just for the reason you stated above. It doesn't surprise me that you have an oil pan gasket leak as it was quite common for them (original) to leak. They have shifted to a sealant that Mercedes has been using (you'd laugh, but if you peel the BMW sticker off the tube it will be a Mercedes Part information on the tube ) and many other auto manufactures have been using for quite some time to seal/gasket their oil pans.

Here it is:


If you are no longer in warranty to have it replaced, its really not that hard to do yourself.

 

Thank you boOst.

Very informative. I shall proceed.

 

I have an 08 I have MCS that just started also.It has 98000. They say it will take 6 hours.Mini wants $2000 is there another option ?

 

Trade it in. BAHAHAHAHAHA
Call Way at http://www.waymotorworks.com/02-06-cooper-s-r53/ and see what he can do it for.

 

You are getting seriously bent over and no lubed sandpapered right up the you know where.

$350-400 out the door @ most for a dealer and thats with an oil change (not them catching your old fluid). you could probably do it yourself for about $100 (pan gasket material & cheap gun, proper cleaning of pan, oil change) and 2 hours of personal time if you can get your car on stands.

 

My stealer -Tom Bush in Jacksonville- quoted me $150 including coffee and donuts at his lobby while I wait no more than 2 hours.

 

Revision.

The service writer was wrong. It's $560 and 4 hours.
I'll do it myself.

 

They quoted me $650.
I tightened the bolts a half turn and it stopped.

I am curious though the book says you have to unbolt the engine
and lift it up if I recall.

It seemed like if you have small hands you did not have to do this.
Anybody know for sure?

 

honestly this job is at best amateur and a monkey could be taught how to do it with simple tools and some jack stands. if you have any knowledge on how to turn a 10mm 1/4 drive ratchet with an extension (if you have a swivel 10mm it will be even easier) and how to clean and apply a tube of gasket material this job is no sweat. hell my wife can do this job its that easy. its more time consuming and a tad messy if you don't have the right tools (pans to catch the fluid from the oil pump after the pan is removed), but still shouldn't stop anyone from attempting it if your out of warranty.

 

Just a thought...

My '08 Cooper had a small oil leak last summer. It looked like an oil pan gasket leak but I couldn't really tell where exactly the oil was coming from.

It turned out to be the front oil seal, not the pan gasket. The dealer fixed it (still under warranty at that time) and said it was no big deal to repair. I'm not sure how hard that would be to do yourself, but it didn't take the dealer tech very long.

BTW - be really careful about over-tightening those oil pan bolts, you can cause lots of grief if you're only a little heavy-handed with them. I've never tightened those bolts on a MINI but I have done it on a number of other older cars, and it's extremely easy to warp the pan or strip one of the bolts. THEN you have a problem!

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Appreciate all the input. I look at it next weekend. Just got off the AT with my two boys.

 

What I have read is unhook the trans from the motor, then support thr motor. Supposedly you can hang the ac from the frame. Remove the pan, clean...I will tighen the pan a little. Anyone know the torgue setting ?

 

Looks like the plan !

 

that is completely wrong, at least for an r56 (or even an 1st gen). it is not that complicated and honestly all your have to remove is the drive belt lower cover (3 Phillips screws) and if you don't have a swivel 10mm you can remove or disconnect the lower section of the exhaust @ the exhaust clamp (16mm nut with long bolt) and pull the exhaust hangers off their mounting arms and slide the exhaust to the side so you can get to the 2 pan bolts that are somewhat blocked by the exhaust. remove all the 10mm bolts from the pan, pull pan (may be stubborn so a small prybar or even a soft faced dead blow will help), clean surface of pan and block, clean bolts, apply sealant, put pan back on, put all 10mm bolts back in but do not torque them @ this point, just install them semi snug. allow pan gasket material to harden (30-45 min) and then torque bolts in proper sequence. done, Thats it.

 

Hey boOst. Thx will try this weekend. I always wanted a lift...My 65 Convertable Vette is easy but this Mini is a little tite. I owe you a cold one.

My Mini ,inside Six Flags


My Vette

 

Dear experts,

as seen in the attachment, I see oil all around the pan. I also checked on the wheel side by pulling the wheel arch cover and there is oil there as well. I am not a 100% sure if this is just oil pan gasket or something dripping from near the pulley's and spreading all around the pans lip. Any suggestion before I conclude its the pan and go ahead and change it. I would like to get some input as to where else it can be leaking so I can go take a look at those places as well.

Thank you in advance.
Pavan

 

IMO the oil pan in the picture definately seems to be weeping.

 

Thank you.
Pavan

 

That is GREAT to know. I looked at doing mine and it seemed to me if I was clever (I consider myself to be) and have small hands (do have) and a swivel (do have) that I could do the pan without jacking the engine up.

Thank you for confirming that.

Mine still weeps just a little.

If you want to confirm that take a can of brake cleaner and some paper towels
and clean up all around the entire thing really really good (apply cleaner to towels).

You will be able to tell the next day.

 

As mentioned above... check your front oil seal. Mine looked much like your picture before it was fixed. Oil was seeping out around the pulley area. Changing the oil seal fixed my leak, didn't have to touch the pan or gasket etc. (except for pressure washing to remove the crud).

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Thank you 33EJB.
Can you let me know a little bit more what is a "front oil seal".

 

Hi Guys . I was looking at mini2.com forum and a person named Chad miller from Detroit tuned has the below info. Wanted to share it..

From Chad Miller, owner of the MINI only shop Detroit Tuned:
Quote: I see several leaks out of the early cars. The first one that leaks on all cars is the crank sensor. It has an o-ring on it and shrinks after it get hot after 30K and it allows oil pass it only when the car is running. It leaks down the front of the block and collects lots of dirt that comes through the radiator. It will continue down the front of the motor to the pan and blow off when driving. It never drips as it is well above the oil level when the car is parked at any angle. The fix for it is to clean it up, pull it out, RTV it, Put it back in. To do this you HAVE to pull the front of the car off.

The second (and biggest) place I am seeing oil leak issues is the crank seal/gasket. This seal dries up and will also work its way out and allow oil to be pumped out as its right at the oil pump behind the crank damper. It’s the same on cooper or cooper S and it’s an easy fix once you pull the crank pulley. When this seal goes it will cover the front cover and the oil pan gasket and will make it look like the pan gasket is going. Sometimes it’s good to replace this seal first as it is easy and cheap before you pull the pan and replace that one. The seal is $13.48 the next one is the oil pan gasket. It’s a big job and very messy. (ED: This seems to be what most problems are that we’re hearing about.)

You also have to pull the front end of to pull the air compressor. The gasket is a MINI only part, and lists for $36.71. There are no aftermarket parts for it. I always seal up the crank sensor when doing this job as you already have the front end off, even if the leak is not bad or not at all. I can almost guarantee that, at some point, it will start leaking.

I also see the oil cooler seals on the cooper S go. They get really hot and dry up and get hard. It starts as a drip, and can drip on the driveway. They can also just go and pump all the oil out of the motor. Again a very cheap part at $3.80 each (you need 2) and it’s a special square o-ring that you’re not going to just pick up anywhere. It’ll take about an hour to install and requires removing the oil filter to stop the drain of oil in to your work area. You can get to it through the drivers wheel well so it’s an easy install.