I have a 2003 mini Cooper S it has 92,000 miles on it. Is it really possible the Burn over 3 quarts of oil in almost 5000 miles or, is it a leak?

 

I believe a leak at the crank seal is common, it blows off while driving so you wouldn't see it in your driveway.

 

Only leak I see is from my pressure hose for my PS which is leaking on everything else right now. Not coming from CPK seal.

 

Yes it is possible to burn/consume it at that rate. I lost an engine to it (I had never heard of such a thing before it had happened) I never saw a thing drip or burn. Check your oil weekly.

I now have a new engine (and an oil catch can) and hope it doesn't consume, but I am aware that it can happen now. Good luck.

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What are the chances of my engine clapping out, I would say it was starved about 4 quarts for at be a thousand miles or so. How long did yours run in low oil?

 

I was down 3 liters, but I have no idea for how long (had I known about it, I would have fixed it)

Ultimately I spun a con rod bearing.

I would suggest you do a full oil change immediately run it for a bit (don't know, 1000kms?) then send a sample to Blackstone to see if there is metal in the oil, they should be able to tell.

Edit: on your sample, mention the problem to them. if there is metal, they'll tell you what kind of metal and what internal parts have that kind of metal. It will give you an idea if you've list anything.

My guess is that you're screwed (sorry) its likely that the bearings (and such) have all been worn and overheated, it's just matter of time. My mistake cost me over $7K.

 

I changed the oil filter today, put 3 quarts in yesterday but the stick was still low so I put another quart in and if looks better, has Mobil in it last change and I'm gonna try royal purple this time see if it runs better on this.

 

I changed the oil filter today, put 3 quarts in yesterday but the stick was still low so I put another quart in and if looks better, has Mobil in it last change and I'm gonna try royal purple this time see if it runs better on this.

 

Really no way to tell. Jamez' suggestion was best - though if you've already changed the oil the offending particles may be flushed out. Still, all you can do is get it full and keep it full and hope for the best. Good luck!

 

Perfect. I'll send a sample to black stone. If its terminal ill find out either way..... But maybe I should sell it now and cut my losses. By a more dependable less Maintenance happy car.

 

Probably the best thing.
But a real **** move if you don't warn the new owner (hahah it censored d i c k)
(just give them the blackstone report - that should be enough to balance Kama)

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I'm wondering if I can draw this back to the oil stop I went to before. I'm changing the oil myself for now on because of this but I think I will send black stone oil off the old filter so they can tell me what oil was used last and the send a tester of the royal purple I just out in to see what is happening currently. You gave me four " * " to work with, D I C K was one of them haha.

 

Three quarts of oil usage in 3K miles and that's fairly common? Holy crap!
Hope that's only with the "S" models, is there a history of excessive oil usage in the "justa" mini?
I mean in normal cars one should not expect to use one quart in 5K miles let alone 3quarts, that is unless the engine is worn out.

 

My thoughts exactly. Any other car I've owned, even if I romped on it would barely use a half a quart past 5k miles.

 

... Andy the reason I blew the engine. Who would have known it was possible to consume so much without obviousness signs while passing smog regulations?

As for it being an S issue, I don't know if it's limited to it. I will tell you that Mini feels 1L/1000kms consumption is within spec (effin insane if you ask me). Let's see if my new JCW engine does it.

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1L/1000kms is insane, I'm finnaly starting to understand why I've read so many accounts of timing chain failures and the dealerships often placing the blame on low oil levels.
They, the dealerships, know these cars ( I'm assuming only the turbocharged models) consume excessive (1L/1000kms) amounts of oil but fail to inform the customers of this and couple that with a poor dip stick design that can easily mislead those unaware into a false impresion that their oil level is fine when in fact it might be very low it's no wonder there are so many failures.
What puzzels me even more is the number of Mini Cooper owners out there that seem to be willing to accept this as normal and to be expected for such a "high performance" car. To me that's insane also.

 

1 qt per 1,000 miles oil consumption is pretty much the norm for all vehicle manufacturers to be considered within an acceptable range. This is nothing particular to MINI or turbo engines or high performance vehicles.

 

Perhaps the automobile manufactures may claim that up 1 quart of oil consumption every 1K miles as acceptable but in reality it would not be normal for a new car to use anywhere near that level of oil consumption, perhaps for a car that is worn out and has over 300K miles on it, but not for a low mileage (100K or less) car.
I've never owned a car that has consumed anywhere near that much oil, that is maybe until now if "justa's" are included in this "normal" @ 1 quart per 1000 miles norm, and I've had/built my fair share of "performance" cars in my lifetime.

 

Would that equate to a little less that one quart for every 1,609 miles?
Still not acceptable by my standards,
Our "justa" Mini has a little over 3K miles on it now and has used no oil what-so-ever and that is how it should be.

 

For some perspective... My supercharged 03 (10 years old) has 92,000 miles on it. So it should be expected that your brand new justa cooper is exceptional on oil.

 

UPDATE:


Poured some liqui moly down the hatch. Engine seems to still be running strong (only time will tell) No hesitation or sense rough acceleration. I'm sending in a sample to Blackstone once a get bother 100 miles or so on the car with the royal purple I just put in. I'm thinking I caught the issue just in time.

 

Hey Jamez,

Haven't had much troubles this far. Have been adding a quart every 1k or so. Only thing I notice is some rattling on the a cold start in the morning. How long did it take for your engine to be toast?

 

I can't really answer that question, as I wasn't aware anything was wrong until I had a limp mode and a mariachi band playing in my engine bay (although thinking back I should of had it checked out immediately - but it would have been moot- the damage was done). The sound was the conrod rattling against the crank because the bearing had shredded. Here's what it sounded like:
And the problem:
And where the bearing ended up:
Keep on top of the oil consumption, and pay attention to what Blackstone says if they find anything in the sample(s). But realize you're engine is probably damaged but since you are taking care of it now, you may never know if it's going to grenade.

 

Welll... It's been quite some time now. Engine still purrs nicely and I've. Done oil changes regularly while adding lubricators in each time. I think I'm in the clear and caught the issue early on. If you hear ticking... Best take care of it