Hey guys im looking for some helpful hints. My turbo mini has an oil leak coming from somewhere between the heat shield of the downpipe and the block. I know its not leaking from the vacuum pump dripping over that way. Also, I know the first thing I need to do is pop the heat shield off and take a look but I was hoping for a little help from the mini experts before I dive in. Any known issues or where to look first.

 

It is probably the oil feed line for the turbo or the return line. It could also be the gaskets for the oil filter housing.

 

I just posted a how-to on replacing the gaskets on the oil cooler/oil filter housing and block. It could be this, but on my car this leak went down the bellhousing, like it was the rear main.

Look at the thread and the pictures. The turbo oil line is the braided line in the pics, the turbo drain line is the larger one at the top with the rippled metal heat shield.

It could also be the turbo oil feed line (banjo bolt), or the valve cover.

If you are going through the trouble of diagnosing this, you should plan on what you want to replace. Its quite a bit of work to get the heat shields off, along with the downpipe.

Have fun,
Mike

 

My Turbo feed line is leaking on top of Turbo.. 2008 S.. Dealer wants 700 to change. i am going to change it.. line cost 50.. take front end lose slide out.. there is video on this. then one can see the line into the block.. should take all day Saturday..

 

Yea I read your how to over the weekend mbwicz great work! Mine is running over to the bellhousing as well but from what I could see under the car I had oil running off the top of the housing (where it looks like a few stacks of plates bolted together) so I believe its one of the oil lines.. I'm going to take it in the garage and unbolt everything oneday this week so I can try and find the where its leaking.. then pull out the old check book lol.. thanks for everyone's help!

 

Lasttoy,
There are people (Detroit tuned, Way Motor works) that make stainless braided turbo lines, and these eliminate the o-ring that will leak in the stock line. If you put the stock line back on, then you should also buy a heat shield.

http://www.detroittuned.com/mini-gen...e-heat-sheild/

This heat shield is a MINI part that they put on to try and isolate the end of the line from the turbo heat.

Your car is old enough that you may want to spend the $50 on the oil cooler and filter housing seals as well. If you are pulling the downpipe and heat shield off, then you are 3/4 of the way to removing these seals as well.

If you are not trying to remove the heat shields (you may not need to), then it is not worth looking at the seals or drain line.

Spool,
You might want to buy the parts before you get into this work, they are not that much money. Doing the removal to clean and look for the leak will be quite a bit of work, unless you like the practice....
For me the worst part was removing the heat shields and downpipe the first time. I replaced the lines, then figured out that the filter housing was leaking.
Unless you want to put on an aftermarket downpipe while you are at it......

Have fun,
Mike

 

You read my mind on the new dp. But I'll end up doing a full 3" exhaust and will probably hold off. When I take it apart I plan on doing a good clean down and leave it in the garage while I wait on the parts. Hopefully I'll only have to worry about the lines. The car only has 57k I'd like to hope they'd last a bit longer but I'll find out haha.. only had this car a few months and haven't drove it enough to fully enjoy it.. I'd like to see this bad luck disappear

 

Mbwicz was your leak coming from this area?

 

finally found some time and here's what I've found. Seems to be the supplyline from the Turbo if I'm not mistaken

 

The larger hose with the heat shield is the turbo drain line. There is no pressure on this line, I doubt it is the only leak. The turbo feed line (banjo fitting) does not look like it is leaking either. I think that it is the joint between the block and oil filter housing. There does not look like there is any leaking on the oil cooler to oil filter housing joint.

All of the work that you have done, I would replace both turbo oil lines, and both sets of gaskets. It would suck to just replace the drain line and the oil filter housing/block gaskets, then another leak pops up in a year. The gasket sets are about $20 each, and you are around $120 for both oil lines.

You can get all of the parts from ECS Tuning, Detroit Tuned, or Way Motor Works. A couple of months ago, when I bought my parts, Detroit tuned had the cheapest shipping, plus they had the braided line the I wanted to use, rather than the stock one.

Good luck, and nice work with the teardown and pics.

Mike

 

Yes you'll want the stainless oil line kit
http://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-sta...-line-kit.html

We combine shipping on all orders so ignore the shipping price on our site if you get several parts.

 

Way,
I'm glad that you have updated that, I've been charged the individual shipping price for multiple items before. Your pricing and advice are great, but it would have been over $40 in shipping for a pair of turbo lines and a few other parts.

Mike

 

I had assumed the drain line wouldn't have pressure and was weary of that being all it was (why I'm posting here) but I did go ahead and purchase the oil line kit from detroit tuned last week since it seemed to be the most recommended across the site. Looking at the other side of the oil flilter housing it does have some caked on oil it just doesn't seem as fresh. I just wonder if its not just blow back from driving and the fans. But again as you said, with the amount of work I might as well pull it off too while I'm in there.

 

We NEVER would have charged you $40 to ship several items, we have ALWAYS adjusted the shipping if the site overcharges any customer. It is very personal for me as I hate it when companies overcharge me on shipping so I make sure that never happens to my customers.

 

Way how much is you catted down pipe with the ceramic coating? Without a tune (factory everything) would I run into any issues bolting this up or your catless dp in place of the factory dp other than a check engine light?

 

Well after doing a little research along the site I see the 3in on this car may not be the way to go at this point unless I get into heavier mods and the wmw catless dp is of good quality. I did some reading on the o2 and seems you can use a spacer (which I've seen on other set ups) for the top o2 and some sort of insulation for the 2nd.

Way, do u offer a spacer for the o2

And are there any ideas on what to use for the 2nd?

I know the tune is the way to go but I have a cobb ap for an evo x I need to sell before I can run that rout.

 

We offer an adapter that works on the second 02 sensor and had good luck with using it and not having check engine lights.

Right now we are just offering the Akrapovic Downpipe with cat as we can't make our downpipe cheaper than we can offer the Akrapovic.

 

Way,
You have a PM.

Mike

 

Decided the dp will wait. Gonna keep my focus on suspension like I originally planned.. went ahead and ordered the gaskets should be in tomorrow and oil lines arrived yesterday. Should have the ol girl back on the road by the end of the weekend as long as all goes well!

 

Received my oil line kit, oil filter housing and cooler gaskets, new oil filter, stubby antenna and also some cool freebies from DetroitTuned.com! Dragon brew swap shirt, beer glass, beer opener and some decals! Guess they knew I'm a beer connoisseur hahaha