Hey everyone!

I wanted to get your thoughts regarding a problem I've been having with my mini cooper.

I drive a 2012 Clubman S that has a little over 29,000 miles on it. Every time I clean my car, I find small amounts of oil leaking and when I open the bonnet, there's oil stains.

I've attached pictures of it so that you guys can see.

I don't know much about cars so I would really appreciate your help! Thanks!

 

It's gotta be coming from somewhere. Have you verified that your oil level is still in the operating range? Or is the oil level low? Have you tried running the engine with the bonnet open in order to see if you can visually isolate a small oil leak?

If I had to venture a guess based on the location of the oil stains in your photos, I'd start suspecting a leak in the oil supply line for the turbocharger. In any case, you should still be under warranty; I'd make an appointment to have your dealer troubleshoot it.

 

Thanks so much for the reply! I really appreciate it.
I took it to the dealer couple of times to have it looked at but they keep telling me that it's cosmoline but isn't cosmoline usually a brownish color and slightly fluorescent?

 

That looks like cosmolone wax used to protect the cars from the salt air when they are shipped as ocean freight. The best remover can be found at the Jaguar dealers.

 

No worries.

Well, it's certainly plausible that the residue is cosmoline. I know these cars are treated with it for their journey across 'The Pond,' and the cosmoline often lingers in nooks and crannies, even after dealer prep for sale. And any in the engine compartment will probably become fairly fluid at operating temperatures; it melts at temperatures as low as 113 deg F.

Cosmoline does have the properties that you describe; you could probably try hitting the residue with a 'black' (UV) light to see if it gives off a bit of a glow. But in your case, the cosmoline may be encrusted with dirt accumulated simply from driving around between washings, which may give it a darker color and prevent the detection of fluorescence.

Since cosmoline tends to be waxy and gelatinous at room temperatures, I'd say your best bet in distinguishing it from engine oil would probably be how the residue feels when you wipe at it after the engine compartment has cooled. If it feels like Vaseline and tends to smear around when you wipe it, it's probably cosmoline; if has a thinly oily feel and cleans easily with soapy water, it's probably engine oil. If it winds up being the latter, you'll need to press the dealer to track down the leak. If it turns out to be the former, you might get the dealer to take a second crack at cleaning the cosmoline out of the treated areas of the engine compartment/bonnet.

It still never hurts to verify that your engine oil is at the proper level -- and not just with relation to this case. Keep a close eye on it. These tubo MINI's are notorious for insidiously burning oil. And believe me: if you peruse the posts on this forum about the engine-related problems with these cars, you'll be doing yourself a favor by pulling out the dipstick on a regular basis...

Good luck!

 

Cosmoline can be any color, from clear to dark brown. I think you have cosmoline seeping out from under the seams in your hood.

Mineral spirits or paint thinner works well to remove cosmoline.

For a water based solution, any cleaner with d-limonene in it also works very well for removing cosmoline, it smells like oranges too!

Dave

 

Thanks for your help guys! I took it to the dealer again so we'll see what they say.

 

Ya, let us know what they say. Mine looks exactly like yours..