Hey guys. So for a few days now, on the Mini, when idle, the rpms start to dip and hover from normal to low. Obviously when they get low the car shudders as if it is about to stall. Today when I arrived at work, the motor oil indicator appeared for the first time. The indicator was red. Today when driving home I was on the highway most of the time and no worries. Literally got home and parked car, was idle and the engine shut off on its own. Start the car back up, the rpms jump with the engine start and then it turns back off. Is this a sign that there is no oil left for the engine?

 

Update: Checked the oil dipstick. (terrible dipstick) Wiped it off 2x and it appeared that there was no oil left or it was extremely low. I got about 2 quarts of Mobil 1 OW-40 from a friend of mine and put it into the engine. Let it sit for about 3 minutes and turned the engine on. It stuttered for a literal second and then ran fine. The issues i mentioned before did not ensue. I think all is good for now but I am definitely getting an oil change this weekend. Call Mini dealer and they are selling the oil filter for $15 and I'll go buy some more OW-40. Same friend who gave me engine oil used to DIY change his own oil on his Mini. Question though. Will the 2 quarts last me until Saturday/Sunday? My commute to school/work is only 12-15 miles so about 30 miles a day.

 

What is the year and model of your car? Automatic? When was oil last changed? What is your dipstick showing? Do not start your engine unless you are certain oil level is proper.

 

Ouch....
Might have just bought yourself a motor....
Dipstick usually shows about 2 quarts.......if dry, you are more than 2 low....
Pour 2 in....one at a time...check the dipstick...you could be more like 3 low if the oil PSI light turned on....
And DO NOT DRIVE TO THE STORE TO GET MORE OIL OR START THE CAR TILL YOU FILL IT.
THAT RED LITE COMES ON...IF YOU STOP ASAP, YOU CAN SAVE THE MOTOR...
Keep driving....and the bearings and cam become starved of oil....and get scared....and the motor is on its way to the graveyard in a few thousand miles.....
And will the oil lasts?
Nobody knows how fast you are using it...leaking it...could be a drip..could be a busy....could be burning a tiny bit...could be a quart per 500 or more miles....sorry...but reality is only thing you can do is fill it up to the max....and check it every fee hundred miles if you don't see any drips...and pray...

 

Tio it is a 2008 MC Base. Manual. I just bought the car from another owner so I am not entirely sure. Crazy thing is I was thinking about doing it quite soon. Dipstick was not showing anything from what I can tell.

 

Zippy,

I poured 2 in. It wasn't the oil PSI light it was a notification that oil is low. After filling up with the two quarts I turned on the car and it came to life as it should and I let it run for a few minutes idle. Seems okay now but I will definitely do a drain and refill this weekend.

 

These cars don't have oil level indicators, only time you get a light is when your already way to low on oil so the next time you see a red oil light things can go bad real fast. Red means danger, yellow and you're working towards red. Red means stop your engine now or else!

 

+1
Gen 3 cars, that is the "F" series has a low oil light....
The "r" series only has a PSI indicator....

One more bit of info...the timing chain wears very quickly when low on oil, and the tensioner itself is operated on oil PSI....
That surging you heard, and likely the stall was the result of the chain going slack from the tension not having oil....similarly the VANOS system that adjusts the valve timing is operated by oil PSI....

 

" t is a 2008 MC Base. " thats rare the MC N12 engine would consume oil thats much. Its mostly early N14 Cooper S engines. Check the engine out for leaks asap and keep a couple extra quarts of oil in the short term.

 

This car was a 2008 N12, used 3+ quarts between 5k mile oil changes and always came at least 1 quart low. Valve guide seals were destroyed and hard as rocks, all 4 exhaust runners were coked at least half way closed with oil that I couldn't even knock off with a hammer and chisel. There was also a hole in the cat, and a failed lambda sensor due to the oil consumption.

Not too common, but for cars that followed the dealer recommended oil intervals many of them are now using more oil than they should be.