Background: 2007 Mini Cooper S Downpipe and Exhaust (Stock Tune)

Because our cars burn oil I added some oil to my car. But I added about a (1/2 quart) too much. What happened on the drive is once I would get off the highway and downshift w/ rev match a puff of white smoke would come out of the tail pipe. I went home dropped the oil put a fresh 4 quarts in and also changed my Valve Cover (since it was broken). The car ran fine with no smoke until last night.. Now Im getting a little bit of white smoke (burning oil) coming from the exhaust when I am driving and coming to a stop and downshift (and rev match). I took the intake off and did not notice any oil in the inlet of the turbo but did notice some oil on the hot side where the MAP sensor is. Now im wondering if the seal in the turbo went bad

 

The oil capacity is 4.65 qts, we have always just added the rest of the fifth quart there is no cause for alarm.

Oil in the intake tract isn't out of the normal with the PCV system on many modern vehicles.

 

what ended up being the fix

 

Hey MazMini,

Did you get the problem resolved eventually??

I own a 2009 JCW and it is having the same symptom as you mentioned. I did a valve cover replacement as it has cracked and now the exhaust has white smoke coming out after the engine had reached the operating temperature.

I have OCC on the intake side to turbo and blocked off the rear valve cover side. The only turbo hose that i have checked is the one before the throttle body and no trace of oil residual.

My guess would be the turbo seal or the valve seal, not sure at the moment.

1. how to diagnose for turbo seal leak ?
2. how to diagnose for valve seal leak ?

Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

 

Edwkmho did you figure out your issue? I am trying to diagnose a similar issue on my 2009 R57. I get white smoke when taking off from a stop. I have oil in the "hot" side pipe at the MAF sensor; pulled the discharge pipe from the turbo and didn't find any oil there?!? I am planning on taking the car to a local shop to help diagnose the issue.

 

Since the Covid-19 i have not been using the car much. most of my travel are less than 10 mins, the engine has not even up to operating temperature. From my experience it has to be after engine reached the operating temperature then it will start smoking when idle for sometime.

In other words, i have not done anything at all to solve the smoking issue.

 

Hopefully someone can help others with this issue. I'm taking to the dealer in 2 days to get diagnosed(not fixed though) and I let you guys know.

 

Dealer says change the valve cover. Possibly valve stem seals.

 

So my new-to-me '10 MCS with 123k miles has been burning oil to the tune of 1 qt/500 miles. Smoke was visible after long periods of idling and after engine braking. I did a leakdown test and heard no air leakage past the valves (some leakage past piston rings, but not terrible). Changed the valve cover and saw no difference. All spark plugs were black/coated in burned oil. So, I decided to go ahead and change the valve stem seals (changing them with the head on the engine). I haven't finished the job yet, but I'm about half done and the old seals were toast. Old seal is the one on top,new seal is the orange one. ID *should* be the same...


In addition to the obvious wear on the old seal, the rubber was also very hard and not at all pliable. I'll report back when I finish the job and get some miles on it, but I'm expecting a significant improvement...

 

Yup. Valve stem seals. Replaced them on my '07 with 126K miles, no more smoke. Be sure to get the N14 and NOT the W11 seals. Different diameters.

 

Would you mind share how you do it with the head on. I would like to do it as well. Thanks.

 

Thanks for sharing. When I do mine I will buy the tool in the link below.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben.../029610sch01a/

 

Better read the recent discussions on the same subject. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

 

Great info. Bummer the ECS tool isn't ready to go out of the box.

 

I think that is because the ECS tool isn't for Mini's but for BMW's which I assume have a different head/valve arrangement. Or because we don't know how to use it. The generic version I referenced in the other thread is what I used and it worked well.

Maybe ECS can chime in here and help sell their product