We have 09 Justa N12, 95K miles... Pulling a long grade at 4000 rpm, my wife and I begin to hear a funny resonance from the engine, nothing alarming, just a slight tone change. At the top of the hill, I eased off the gas, rpms came down, and the low oil light lamp came on. I slightly accelerated in an effort to pull over, the light went off, then as we got to the side of the road, I put it in neutral, the oil light came back on and the engine immediately died. After coasting to a stop, I could see smoke pouring from the engine, opening the hood, oil was seeping out of the PVC vent cover, and around the passenger side of the valve cover. Oil was everywhere along the passenger firewall and passenger side of the engine. Looking underneath, oil was dripping down the passenger side A arm and everything in that narrow space where the pulleys and belts go was covered in dripping, hot oil... "What could you have possibly done" my wife asked incredulously....
She called the tow truck.
While awaiting the tow, I wanted to roll the windows down. So, in one pure stroke of genius, I thought that a partial depress of the start button would allow me to do that (don't ask why)...HOWEVER, pushing the start button begins a start cycle on this car, and as the engine turns over and over, I'm pissing and panicking, my wife has a "WTF meets MORON" look on her face and before she can coolly reach over and push the button again, the engine makes about 5 revolutions...(Its mainly her car OK, I've put less than 2k on it...) The point is, it wouldn't start. (I did get the window down)....Anyways, I'm hoping you guys will help me with where to start discovery on the damage done...
I have more information,... I apologize for the wall of text...Ill try to provide everything relative.
It was not low on oil before the event, that much I know, I checked it that morning, I found it to be 1/4 quart low, and I put approx 1/2 quart in. This is normal for me, as I know the engine consumes about 1 quart every 5k, and admittedly, I slightly overfill it. I try to check every couple thousand miles. It's also normal for me to be checking the thing 3 or more times and still be guessing about the oil level, I have difficulties with the dipstick (my wife has no concept on how this can be challenging for any man) ... What is not normal is that I also found the water reservoir to be empty, I don't recall ever noticing that before, I filled it up with 50/50 antifreeze mix, it took about 1/2 gallon, (the full reservoir amount) and we were off...
When it came off the tilted flatbed, a single stream of oil was running the entire length of the flat bed, my wife, who absolutely loves this car, is silently aghast. I have only recently been driving it, somehow, she knows, this is all my fault...
1) So, you can imagine my surprise when I checked the oil and it was full! I checked it 20 more times, I left the dipstick out overnight, and checked it again this AM. The oil is full! I don't know how much I overfilled it, but it obviously had way too much oil...(I will keep this secret from my wife to my grave..)
2) You can also imagine my further surprise when I noted that the water reservoir is empty again, I can see antifreeze pooling on top of the transmission?, on the left side the engine... My temperature light or coolant lights never came on...so I hoping I did not also have a temperature/coolant event as well...
My most hopeful outcome is that I grossly overfilled the oil casing to leak excessively form every conceivable place, froth, lose oil pressure slightly, and that no damage has been done. In fact in my perfect world, no damage has been done, and I construe the story that by adding water in the AM (which I told her about) we narrowly avoided catastrophic engine failure due to my keen attentiveness to fluids. From Zero to Hero, that my hope....
So where do I begin,? This may be the beginning of a long saga, but my wife (and I) are determined to fix MINI, shes too much a part of us, but I need some good advise on where to begin...

 

 

For future reference --- pushing the start button WITHOUT stepping on the brake (auto trans) or clutch pedal (manual trans) will activate only the electronics and NOT the "start cycle". Sounds to me like you went thru the whole process of starting the engine --- I never heard of a "partial press" to do anything.

Gotta agree with DenisMcG --- sounds like a head gasket issue, hopefully not a damaged block or head. Try doing a compression and/or leak down test to see which, if any, cylinders are damaged. All compression results should be within 10 - 15 PSI of each other --- actual numbers will depend on how good your tester is. You could also drain the oil, to determine whether or not that's where coolant went.

As for the "oil was running the entire length of the flat bed", that's scary --- a pressurized crankcase can force oil out the dipstick, or under the valve cover gasket. Or maybe the passenger side PCV hose came loose. But then, where did the pressure come from? Something big and serious is probably broken. If the oil leak source isn't obvious, you might have to pull the valve cover, but do the above testing first.

Keep us posted ---

 

Agreed there is no reason to turn the engine after the oil light came on . bad move. Put the vehicle in accessory position and turn the window down. As a start have the vehicle towed to a good mini independant shop and have them do an analysis on the engine. May be needing an engine with the overfill. Question that needs to be asked "if it needs an engine do we keep the Mini still and just pay for it?" if you are not willing to do an engine then might be time to say good bye.

 

Oil: I think this is one of those classic cases of the timing chain tensioner backing out. That's the only place with pressurized oil and it is consistent with the description above. If it were indeed the tensioner, then you're looking at bent valves. Not a bad task to fix.

Coolant: another thermostat housing failure or thermostat pipe to water pump failure.

testing: remove the valve cover and inspect the chain and timing and all. Remove the intake manifold and inspect the tensioner and the water pipe to thermostat.

Where are you located by the way?

 

Guys, thanks for the help and suggestions, it truly wasn't my intent to re-start it, but that's a well rehearsed and futile rebuttal at this point... So last night, I cleaned the garage, washed the mini, rolled her in, and put her on jack stands. My wife, eyeing all this from the bay window, was sure to inform me that is MINI, not a broken craftsman law-mower and perhaps we need "professional" help. Undeterred...I text my buddy from work, he's bringing in a compression tester for me today. In an attempt to "first do no harm" I have a couple questions. Can I do a compression test after the valve cover is pulled? (sounds messy) I imagine it might be wise to inspect the timing chain, tensioner and such before pushing that start button again, but Id really like to know prior to tearing in if we have any compression...
This evenings plan: , pull the right side tire, and firewall/wheelwell cover, drain the oil, look for milky discoloration and metal particles, and put in fresh clean oil. Ill refill the water res. with plain distilled water and look for obvious leaks. I will also inspect the location where the tensioner is for obvious issues. I will await the consensus on rather to do compression testing first or tear into the valve cover... Ill report back on my findings...

 

DO NOT start the car until you at least pull the valve cover and do visual inspection of everything inside.

 

 

Compression testing can be done without a Valve Cover. However, as MiniToBe says, it's not a good idea to let it crank a full 20 - 30 seconds without a full inspection and no VC. To minimize oil spray everywhere, just let it crank a few turns 'til the test indicator reaches maximum --- pressing the start button again will stop the cranking. It's a good idea to pull all 4 plugs before you start testing --- less starter strain.

Another "trick" I like to use when compression testing --- pull the fuel pump fuse. Mine's located in the fuse panel by the passenger door, and ID'd with a gas pump symbol. Just don't forget to put it back in when testing is done.

Your user ID implies rocky mountains --- is that your location, or just a favorite place, or both?

 

We live in four corners area, about 1 hour south and west of durango co. We have a little cabin that is near and dear to our hearts up in the mountains. Rkymtn is an reference to that, so yes, both a location and favorite spot.
Last night, while my wife continued a search for a reputable mechanic, I attempted to find the source of the oil leak. I've included some pictures of my efforts, but I still can't tell where the oil is coming from. I looked at the tensioner, (good grief, that was quite a bit of research just to locate it!)...it doesn't appear to be loose, there is a lot of oil in the pvc vent line coming from pvc vent. (I removed the pvc hose) I carefully drained exactly 4.25 quarts from the pan. It's pure oil, no visual coolant contamination or obvious metal, oil looks good. Today, I'm going to pull the valve cover...it's going to be interesting when the wife gets back and I'm in the middle of open heart surgery on MINI...

 

Pics???

No coolant / oil mix in the pan is good news. Next is the VC removal / inspection and / or compression / leak down test. Best of luck.

Next time you do research, include https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select and https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/ for an illustrated parts list and maintenance / repair procedures. Both sites want the last 7 characters of your VIN, but you can also "bingo" the boxes with a description.

Beautiful part of the country --- I too love the mountains. Have fun finding a good Mini mechanic nearby.

 

OK, I got the valve cover off, which was altogether easier than figuring out how to post pictures...anyways, good news and bad...I cant see anything obviously wrong with the timing components, would I be able to visibly tell if something was damaged? I did note the center bolt retaining holes in the VC were slightly melted, and when I pull the VC off three of the spark plug wells were full of oil. So much for hoping no damage had been done, I'm going to need a new VC at the bare minimum...I don't know how much other damage this type of overheating can do, so how should I proceed? Put the VC partially back on and onward to the compression test? On a different note, my wife is getting quite frustrated trying to find someone even willing to work on MINI, the trusted BMW guy her friend recommended flat out told her that once these engines get 100k they are not worth the time and expense to repair, and by the sounds of this event, the car is likely totaled. Don't know if Im happy or sad to hear that, because Im enjoying the work thus far. I may be the only reasonable option she has... well see.

 

With the VC damage you describe, chances are the outer gasket is also shot, causing your oil "spray" everywhere. Try removing the oil from spark plug area BEFORE removing the plugs, otherwise you get oil in the cylinder, affecting the compression test. As mentioned earlier, testing can be done without a VC, it just gets really messy. Maybe post pics of the plug electrodes after removal --- for color, crud build-up, etc?

Don't commit to new parts until you have test results and know what is needed --- you might decide to replace engine or entire car, instead of repairing it.

And, if you decide to repair more than a VC yourself, you're gonna need lotsa tools --- metric, male and female torx, timing kit if the head's pulled, 2 torque wrenches (in lbs and ft lbs plus conversion tables from Newton Meters) --- hope you're prepared!

 

OBWind et al; thanks for the descriptive and informative posts. I certainly appreciate you guys taking the time to read, understand and respond to my issues. It is everybit a grand form of charity. In my research over the past week (mostly on this site) I've come to realize two things, first, there isn't much on this site that hasn't failed, been ​taken apart, documented, photoed, done wrong, corrected, and repaired. Second, there are a short list of very informed and selfless individuals that continually give acurate and timely advise. This is my heartfull thanks to thoes.
OK, now to MINI, indeed, specialized tooling is already coming up. The compression tester Ive procured does not have the right threads, a quick search on this site yielded the fact that I need a m12x 1.25 compression test kit, most kits are m14 and larger. A little more research and a "buy it now" click later, and for less than 7 dollars I have my first tool I've bought for specificly for MINI, a compression adapter for an m12 plug... I have decided to take the advise given and not commit to any parts or repairs until we know the full extent of the damage, so the compression test is on hold until the amazon box arrives. I looked into the necessary writeups and precautions for the test and because of you guys I feel adequately prepared. I'll do compression first, but I'm already looking forward to what's necessary for leak down...
Cheers for now, about mid week we should know lot more.

​​

 

MiniToBe may be right on this one. I think this event may be due to my timing tensioner backing out. When I first inspected the tensioner, it looked to be flushed to the block, and I dismissed it. However, there was alot of oil around it, so digging deeper, I went ahead and put a wrench on it. It was loose, albeit not very, I was able to tighten it approximately 1/4-1/3 turn before it became snug. (see pict) So I'm now concerned I skipped time? The engine rotates easy...I rotated it so the writing on both Cams is facing TDC. From what Ive studied, if the writing on the CAMs is TDC and the CAM locking tools fits over the flats, the CAMs are at least correctly in time in relation to each other. (perhaps not crank....). I don't have any of the locking tools, but by putting two straight edges on the flats where the cam locking tool fits, I thought that they should be parallel to each other. See picture. However the flats are slightly misaligned, by about 1 degree or so. Are the channels in the locking tool perfectly parallel to each other? Does the timing seem alright to you guys?
Tensioner in place as found after event.

Straight edges are resting on cam flats where cam tool locks into. Cam writing is TCD

 

Our minis are not TDC, they are 90 BTDC. your cams seem fine if they line up...your next step is trying to lock the fly wheel from that lock hole. put anything just to at least know you're at the right rotation.

the tensioner should be torqued to 80 Nm.

also, as you're should the valve cover, it seems damaged and maybe oil was seeping from that area. you're moving on the right path...once you confirm the flywheel at the right position, you can do a compression test.

 

When you are turning your crank to get that fly wheel aligned and locked with that key in the lock hole, you can drop some long zip ties directly into each cylinder through the spark plug holes. That way when you get to that lock key position, you can also double check the height of all 4 zip ties standing from the piston. I am not sure of this, but I did see in an youtube video that it is possible to align the lock hole and piston 1 and 4 are in the high position, 2 and 3 are in the low position or something of that sort. All I'm saying is, it wouldn't hurt to make sure an even height of all pistons before you lock that key in. Hope this helps and happy motoring.

 

 

OK, all pistons level....and Ill devise something to slide into that flywheel locking hole and verify the flywheel is in the right position, good advise, makes sense, I can do that.... OH, and despite my wife cocking her head sideways, squinting, and slowly shaking her head side to side whenever I talk about MINI....I feel pretty good about being able to get this compression and leak-down test done... She caught me frantically trying to get the valve cover back into position before she could see the guts of her MINI, she knows I'm wanting to fix it myself....that has compelled her to remind me of the time I fixed the treadmill... true, I inadvertently wired the motor backward and it threw her into the console, it was stupid mistake, but I did fix it in the end. "Good Grief!!! that was two decades ago, babe!!!"
Amazon dropped off the compression adapter today...
She is going to see the grandkids this weekend...Ill have MINI to myself for hours...

 

 

Treadmill story is classic! going to remember that down the road to tell my wife, too!

MrGrumpy's mostly covered it all. But I'd stay away from using any other tools to lock the flywheel in place. Please use the locking tool because allen key or screwdrivers if the shaft diameter is too small, locking the flywheel this way will get you some play, and that little play may contribute to timing off with the cams. I'm just a very picking person working with these things, sorry to grind your beans old Grumpy.

 

Yea, this week I'm only attempting to verify my timing hasn't skipped prior to doing a compression test. Its going to be a quick visual check, if I understand it correctly, Ill do that by aligning the flywheel hole then checking the cams...if it appears timing is OK, ill carry on smartly to compression. If I have to (and allowed to) actually tear it apart, I'll look into the proper tools. Thanks all..

 

Sounds like a pran!!!

 

Couple things you should know BEFORE you play with the flywheel and locking pin ---
1. The engine doesn't want to be manually cranked in the CCW direction. Something in the Vanos units wants CW rotation only.
2. The flywheel locking pin tool is nothing more than two precise diameter cylinders, the smaller one, maybe 1/4" dia & 1/4" long, stacked and centered in the larger one, maybe 1/2" dia & 1" long. Both are a very snug fit. The objective is to locate the flywheel precisely with respect to the engine block. Then, keep in mind that there are two full flywheel revolutions for each full rev of the cams. That's why the cam lettering needs to be visible from the top --- the flywheel can be locked 180 deg out and the pistons will still be all the same height in their cylinders.

I have no idea what happened if you've already cranked the engine CCW, possible damage to the Vanos? The process I'd use when checking timing is to accept the possibility that it's off, position the cam lettering, then loosen the cam sprockets so the engine can be rotated either direction --- installing the flywheel locking pin is a trial and error process, very easy to "overshoot" the rotation. Once installed, the cam locking tools can be installed, chain tension set, then cam sprocket bolts replaced and tightened. Granted, this is probably not the easiest way, but it's not gonna damage a Vanos unit. Obviously, I don't check timing often. I usually break something serious, then set timing during the re-assembly process.

Best of luck ---