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Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for MINI Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.
I bought my wife a 2003 mini cooper S last summer. She ran the oil down till the light went on. She was close to a filling station when it happened so she pulled over and they topped it off. We had the oil sensor changed, The oil Pump changed out. Oil filter body changed out. Ran the car after getting it back up and down the highway and also in town without an issue. Got back into the car a few hours later and now it is on again. Car is running great no noises smells etc... any clue as to why the oil light is coming on solid and staying on? Mechanic put in a heavier (but compliant) oil. Oil pressure is up at around 6lbs and still light is coming on.
Hi, It is tough to call without seeing the car up close, but it is very possible the cam bearing wore so much, or lifter retainers (plastic went away) and oil is rushing out of the head faster than the pump can maintain it. At higher RPMs, does the light go off?
No it stays on. Funny thing is I drove it for a while after picking it up and it was fine. Then I went over a speed bump and I saw the light flicker.. A few more miles down the road and It came back on and stayed on. Should I install a mechanical oil pressure gauge so that at least I can be sure that isn't it??
Looks like it was a frayed wire. The oil light came on and stayed on, it didn't blink, or pulse just a solid red light as if the engine had zero oil in it even while going 50 mph. Ran fine. sounded fine. oil fine. no chips. no overheating...Mechanic was dumfounded until he took a look at the wire harness and noticed a lot of exposed wire. He replaced what was damaged and rewrapped everything. He then ran a new wire from the oil sensor through the fire wall and straight to the instrument panel. He says problem solved. I'm going to go pick it up now and I'll let you know how it goes. Never would have guessed it was electrical...
Looks like it was a frayed wire. The oil light came on and stayed on, it didn't blink, or pulse just a solid red light as if the engine had zero oil in it even while going 50 mph. Ran fine. sounded fine. oil fine. no chips. no overheating...Mechanic was dumfounded until he took a look at the wire harness and noticed a lot of exposed wire. He replaced what was damaged and rewrapped everything. He then ran a new wire from the oil sensor through the fire wall and straight to the instrument panel. He says problem solved. I'm going to go pick it up now and I'll let you know how it goes. Never would have guessed it was electrical...
You said the light came on even with 6 PSI of pressure, can you be more specific on who and how this number was obtained. Odd that you specially said 6 PSI. What about say 15 or higher when you rev the engine? Had at any time the mechanic check the oil pressure with an old fashion mechanical oil pressure gauge? I am very surprised that the oil pump has been changed and so as the filter housing as well as the oil pressure switch, unless there is evidence that any one of these are bad.
If I were you I would insist in hooking up a real mechanical pressure (shop or otherwise) gauge to find out what the oil pressure is at idle as well as at higher RPM. Without this information you are likely to waste more money.
Also, if I haven't mistaken, the oil pressure switch signal does not go to the instrument panel. It goes to the ECU that is in the engine bay. May be the AngryScotsman can chime in and clarify with his Wunderbar OBD oil pressure reading and tell us mechanical oil pressure gauge is too overrated.
It was 6lb at idle. I’m not a mini mechanic but I am mechanically inclined. I used to rebuild VW’s back in the mid 80’s so I’m not a complete noob when it comes to vehicle mechanics. The oil pump did solve the first issue which was caused by my wife running the oil down. The second issue was the 17 year old wiring harness. Everywhere it contacted the frame or sheet metal within the car 17 years of friction wore the outer sheathing off; and the actual sheathing off of the wires on the outside of the inner bundle. He could push it against the car and the oil light would come on. Just lucky that it happened right after getting it from the shop. If not I could have been away on business in Chicago and my wife finding herself on the side of RTE 495 with a fried wiring harness....We dodged a huge bullet there. I’d say anyone with a 2003,4,5,6 Mini should check the wiring to look for friction damage. This mini had been used as a race car a few years back and has many mods...so it may be a case of someone taking out the engine and messing about and then not properly securing things before/after removing/reinstalling the engine.
Either way I appreciate everyone’s input and I am sure this won’t be the last time I reach out for help!
Something does not pass logic or whatever you want to call it. If you ran the oil down so low the most likely damage would not be the oil pump, but the crank journals and bearings. Oil pump will likely merrily churning along until the engine seizes due to the crank bearings seize.
There is something extraordinary with your harness. There is no reason to think the 17 years old harness had deteriorated to cause the problem you experience if not mistreated. It could be someone didn't reroute the harness properly after pulling the drivetrain to do whatever.
OK, So here's my take on what reality was here. Wife drove oil down. Car started having oil light issues. Mechanic changed out oil sensor..Oil light came back on shortly after. Mechanic thought oil pump was the issue..changed out pump..Nope, still had problems...Changed out the filter housing..light came back on a day later..but this time it was solid and only came on after going over a speed bump and the light didn't flicker or pulse..even if the engine was revved. He pulled the pan checked crank bearings and all looked good including no metal dust or chips in oil. So he decided to check wiring and found the wiring issue.
Oil pump was most likely not the real problem. I believe that the actual issue was a combination of the filter housing and the wiring.
I had changed my oil on my 04 r50 a while back. The oil light started to pop on at idle. Then go away while driving. I used an stp oil filter. Changed filter to oem. Never came back on
Hi, It is tough to call without seeing the car up close, but it is very possible the cam bearing wore so much, or lifter retainers (plastic went away) and oil is rushing out of the head faster than the pump can maintain it. At higher RPMs, does the light go off?
Hey so I was reading through the oil issues and your comment stuck out to me. I've got an oil light on and the level is fine and there is no bad sounds or anything like that. But if I get to about 3000 rpms it'll go off but as soon as it drops back down it'll come on again. I'm gonna buy a new sensor and replace it and see if that fixes it but I've never seen anything like this before. Any ideas? Or things to try? It's an 02 MCs with 68,000 miles and it sat for about 8 or 10 years because my cousin BLEW UP the clutch. Sorry for hijacking the thread😬
I did. I changed the oil when I first got her back running and then I switched filters about a week ago. I had an STP filter in there. And when I pulled it out it wasn't even really holding on to the cap. So I switched it out with a different filter. From O'Reilly's. But I think I may still buy an OEM filter.
Hey so I was reading through the oil issues and your comment stuck out to me. I've got an oil light on and the level is fine and there is no bad sounds or anything like that. But if I get to about 3000 rpms it'll go off but as soon as it drops back down it'll come on again. I'm gonna buy a new sensor and replace it and see if that fixes it but I've never seen anything like this before. Any ideas? Or things to try? It's an 02 MCs with 68,000 miles and it sat for about 8 or 10 years because my cousin BLEW UP the clutch. Sorry for hijacking the thread��
There are two spring valves in the oil filter housing and if either are open, oil pressure can be low enough for the light to come on. It is a known failure area in gen 1 Mini's. Often you can remove the filter and see that the valves are closed or not. (but not always) https://www.outmotoring.com/oil-filt...rep_12345.html
This is a pic of the valve inside the housing.
Last edited by ItsmeWayne; Jul 4, 2019 at 08:17 PM.
Reason: spelling again! Grrrr
There are two spring valves in the oil filter housing and if either are open, oil pressure can be low enough for the light to come on. It is a know failure area in gen 1 Mini's. Often you can remove the filter and see that the valves are closed or not. (but not always) https://www.outmotoring.com/oil-filt...rep_12345.html
This is a pic of the valve inside the housing.
The picture are they open or closed? And if this is so would the RPMs around 3,000 clothes the spring valves causing the light to turn off? And how easy of a fix is this? Could I do it myself? Considering I replace the clutch myself
The picture are they open or closed? And if this is so would the RPMs around 3,000 clothes the spring valves causing the light to turn off? And how easy of a fix is this? Could I do it myself? Considering I replace the clutch myself
No, most likely not closed, just more rpms = more pressure.
It is not a difficult job, but finding the part may be tough, as I don't think Out Motoring has it anymore, but there is a guy on our site that makes them. You will need to search for it here.
You don't want to know how much a new housing costs!
No, most likely not closed, just more rpms = more pressure.
It is not a difficult job, but finding the part may be tough, as I don't think Out Motoring has it anymore, but there is a guy on our site that makes them. You will need to search for it here.
You don't want to know how much a new housing costs!
Oh man definitely not. I wanna do it as cheap as possible. Considering I've got a lot of other things to fix. Lol.
No, most likely not closed, just more rpms = more pressure.
It is not a difficult job, but finding the part may be tough, as I don't think Out Motoring has it anymore, but there is a guy on our site that makes them. You will need to search for it here.
You don't want to know how much a new housing costs!
No, most likely not closed, just more rpms = more pressure.
It is not a difficult job, but finding the part may be tough, as I don't think Out Motoring has it anymore, but there is a guy on our site that makes them. You will need to search for it here.
You don't want to know how much a new housing costs!
That was my problem!! I'd been trying to figure it out for the last month and that tiny piece was my problem. I ordered it off of outmotoring and it should be in Monday! I'll keep y'all updated 😁
