Question for others out there regarding the oil light indicator and topping off oil. I checked the oil in my 03 MCS the other day after 2500k miles from my last Mini Service, having assumed ( i know) that everythin was hunky dory and found that I had no oil showing on the worthless dip stick. It turns out I was down more than a quart of Oil.

Question - have others noticed an oil consumption pattern in their Minis and would you expect this to be off a quart and a half? If so how often are you topping off your Oil?

Also - should the Oil indicator light come on and give you a head up - or is that just on the car to let you know that there is no oil pressure in the system whatsoever?

Curious and a little annoyed at my oil consumption

-Okeeton

 

Do a search on 'oil consumption' and you'll see a few threads on it. It's not common, but not unheard of.
The oil light signals low oil pressure - if it comes on because there isn't enough oil to reach the pickup, you've waited WAY too long.
I think it's crap that a new car burns oil, but it does happen on some percentage of new cars.
Checking your oil at every fill-up is a good practice, especially since you know it's burning some.

 

Sure shouldn't use that much oil in 2500 miles. Perhaps the dealer didn't put in 5 quarts. I'd check the filter to see if there are any leaks, also the drain plug. Keep checking level every 100 miles and, if its really "using" that much oil, I'd contact dealer.

 

Chances are if you were burning that oil, you would notice the blue smoke coming from your exhaust. A more likely explanation is a slow oil leak somewhere. Is the car parked indoors or outdoors? If indoors, put a big piece of white paper under the engine when it is parked and check it for spots. You can do it outdoors, but you may have to hold the paper down with rocks or some weights. It is relatively easy for hot synthetic oil to flow somewhere where cold oil will not, so it may only leak when the engine is hot - try idling it in a garage over some paper.