This winter, I hit some snow and ice in the middle of the lane. Other cars are higher off the ground, but MINIs are low, so my front and undercarrage plowed into alot of it. At anyrate, I looked for damage later and it appeared cosmetic. I didnt think to check my oil cooler (its critical pipes run close to the damage).

Today, some 2 weeks later, im driving home and my oil light started to flash. I thought it was the system telling me to change my oil, which i did 500 miles ago, i just didnt reset the service interval. I didnt know how, the thing reads -450 or so. As I got closer to home, a noise started, faint at first but intensified the more I drove. I would say it sounded like a diesel.

Well, at home I saw oil under my car, and it was dripping. Not good. Checked the oil level, didnt even register on the dipstick, that real low right? Checked the oil cooler, the blue hose and metal pipe crimping was leaking. I touched it, they seperated and oil started to pour out. I had my oil pan nearby. The whole underside of the car is covered in oil, including the passenger side tire and wheel well(brake was spaired). Some oil got on the outside of the car(on paint), luckily there is a layer of protective winter crud on there to keep the oil off. Besides, it is brake fluid that eats paint and all the oil on the undercarrage would only stop rust or start a fire.

I am going to look into buying just a new hose/pipe. Its a oil cooler kit from Cobalt. If its not available seperately I'll get a new cooler. Those of you with oil coolers, be careful of center lane snow, concrete parking stops, and curbs.

 

Sorry to hear of your trouble, but...

conisdering that you drove it with the oil light flashing, and the development of the noises you say it made, and the total loss of oil, you may want to have the engine assessed for salvagability before you spend money on oil cooler parts.

John

 

I drove less than 8 miles home, under 2k rpm, and 30 miles an hour.
The oil light only flashed if I was above 2k. The noise only got loud within my neighborhood. I do not fear engine damage. My MINI was upside down once, long story. During the roll, the engine made a horrible sound. I thought enough to turn the car off mid-roll. After this incident, the engine was fine and I started modding.

BTW does anyone have any pictures of the Setrab oil cooler installed? Does it mount in the same spot as the Cobalt one?

 

i bought a setrab to go with the adapter sold by madness . i put it to the bottom of the bumper . it sits just above the chin spoiler . the thing that's nice about their adapter is you can fit oil pressure and temp gauges to it . so oil pressure is read coming back from the cooler .(yes i know , in hydraulics pressure is equal troughout the system ,blah ,blah ...dribble dribble ) . the temp is out going oil to the cooler . this sucks but better than nothing . i also put a thermostat in line ; it sits on the crush rail . . luck with the motor . smell the dip stick. if it smells like an oil fire; don't get your hopes up .

 

update: I put the stock heat exchanger back on and filled up with oil, I lost about 2 1/2 quarts, this includes the volume taken up by the old oil cooler. Anyway, I started the car and idled, it had the puff puff sound for a few seconds then it went back to normal. Checked the oil level again. No burned oil smell. Went for a spin around the neighborhood, very slow with minimal throttle low rpms. After I got up to temp I returned home. Checked oil level and smell. Oil level good, no burned smell. I think my engine is fine. Im open to opinions; If my engine sounds ok, is it?

Im going to order a new oil cooler tomorrow. I'll reuse the old oil cooler's heat exchanger plate, get new hose and fittings(Aeroquip), a thermostat(Mocal), temp and pressure guage nipples, new Mocal oil cooler, and some brakets. Does any one know where and how the MINI Mania oil cooler mounts? The new Mocal will be the same size. Im not going to mount the oil cooler in the old spot way down low on the A/C condenser, its not safe.

 

One of the products, and I do not know which one, puts the engine oil cooler just at the top of the radiator, using the space and mounting holes provided for the automatic transmission oil cooler on the Auto trans cars. It claims to look stock.

Glad to hear you engine survived.

John

 

you have thrown a connecting rod bearing (at least one; maybe more). If that happens, be prepared to say hello to a new short block. And possibly a new head.

 

If I unbolt the valve train cover, is there a way to tell if a connecting rod bearing is thrown? That is all within the head right?

 

Rod bearings are in the crankcase with the mains. You can usually listen with a stethescope near the oil pan for knocking noises to decide if a rod bearing is gone or damaged. I don't see what gets hurt by assuming you're ok and running it. Honestly if a significant amount of oil spilled out at your last stop when you broke the hose connection that implies there was oil to circulate. I know this isn't optimum but it's better than nothing. When rods and or mains go you'll hear a knock under load (acceleration) and you may see the coolant temp go up. If that's happening prepare for some work. If the rod bearing locks up you can have the cap break off and lose the whole block, crank, etc (no good even as a core) when the pieces blow through the block casting but who knows you may have gotten lucky?!

 

Put simply, if the engine started up without problems or extra noises and runs quietly as it had prior to the oil leak, then you have most likely escaped severe engine damage.

That being said, whenever an engine is run very low on oil, the first bearings that suffer are the rod bearings. They carry the heaviest load and as such run the hottest, and the 'throwing' motion they operate with tends to rid themselves of any remaining oil film first upon losing pressure. It is very easy to 'wipe out' the bearing material yet still be able to run the engine once again with restored oil pressure. Signs of this would be light knocking at idle once the engine has fully warmed up, a rattle sound when revving the engine in neutral, and a roughness at closed-throttle deceleration.

It would do you well to have the engine oil pan removed and the bearings inspected, even if everything appears/sounds normal.

 

I'd second this. Shouldn't be to much money to have it checked out. Worst case they find something wrong. Best case you can stop wondering if something is wrong.

 

The first engine component to suffer due to oil starvation is the oil pump. This is especially true on the MINI. I've seen several engines that have run out of oil give up the ghost due to a wiped out oil pump which led to a damaged crank. These were engines that had bearings replaced due to low oil levels but the oil pump was left untouched causing catastrophic failure shortly after the repair.

 

+1

 

I've discovered over time (and experience) that crank-driven gerotor or vane type oil pumps are more susceptible to damage from cavitation (from low oil level/sucking air) than lower speed, cam driven pumps. A small-block Chevy gear-type pump can suck air all day and remain undamaged for the most part. The crank driven setup the MINI and other similar designs has to have large rotating pieces for the simple fact that the crankshaft itself must pass through the rotors, couple that with the crank rotational speed that's twice what a cam driven pump would see and the angular velocities of the moving parts and there's much more chance for damage. This is not helped by the fact that the housing in our case is made of aluminum with steel rotors spinning in them.

Finding metal chips in the oil filter element after running low on oil is telling you to open up the engine and find out what got ground up. If the bearings are fine, then it's the oil pump. If the bearings are wiped, then metal from the bearings passed through the oil pump on the way to the filter and the oil pump will still need replacing along with the bearings and crank. The fact the MINI engine has an open cartridge makes looking for metal chips a far easier task.

 

I checked my oil filter, no metal shavings/chips at all. It didnt smell burnt either. Still, im going to drop the oil pan and check the connecting rod bearings. The Bentley manual says that getting to the oil pump is a big headache and probbably $200+ in special tools.

 

if you don't have the burnt smell and there's no noise ,then only time will tell. you 're ply ok . so stop focusing on it so much ,it's bad vibes . the trouble with the bigger coolers is as you say location; but if your cooler hadn't taken the hit you may have lost the a/c cooler . i thought manias' mounted up top and is long and thin .

 

if you do start to get the slight rap after it's warm; just pull one plug wire and fire it up if the rapping is gone then that's your rod if it's still there replace the plug and do another; shutting the engine off each time naturally. it could be a main too but at least you'll find the cyl' anyway just drive it till it makes noise . then if it does it's a gift ;you now have to add all kinds of good go fast stuff.

 

I didnt have a chance to get the oil pan off. It turns out my Modular Front End is cracked again. MFE is the big plastic thing with the radiators and front bumper on it. The wheel wells mount to it, as do the fogs. It is such a pain to remove; discharge aircon, drain coolent, unbolt everything...etc. I've done it once before after an incident with the garage door. (bumper got ripped off).

Anyway, I used epoxy and clear tape to make a composite over the cracks. First I had sanded the area to make the epoxy stick better. I have done this before to repair my first Modular Front End after a roadsign got in my way. The repair lasted years untill it was shattered into more than 50 pieces; see above comment about garage door. It needs to dry 24 hours before I can slide it forward to unbolt the a/c pump. It is mounted on the oil pan.

 

One other thought (especially if you have major engine damage) - you might be able to get the Comprehensive section of your auto insurance policy to cover the damage. Afterall, the damage was caused by a chunck of frozen snow if my memory is correct... kind of like a big rock hit????

 

My insurance company is on the brink of droping me. I'm sort of unlucky.

 

if you're paying your policy you can file a claim . if they wanna drop you they can . but not while a claim is filed . why haven't they dropped you yet ? could it be cause you pay your policy ? don't be bullied . it's an excellent idea .

 

I got the oil pan off, and checked the connecting rod bearings. No metal shavings, no burnt oil residue, no discoloration from heat. I think I am home free.

I couldnt get the stock oil pressure sensor off to hook up a diagnostic pressure gauge I borrowed from a mechanic friend. I'll order some dash gauges, and tap holes in the oil cooler plate for the senders. Only then will I be sure my engine is ok.

I dont want to cause a fuss with the insurance people.

 

Not meaning to harass you, but how did you check the rod bearings? Visually? Or with the wax thread that you put on the journal and re-torque the bearing cap to check the clearance? (There is a name for the product, but my brain has failed me at the moment for what the name is.) When the bearing cap was off (if it was in fact off), did you inspect the bearing itself to see the condition of the bearing? If all you did was a quick visual inspection, looking for metal shavings/discoloration/burnt oil smell, that is not even half of the answer that you need to be looking for. As I said before, I am not trying to harass you; just want to make sure that you are getting the right information from/with which to make a valid decision.

 

plasti- gauge . and while it's apart if it's got some miles ., go ahead and do the bearings . if the head's off ;re-ring it . you've done the hard part already .

 

THAT IS IT!!!! You don't know how hard I tried to remember the name.... With each attempt, I felt more frustrated than before. Plasti-guage is one of the more elegant inventions - so simple, yet so profound (in fact so profound that I managed to forget its name, but that is another matter entirely).