2003 Mini Sport advice needed
Thread Starter
|
Neutral
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
2003 Mini Sport advice needed
Well first off I am not a true Mini believer, but I am engaged to a Mini Fan.
Her Mini has had several issues that have now to me spiraled of out reasonability. My fiancé has described to me how the dealer (Mini Cooper in Fife Washington) sold her on the reliability and fabulous maintenance of this car.
A Brief history on her car, it is a 2003 Mini Sport with 41000 miles.
She has had the car in for following issues:
Emergency/parking brake popping up slightly at random times. This has been looked at every time it has been to the dealer. With no result to fixing the problem.
Rattle in the dash; this took three trips to finally be resolved December 2006.
Drivers side window not seating itself properly when door is closed. The dealer has looked at this twice and both times said they recalibrated the window. The last time was in December 2006. This problem has yet to be resolved
Mini Cooper in Fife overall seems to want to sell the car and than not follow or back what they say once you own the car. My fiancé found that she had a bad tire (Dunlop Run Flat) at approximately 25000 miles and it would not hold air. Mini of Fife said they could not find reason and told her she needed a new tire, they than sold her on buying two so they would be balanced on the car. (I find no fault with them selling the second tire, but they never offered her they opportunity to keep the second tire as a spare)
She also took they Mini in for 30000 mile service June 2006, the techs found that her rear brakes where out of spec and needed to be replaced The Service writers informed her that mini would not do the rear brakes until after the brake indicator light in the dash went off. That would happen when the front brakes went out of spec too, this was supposed to happen very soon and the brakes front and rear would fall under Mini's warranty. Well October came and the mini passed 36000 miles and then in November the brake light finally went off. We parked the car for a time do to the distance to get to mini of fife and busy work schedules. I contacted Mini of Fife and discussed the problem about the brakes, after multiple phone calls with different people the end result was that the rear brakes were warranted but the front brakes were not. The service write at drop off gave us a loaner they good look at the brakes, squeak in dash, rear brake popping up and drivers window. End result to this trip was new brakes front and rear; squeak fixed and other two issues said resolved. But as you read above the brake and window are still acting the same.
But to those of you that have read this far, here is the main problem.
The mini now has 41000 miles with oil change last summer, middle last week I thought I heard lifter noise from the engine as she left for work, I mentioned it the next morning to her and that we need to check the oil, she replied with that minis have a great warning system if something is wrong that the appropriate light would show on the dash, and that the oil light was out and she had never seen it light up except for at car start up. Since we were both running late I said ok and decided to check it that evening. Well that afternoon she called me on the way home and said the Oil light had just flashed as she went around a corner, but that is was only for a second and now it was not on. I had her stop and park the car and shut off the engine and I went to her to see what was up. When I pulled the oil dipstick I was unable to get it to even register any oil in the pan. I went and picked up 4 quarts (I figured that I would rather have too much than not enough) I than put into the engine 2.0 quarts and was unable to get it to registor, I started the car for a minute to see if I could get the oil circulated the engine. The oil light still was not coming on, I ran the car for about a minute and shut it off. Than let it sit for 10 minutes and than checked the oil again. The dip stick still did not registor oil in the pan so I added another quart to get it to register on the dipstick. I than had her take it home and I checked it there when it had cooled off, I added another .25 of a quart to bring it to the middle of the fill range on the dipstick. I added in total 3.25 quarts of oil to the engine.
This is the dilemma now. The car is parked until I can get an appointment with the mechanic, who recomended a oil change and look at the underside of the car to see if there is any leaks. I have checked this weekend under the car and there is no oil leaks.
So at this moment I am puzzled by why you can go 15000 miles on 4.5 quarts of oil, has anyone else been told to not do anything to the car that mini will take care of everything. I know I sound like a person that has a problem with Mini. I personally do not have a huge love for the car, but my fiancé adores the car, and that is what counts. I am trying to decide if it is time to cut and run on the Mini and trade it in at a non mini dealer or try and fight mini on the car. I am worried that the motor has some serious problems, there are no oil leaks under the car, so it would have to burning it somewhere.
Thank you
a puzzled Tazmanian Wombat
Her Mini has had several issues that have now to me spiraled of out reasonability. My fiancé has described to me how the dealer (Mini Cooper in Fife Washington) sold her on the reliability and fabulous maintenance of this car.
A Brief history on her car, it is a 2003 Mini Sport with 41000 miles.
She has had the car in for following issues:
Emergency/parking brake popping up slightly at random times. This has been looked at every time it has been to the dealer. With no result to fixing the problem.
Rattle in the dash; this took three trips to finally be resolved December 2006.
Drivers side window not seating itself properly when door is closed. The dealer has looked at this twice and both times said they recalibrated the window. The last time was in December 2006. This problem has yet to be resolved
Mini Cooper in Fife overall seems to want to sell the car and than not follow or back what they say once you own the car. My fiancé found that she had a bad tire (Dunlop Run Flat) at approximately 25000 miles and it would not hold air. Mini of Fife said they could not find reason and told her she needed a new tire, they than sold her on buying two so they would be balanced on the car. (I find no fault with them selling the second tire, but they never offered her they opportunity to keep the second tire as a spare)
She also took they Mini in for 30000 mile service June 2006, the techs found that her rear brakes where out of spec and needed to be replaced The Service writers informed her that mini would not do the rear brakes until after the brake indicator light in the dash went off. That would happen when the front brakes went out of spec too, this was supposed to happen very soon and the brakes front and rear would fall under Mini's warranty. Well October came and the mini passed 36000 miles and then in November the brake light finally went off. We parked the car for a time do to the distance to get to mini of fife and busy work schedules. I contacted Mini of Fife and discussed the problem about the brakes, after multiple phone calls with different people the end result was that the rear brakes were warranted but the front brakes were not. The service write at drop off gave us a loaner they good look at the brakes, squeak in dash, rear brake popping up and drivers window. End result to this trip was new brakes front and rear; squeak fixed and other two issues said resolved. But as you read above the brake and window are still acting the same.
But to those of you that have read this far, here is the main problem.
The mini now has 41000 miles with oil change last summer, middle last week I thought I heard lifter noise from the engine as she left for work, I mentioned it the next morning to her and that we need to check the oil, she replied with that minis have a great warning system if something is wrong that the appropriate light would show on the dash, and that the oil light was out and she had never seen it light up except for at car start up. Since we were both running late I said ok and decided to check it that evening. Well that afternoon she called me on the way home and said the Oil light had just flashed as she went around a corner, but that is was only for a second and now it was not on. I had her stop and park the car and shut off the engine and I went to her to see what was up. When I pulled the oil dipstick I was unable to get it to even register any oil in the pan. I went and picked up 4 quarts (I figured that I would rather have too much than not enough) I than put into the engine 2.0 quarts and was unable to get it to registor, I started the car for a minute to see if I could get the oil circulated the engine. The oil light still was not coming on, I ran the car for about a minute and shut it off. Than let it sit for 10 minutes and than checked the oil again. The dip stick still did not registor oil in the pan so I added another quart to get it to register on the dipstick. I than had her take it home and I checked it there when it had cooled off, I added another .25 of a quart to bring it to the middle of the fill range on the dipstick. I added in total 3.25 quarts of oil to the engine.
This is the dilemma now. The car is parked until I can get an appointment with the mechanic, who recomended a oil change and look at the underside of the car to see if there is any leaks. I have checked this weekend under the car and there is no oil leaks.
So at this moment I am puzzled by why you can go 15000 miles on 4.5 quarts of oil, has anyone else been told to not do anything to the car that mini will take care of everything. I know I sound like a person that has a problem with Mini. I personally do not have a huge love for the car, but my fiancé adores the car, and that is what counts. I am trying to decide if it is time to cut and run on the Mini and trade it in at a non mini dealer or try and fight mini on the car. I am worried that the motor has some serious problems, there are no oil leaks under the car, so it would have to burning it somewhere.
Thank you
a puzzled Tazmanian Wombat
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,114
Likes: 0
From: Kansas City
Yikes!
I understand your feelings. I would be concerned about the seriously low level of oil... and how long she drove the car at 3+ quarts low. I was surprised, too, with the high mileage per oil change on Minis. That does not mean that you don't top off oil between changes. Gotta keep or develop the habit of checking oil and tire pressure--regularly.
Brake wear and a rattle here and there is typical and I wouldn't worry about those things. I had on '03 MC S and loved it enough that I replaced it with an '06.
Good luck, and hopefully some of the more technically advanced NAM members will offer some insight for the possible damage from the low oil level.
I understand your feelings. I would be concerned about the seriously low level of oil... and how long she drove the car at 3+ quarts low. I was surprised, too, with the high mileage per oil change on Minis. That does not mean that you don't top off oil between changes. Gotta keep or develop the habit of checking oil and tire pressure--regularly.
Brake wear and a rattle here and there is typical and I wouldn't worry about those things. I had on '03 MC S and loved it enough that I replaced it with an '06.
Good luck, and hopefully some of the more technically advanced NAM members will offer some insight for the possible damage from the low oil level.
Thread Starter
|
Neutral
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
I did go and check the tailpipe after reading some of the other threads. I pulled dark black wet material. I am not happy with that. I do understand about checking oil and tire pressures on regular basis and I assumed that this was ok. We know what assuming means though, and it applies to me. My concern still rests in the fact that the oil sensor only went off for a second on a corner and has showed no sign after that.
6th Gear
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,362
Likes: 1
From: Winston-Salem, NC
Yikes!
I understand your feelings. I would be concerned about the seriously low level of oil... and how long she drove the car at 3+ quarts low. I was surprised, too, with the high mileage per oil change on Minis. That does not mean that you don't top off oil between changes. Gotta keep or develop the habit of checking oil and tire pressure--regularly.
Brake wear and a rattle here and there is typical and I wouldn't worry about those things. I had on '03 MC S and loved it enough that I replaced it with an '06.
Good luck, and hopefully some of the more technically advanced NAM members will offer some insight for the possible damage from the low oil level.
I understand your feelings. I would be concerned about the seriously low level of oil... and how long she drove the car at 3+ quarts low. I was surprised, too, with the high mileage per oil change on Minis. That does not mean that you don't top off oil between changes. Gotta keep or develop the habit of checking oil and tire pressure--regularly.
Brake wear and a rattle here and there is typical and I wouldn't worry about those things. I had on '03 MC S and loved it enough that I replaced it with an '06.
Good luck, and hopefully some of the more technically advanced NAM members will offer some insight for the possible damage from the low oil level.
1st Gear
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
Dude - I had the oil changed in my 2003 MCS (always go to hometown mechanic - this was unusual) at dealership @ 72K miles - this car has never lost a drop of oil - ever. at 77K miles - one morning it is clattery and >2 Qt low. I added oil - went straight to he mechanic - and I need a new set of lifters. There are no leaks. Irvine MINI states they are innocent. Where did 2 Qt's go in 5K miles?!?!? I am trying to find lifters at a reasonable price - Anyone?
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
igzekyativ
MINIs & Minis for Sale
34
Jul 16, 2020 12:54 PM
SosoMINI
MINI Parts for Sale
30
Nov 22, 2015 03:17 PM