2nd Gen R56 Cooper Burning smell/ oil leak?

Discussion in '2nd Generation: 2007+ R55 through R61' started by 05r50, Oct 14, 2016.

  1. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
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    Tracking this down for son's GF. Her 07 justa has been having a burning smell and a little bit of smoke around the windshield cowl.

    I have not witnessed this smoke, but I did see the oil pan was coated in oil. I cleaned it off to see how soon it would return.

    She ended up at the dealer anyway and they replaced her pan gasket for a tidy sum.

    She is still having the same symptoms and now they tell her it is the oil filter housing gasket. $800.

    She is asking for my opinion.

    Is this a pain to work on?

    I never found any oil on the ground so I don't know if she was smelling oil or coolant.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Jeff
    Maybe give Best a call....
     
  3. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    As long as she is willing to pull the dipstick & check the oil those repairs are probably not needed. Like you said no oil is dripping on the ground. Cars having a bit of oil on & around the engine is normal.
     
  4. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

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    How long ago was the oil pan gasket replaced? Could the smell be from residual oil from the fixed leak?

    I do know that my 07 MCS has had just about every oil gasket go South on me. Lucky for me, my extended warranty paid for them. Just like here car, I never had oil on my garage floor.

    CD
     
  5. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

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    I think the pan gasket was replaced maybe 2 weeks or less.

    I haven't had a chance to look at it this week.
     
  6. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Jeff the only other things that come to mind are the valve cover gasket or the oil filter housing gasket. Since it doesn't have a snail in the way the filter housing gasket may be easier. Valve cover shouldn't be difficult.
     
  7. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    ^^^^ this was my first thought too. Great minds think alike or is it old farts think alike?
     
  8. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

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    So I got the car from her this weekend and took a quick look.

    There is a definite leak now that was not there when I looked at it before she had MAG change the oil pan gasket. The puddle on the drip tray is after less than 5 minutes of idling.

    Also, the oil pan, lower block, and exhaust are once again coated in oil.

    How, MAG can charge $300 for an oil leak, change the wrong gasket and then ask for $800 more to fix the same problem is not just ridiculous. It should be criminal. Seriously, what tech would turn this back over as complete when it is worse than when the customer brought it in.

    Now, from what I have gathered online, it does appear that the oil filter housing gaskets have been updated to a thicker material since the first round in 2007.

    I am leaning toward just ordering the gaskets and taking a chance that the housing is still usable. However, I can see why the dealer recommends replacing it all. It looks like this is a book rate of about 6-7 hours labor to work on this so, why chance it with a bad housing and have to pay it all over again if it leaks after replacing the gaskets? (They pulled the same logic on me with my JCW when the turbo blew. Don't replace the internal part, replace the whole unit.)

    Has anyone done this DIY? It is a Cooper so no turbo in the way, but I am curious if the car has to go into service mode or if the catalytic converter has to be removed also?

    Thoughts?
     

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  9. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Jeff call Best. Ask Anson for his advice on this. He will tell you if there are any gotcha's you should be aware of.
     
  10. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

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    Stopped at Best on Monday. What a great guy John is. We talked it over and he was under the dealer quite but still out of her budget.

    Looks like I will be attempting this at home with the owner. She really wants to learn so I figure we might as well try. If we fail, we can send it to Best if we must.

    In speaking with John he said that this repair is all about the labor. That is what makes it so expensive. They don't replace the housing unit by default just the gaskets and he advised to get oem parts.

    On a side note; if you have a BMW or MINI that needs service give John a call. They do a great job and have always been very helpful. http://www.bestmotorwerks.com/
     
  11. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

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    Well, the saga continues. Thanks to Crashton loaning me the Gen 2 manual and spark plug tool today I was able to get started.

    While not directly related to the oil filter housing leak problem, I decided I wanted to check her spark plugs for her since I had the car and wasn't sure if the plugs were in good shape. Glad I did, as you can see from the picture plug 2 (from left to right) is covered in oil!!

    Not sure what is going on here, but I am glad I did check. I was going to pull the valve cover to see if the plug gasket was damaged or missing, but then I decided to get back to the original problem first.

    Next I drained the oil while I started to remove the bumper cover to go into service mode.

    Since, she just had the oil pan gasket replaced for a leak, she has a fresh oil change. I am surprised at how much oil. I won't say that the cheap drain pan from the auto store is dead-on accurate, but I was able to get a pretty solid 5 quarts of oil out of that car. On top of the amount saturated into the filter, which was not in true and is crushed on the one side. (I had to use a breaker bar to get the oil cap loose. The ratchet was wanting round off the cap nut because it was on so tight)

    Given these distraction symptoms I am starting to wonder what is really going on here. Is the oil leak stemming from a over fill and crushed filter/ over torqued cap? Or is it truly a leak at the housing?

    Tomorrow I hope to get the cat converter off and get access to the housing to check it.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  12. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    I doubt being overfilled would cause these problems. Seems an overfill is par for the course at the dealer. Did the dealer change that filter too? Not lubing the O-ring will make the filter very hard to remove. The plug is covered with oil due to the seals being shot. Time for a new Valve cover gasket & seals.
     
  13. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    What Crashton said. I have seen o-rings on th valve cover leak so bad they fill with oil and cause a miss fire.
     
  14. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

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    Thought I would post an update.

    I replaced the gaskets in oil filter housing successfully and I did notice that the current gasket set is thicker than the ones I removed.

    Everything is back in place but I made the work harder on myself by trying to save time. DONT DO THAT, DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.

    I decided not to drain the coolant before pulling the housing. This is an N12 so it does not have the exchanger added to the filter housing. Because of that I thought coolant loss would be minimal and only drained coolant from the top hose leading to the thermostat housing.

    Once I pulled the housing coolant began spilling out. Long story short; the block has holes for both oil and coolant right next to each other. This allowed coolant to flow into the block and into the oil pan.

    I would have not caught this had I decided to leave the old crush washer in place after draining the oil in the beginning. But since the filter was crushed I got a new one and decided to use it. I was a bit surprised when I pulled the plug and the coolant began running out of the oil pan.

    I flushed the oil system several times to get the coolant out. Drained the coolant as well and then topped it off with new.

    All buttoned up and ran the motor. All seems to be good with no leaks, so the original issue may be repaired.

    I have a new problem now which is the pcv hose on the valve cover is cracked. It is a ***** to replace. I have pulled the intake Manifold and the existing hose is looped through a gap between the throttle body and the manifold. The new hose is so rigid I don't want to try to force it in the gap. But the throttle body seems to not want to come off the manifold.

    Anyone have experience replacing a throttle body and know the secret to getting it free ?
     

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