2nd Gen R56 Cooper Most liked posts in thread: Excessive Oil Use

I have been reading around and some people say yours is "a quart every 1000 miles" within reason. Personally, I think if I built an engine that used that much oil, that I would think I had done something wrong.

 

I'm going to guess that you have a broken piston ring or 2.
Seems to be a common problem.
First thing to do is a leak down test.
That will give some idea to what problem is.
Compression test is another idea.

 

I remember seeing a TSB where an improved PCV valve was listed. The earlier R56's had more of a problem with oil vapors being sucked into the intake manifold. If I can find it I'll post it up.

 

Hope this helps...



Can't seem to attach a PDF......

 

Here is the thread on our forum...

http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/cooper-s/6678-gen-2-technical-service-bulletins-tsb-database.html

In my case I didn't download all of the TSB, only the ones after my manufactured date... The one I listed was SIM110109, it talks about some packaging issue with the new and improved PCV and head cover. You need to go back through the TSB's and find the one that calls for the replacement of the head cover with the new and improved valve.

Now I'm not saying that this is your problem but the earlier R56's did have a problem sucking excessive oil.

Good luck

 

Interesting. I've been warned of this by other MINI owners AND my local service advisors. I've been fairly paraniod about it. I check my oil regularly 2-3k miles and after EVERY session on track. I haven't had an issue so far. Hope I'm a lucky one.

Good luck getting yours fixed. Looks like the TSB database comes to the rescue again. That is an AWESOME resource.

 

Hi Scott, A friend of mine has an 08 justa with 48K on it. All of a sudden she is experiencing low oil levels / excessive oil use issue, this is not a leak. Her husband changes oil religiously and she doesn't hammer the car. She took it into the dealer for codes (?). They found it low on oil and it did have a fouled plug, the dealership added oil and replaced the plugs. Hope it's not the mentioned broken rings, she is almost out of warranty.
Have you found out what is going on with your MINI and what the problem is/was?

 

For the Cooper to be using excessive oil and have an oil fowled plug, a compression test, followed by leak down if pressure is off between cylinders, is the first order of diagnostics. I suggest the owner be insistent about having that done before the warranty expires.

Yes, the OP's S model will have higher oil consumption. However, excessive oil in the turbo inlet & by-pass channel, oil saturating one side of the air filter, lot's of oil in the IC, oil pooling around the valve cover bolts and weeping around the gasket, are not normal. High crank case pressure with indicators like those.

 

I have an early build 2007 MCS with 62000 on it. Two months ago I took it in to the dealer for some recall work and had them look into my high oil usage and rough acceleration. I suspected that I had carbon build up and was prepared for the cost of the walnut treatment. I also had them check the compression because I was getting very worried about the oil use.
I did indeed have very dirty valves from carbon buildup and the cleaning took care of the rough running. They found my compression was within the specs and all cylinders were very close in numbers. The oil consumption since then has improved dramatically, I don't know if it's related but it seems so. It's still going through a quart every 3000 so my next step would be an oil catch can (and maybe look into the PCV issue?).

 

Seems like that could be causing both issues, high crankcase pressure forcing oil into the intake causing oil and carbon fouling of the valves?

 

So I'm assuming it's not a S convertible? If its a R56, then it's normal, crazy but normal. Call the dealer, they are now saying it is normal for this motor to use a quart every 800-1000 miles. Nice Puegeot, nice :mad5:

 

How did they accomplish cleaning the valves?

 

I recall Keith H. posting something a while back about increased oil consumption relating to the PCV system. Apparently the PCV traps and valves built into the engine cover can become clogged and are not serviceable. When this happens one of the indicators can be increased oil consumption. The oil laden vapors are sucked into and burned by the engine instead of being separated by the PCV system and returning the oil droplets to the oil pan.
As the model year changes the later MINI's have benefited from improved PCV designs that are more efficient at removing the oil fumes. Some of the earlier models may be suffering as a result.

 

Missing oil...

I'll throw in my .02 here. I have virtually no experience with the R56, but in a bit over 3,000 miles since its last oil change Babs justa clubster with 34,000 miles has used no oil.

Last weekend I changed the oil in a friends coupesterS. With 8,500 miles on the clock. Only 3.5 quarts of oil came out. This coupesterS is driven hard, so maybe that accounts for the missing oil. Also it is possible that it is still breaking in causing the consumption. What do you guys think?

 

I think you should check the oil on the coupesterS every other fill up and top off as needed.

 

I agree! I was told by our good friend at MAG that they are seeing many R56 MINI's of various flavors coming in 3 quarts low on oil.:eek6: Lots of folks do not feel the need to check the oil on their cars.:frown2: Going 15,000 without checking could end up being quite costly $$$$.

 

And what is up with the software update I've been reading about? Are they changing the vanos valve overlap so they get a smaller amount of PCV fumes being drawn into the combustion chamber? Is this the idea?