2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Oil Leak Help Needed

Take a look at Custom Mini Shop here on Facebook. They just had an R56 in with a bad timing chain top support that had broken and gone down into the pan. After getting that all cleaned up they had to split the engine and transmission as both front and back seals were leaking. The new engines start to consume more oil as they get older mine had 59,000 and was going thru a quart every 2000 miles. I have heard that some dealerships are telling customers that it is normal for the engines to consume a quart every 1000 miles. Needless to say if you look at my signature I no longer have the R56 and now have an R52.

 

Good to know. They are now gluing the engines together.

 

I glued my wife's MB valve cover last weekend to good results... So it can be done... Part of the deal requires the RTV to cure for 24 hrs and of course a really clean mating surface (cleaned with brake cleaner).... So it sat in the shop over the weekend... All is good now... All it cost me was a tube of Permatex and some of my time....

 

It would help if you would share a photo showing the location of the oil on the engine.

Without a photo, and based on the frequency of oil leaks I've seen, I suspect the turbo's oil tube banjo fitting located on the front of the block.

A plug located on the rear of the engine case above where the half shaft bearing bracket bolts up is another possibility.

Dripping from the inlet hose to the throttle body.

Loose oil filter housing cover.

 

oil pan. just starting to see them...or the turbo oil feed line.

 

Front seal?

 

My Dad ('08 MCSa) had a leak that manifested in a similar spot. Turns out the bolts on the timing chain cover can back out if not properly re-installed after a chain replacement. It's small at first but get's worse over time. Tends to leak on the passenger side. Check to make sure they haven't backed out and if they haven't make sure the seal at the timing chain cover is seated properly.

 

my 2008 cooper S has an oil leak - leaves spots on the garage floor - about the size of a nickel. dealer says the "paper gasket" has deteriorated and the pan needs to be removed, ground down to remove old gasket and a new one made of rtv(?) needs to be put on. thoughts? any one else have oil leak like this?

 

Why the dealer is saying that a new gasket must be made of RTV is beyond me. The MINI Part # for the Oil Pan Gasket is 11-13-7-565-928.

Looks like...

 

Update

R56 R57 R55 R60 no longer using the oil pan gasket. MINI is now using a RTV type sealant. The old style gasket was causing leaks.

 

Lots of stuff is glued together now (Better living through chemistry). In fact I was surprised that the Prince engine had a gasket & not RTV.

 

I have an 07S with about 75K. It started leaking out of the turbo oil feed line about 3K ago. If your car is you'll see an oil build-up on the top/front of the engine.

I just replaced mine with a braided line from Detroit Tuned. Dealer wanted about $600 to fix with the not so great OEM line plus heat shield that is supposed to prevent further issues. All the parts you need will be less than $100.

If this isn't your problem now it probably will be in the future!