Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

Made it to the brushless wash, it has been a long haul for the 11 CM, last was was on the return trip from MO and NB over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Looks so much better clean and shiney, of course the good wife took her MINI to dinner on a girls night out. At least all the roads are frozen.

Don

 

Oh, there will be something you need once the car is apart, and it will probably be on back-order. Murphy's law applies in all 50 States -- and most countries.

My MINI is still in airport parking. :eek6:

But, at least I'm not in Kansas, anymore (Toto). Oceanside, CA for a couple of days.

It looks like I'll rescue my MINI on Wednesday. It may need some couch time to deal with abandonment issues. :cryin:

CD

 

I have a MINI / BWM parts guy that can get me anything in a day if they do not have it in stock.

 

Lee, get back in the garage and finish the job. Why are you on the internet? :lol:

 

Steven at eMINIparts.com can do the same. He's my go to OEM MINI parts guy.

 

Yup Steve is a great guy and is my back up MINI parts guy. My local dealership is only 10 from my house and they have a very large warehouse on site. I just e-mail my buddy and he checks he has everything and pulls it and has it reay for me to run out at Lunch.

Plus "my cost" discount is YUGE! :ihih:

 

Ordered coolant overflow tank, valve cover gasket, serpentine belt. All ready to do some maintenance work....after Christmas.

 

Washed the other CM today, now we predict some snow for Wednesday and a high of 24. Guess I can read all day.



Don

 

On the way into the office this morning, while idling at stop lights in intersections, the oil light flickered. When I got into the office, I checked the oil levels, and it was fine. Could it be the cold outside temperature (-10C or about 10F) causing a lack of oil pressure at low idle? I'm using regular 5-30 synthetic oil. Maybe I should go to 5-50 or something?

 

Cold weather should increase idle oil pressure a little, if anything.
Other things to think about:
Recent oil filter change? Non-oem filters or improperly seated filters can do this.
Knocking off the little spring loaded thingy at the back of the filter housing can
also, but it probably wouldn't be this intermittent.
Oil pressure sensor sending units do sometimes get gunked up or start to fail.
Hopefully not something much worse like worn crank bearings, etc..

 

I think I will start with replacing the oil pressure sensor. It's an old car now with fairly high mileage so probably about time.

 

The "50" part of 5W-50 will help you down here in August, but isn't what you want in BC in December. 5W-30 is fine for your weather, probably all year long.

CD

 

Not to start an oil war but a 0w vs a 5w oil would be better in extremely cold weather start ups.

 

At 10 degrees you don't need a special oil you need to move to a warmer location. :lol:

You need 0w or 5w for that cold place.

 

Called to check on her . . . she is still sitting in the shop nearly 100 miles away. The shop was waiting on a new rear main seal and the front lower control arm bushings. (And their Mini mechanic was out for a couple of days.)

 

I rescued it from the Parking-Spot at the airport. It cost me 91-bucks. :eek6:

It has a pretty heavy layer of dust on it. I'll have to get it washed.

 

The MINI is hibernating through the winter...

Checked the battery tender connected to my 7 year old OEM battery.....

The battery is still looking good....

 

Mine lasted 10 years, then died without warning. I do a conditioning charge just before the winter every year so was hoping I could keep it lasting forever.

My 1974 Pontiac went the lifetime of the car (14 years) on the original battery. Subsequent cars after that, not so long.