I really hope you all can help before 5th Oct 2016!!!
My Mini Cooper SD 5DR 2015 has now gained Oil twice.
I’m taking the Car back into Mini on the 5th of Oct 2016 to get it check again. Last time they said there was nothing wrong but have drined the oil and put new oil in to the engine.
I was wondering if anyone knew what the cause would be for the engine to Gain Oil?
I want to go back to Mini and tell them what I think is wrong.
I think there is Fuel getting in some where or my injectors are playing up.
Could you explain how you are determining the your level is increasing and at what rate. You might consider spending about $100.00 at a independent garage to see if you have a problem. And if you do take the readout with you when you return to dealer.
Also, I would smell the oil - if gasoline was getting into the oil (bad injector, etc) it would smell like gas. But I’d expect a check engine light if that was the case.
That engine is direct injected, if it’s “gaining” oil, it might be some raw fuel making it past the rings and into the sump. Also if you have a blown or leaking head gasket, that could do it too.
You are either getting gasoline or coolant in the oil, both are bad. Try a sniff test and see if you can smell gas. A smell of gas is positive for gas leaking in. . Look at the coolant level (when the engine is cool) and see if it is dropping. Check your oil cap and see if there is any chocolate milkshake goo on the cap, that shows a coolant leak. As @VOLVO_V70 asks how are you determining that level is increasing? Is someone adding windshield washer fluid to the oil?
Gas or water are really the only possible answers. If water it usually means a head gasket. Gas is an injector, but engines usually run rough when this happens. And plugs foul. Plus you run the risk of cylinder wash -which can destroy an engine.
I am going to try this again. Did you check the level after the oil change on a cold engine and what did it show? If it was correct how many miles until the level was over the full mark and by how much ?
An engine’s oil level can only rise with operation if some other fluid is getting into the lubrication system and adding volume.
However, this is a brand new car still under warranty. If you mess with it yourself, you may void your warranty for any possibly related problems. I strongly urge you to let the dealer diagnose and repair it. Keep your copies of all shop orders and if the situation doesn’t get resolved follow the “kick it up the ladder” process described in the paperwork that came with your owner’s manual.
I’ve checked the Level in the morning and later on in the afternoon when the car has cooled down again. Mean time before I switch the car off I use Oil measurement that is built into the car computer and then i check the car when I switch the car off. Oil is the slightly higher when I check after my drive to work.
I have booked the car in to the Mini dealer for another check.
I’d like to add to that: When my car needed a new head gasket, no one mechanic would commit to that diagnosis because the symptoms weren’t obvious. They just said it was possible I might need a new head gasket, and only after personally ruling everything else out was I able to diagnose the problem myself.
So good luck, @Dank1382, you might need to take this to more than one shop for a second or third opinion if this shop keeps finding nothing wrong.
Agree with others but this is a time for an oil analysis for $30. You aren’t going to get the kit that fast to send the sample in but when you take it in on the 5th tell them you want to do an analysis to see if its coolant or gas in the oil. Get about a 1 liter sample of oil from the middle of the drain, order a kit and send it in for analysis with the note of the contamination issue. You’ll get your answer from there and can decide what needs to be done.
What color is the oil when you pull the dip stick? If it looks like coffee with cream, you are getting coolant into the oil system. If it looks like honey, it is motor oil. Then smell the dip stick. If it smells like gasoline, you have a leak from the cylinders into the oil system.
The vehicle in question is not sold in the USA . I still can’t understand how the OP determines their oil level is increasing . The part about checking the oil level after getting home from work by the in car readout is strange. I still think they should spend the money for a second opinion before returning to the dealer.
I used to live 1 mile from work, the car never got warmed up. The oil used to become diluted by unburned gas. When It reached a quart over, I changed it. Got a new muffler every year too. Good thing I bought one with a lifetime guarantee.
Are you aware that matter (including oil) grows in volume when it heats up? Granted, it takes a minute for the oil in the “top end” to drain back into the oil pan after you shut the car off, but not very long… the Mini engine is pretty small, after all.
If the increase is slight and it goes back down after it cools down again, you don’t have a problem.
BUT, if you suspect you DO have a problem, use your warranty! Bring it in to the dealer. That way, if it should develop that there actually is a problem, you’ll have on record documentation that you brought it in while it was under warranty. Don’t throw your warranty coverage away by trying to fix it yourself.
I wonder if perhaps you are mis-interpreting your dipstick reading. If you keep gaining oil (and whatever else), eventually this stuff has to come out somewhere. Are you draining anything? I find it hard to believe that a VW dealer would not be able to figure out whether it is water or gasoline that is mixing with your oil (if indeed this happens).
I hope you wipe the dipstick clean before you take a reading. Not doing it after you drive would certainly show a higher level on the dipstick, although it’s just oil splashed around the inside of the engine and not truly an increase. Checking in the morning, without wiping the dipstick clean, would show an accurate level, since all the oil settled.
Could be a sensor or measurement error, but if the oil volume is actually changing, some other liquid must be mixing into it. Gas (i.e. diesel fuel) or coolant seem the most likely culprits. Direct injection of diesel is a well known technology so I’d discount that as the cause. Instead I’m thinking the problem is coolant getting into the oil. So you’re looking at something like a cracked block, bad head gasket, bad intake manifold gasket (a possible cause in some vehicle, but not all), or an oil cooler problem. If the engine uses a coolant-based oil-cooler, that’d be my first guess.
