19 replies to this topic

[Robert]

Model: Cooper
Year: 1998
Description of problem (please be as in depth as possible):

Right - I carried out my first oil change on my Mini today. The previous owner had it done fairly regularly (looking back over the bills), but I think it might have been quite a long time since the last one because the oil was pretty black. Now that the cones are done, I thought I had better do an engine oil and filter change.

This is what I found when I drained the oil



Does anyone have an idea what these pieces of metal are? They are quite thin, but fairly strong - they can't be bent with your fingers, although they show signs of being mangled on their way to the sump. If it is any help, they aren't magnetic, and appear to have the colour of brass (as I know the photo doesn't show that too well).

Now, she does jump out of second every so often - usually almost always after changing down from third, or if you go through a particularly big pot hole. Could the bits of metal be the cause of that?

So, any ideas? Whatever it is, it is unlikely to be good - and highly likely to be expensive

[wile e coyote]

You're right that is definitely not good news - photo doesn't give much of a clue but I'd suspect from description of other symptoms that it could be a baulk ring see:

http://www.minispare...=...2885&title=

Factory standard ones were brass / bronze...

engine out and gearbox overhaul at minimum - at worst new gearbox

[Ethel]

My guess is selector fork.

[cooperrodeo]

I can't think of anything thin, unless someone has put a homemade shim in somewhere to make up for excessive wear - eg idler gear.

[wolfie]

definetaly bearings most likely big end, ill get a photo tomorrow of the same while attached to the rods still

[Big_Adam]

I bet £5 that GuessWorks figures it out at a glance.

[drumstuck]

I dunno, but I've got a strange feeling I want a game of Monopoly...

[Robert]

Funny you should say that Drumstick - Why do I get the awful feeling that there are going to be Monopoly money figures coming into this?!?

Gearbox is bad enough - but big end bearings?

However, if it was the big end, surely I'd hear it knocking? I can't hear any knocking, or rumbling, oil consumption isn't excessive, pressure is good and she doesn't smoke at all.

A mate of mine suggested running her for another 500 miles or so and then dropping the oil again. What's the consensus on this?

[Ethel]

It's hard to judge the size from the piccy. I doubt it's engine bearing; they are steel backed and couldn't produce particles much bigger than sand that could get free without major engine failure.

Baulk rings and selector forks are the only bronze components I can think of. Baulks are fully machined (flat and angular), selectors are fairly roughly cast and only machined where they touch the gear hubs.

How much swarf was there? If it was only those larger particles out of the ordinary I'd keep on driving.

If you want to flush it use the cheapest oil you can find and just let it idle for a bit,

Funny you should say that Drumstick - Why do I get the awful feeling that there are going to be Monopoly money figures coming into this?!?

Gearbox is bad enough - but big end bearings?

However, if it was the big end, surely I'd hear it knocking? I can't hear any knocking, or rumbling, oil consumption isn't excessive, pressure is good and she doesn't smoke at all.

A mate of mine suggested running her for another 500 miles or so and then dropping the oil again. What's the consensus on this?

[Robert]

Here's another picture to better judge the size. I had to dig around to find a penny!



There was a bit of swarf on the sump plug, but very little - certainly no big bits (just very small filings) and it was by no means covered.

Now being slightly paranoid, I've just been out to the garage and driven her out onto the drive and let her tickover for a while - I've been all over the engine listening for knocking or rumbling and I can't hear any. Unless I am getting cloth ears in my old age! The last car I heard that had a failed big end bearing, it sounded like a bag of bolts.

My Mini just sounds like an A-series!

[guru_1071]

baulk rings are made of sintered steel, not brass (although brass ones where avalible as a performance part, and used in some very early boxes, either way, they wouldnt appear like this in the oil)

those bits look like the remains of the brass/copper thrust washers that go between the body of the diff and the planet gears.

if the diff is worn enough to spit those out, it wont belong before either the diff pin, or the plant gears decide to break and escape through the back of the diff housing.....

[Guess-Works.com]

The man's right, most likely the thrusts from the differential.

I would suspect imminent diff' failure to follow.

[Ethel]

Should have thought of that,

Jack both wheels off the ground and see how much slack there is when you turn one off them before the other moves. If it is the diff you don't want to leave it, if it fails it could easily take the rest of the box and engine with it.

[mk3cortina]

out of intrest, what is considered a normal amount of filings to find on the sump plug? i changed my oil not long ago when i got the car and there was what i considered a lot, however ive never really changed oil in older cars much so i wouldnt know. the oil was rather thick and sludgy so the oil hadnt been changed in a while.

[Robert]

Many thanks everybody. Looks like TJ is going to be off the road for the Summer - just when I thought she was ready to be driven!

Oh well - such is life. Better to find out before the diff lets go!