16 replies to this topic

[racingbob]

this is interesting one of  my mates bought a cooper sport

 

I said did you check the oil he said no

 

well we checked it and the oil was just touching the bottom

 

of the stick, looking back at the service history the oil was changed

 

3000 miles ago.so had NEVER been topped up. so for hundreds of miles

 

the car has been driven just above the bottom of the stick

 

how much oil is in the engine at the bottom of the stick.

 

we changed the oil put in a oil pressure gauge and guess what

 

the shows 75lbs at 3000 revs when hot and 40 idle

 

boy was we surprised. so just shows not to panic when oil is showing on minimum

[nicklouse]

Unless you have corners on your route and don't have a center pick up pipe.

[Gremlin]

Please do not day things like don't panic when the oil level is on minimum on a public forum, some people may take this as trusted advice and may not be able to judge whether it is sensible or not

[mingy]

I think old bob means that if the oil level is as he has stated then you may drive the car very carefully until you can top it up asap, i bought a Metro 1.4 Gta last year , i drove it to Lancashire from Birmingham up the M6 at 65/70 mph all the way back.

I checked the oil next morning only to find it did not register on the dipstick.. .

I topped it up to the correct level and it still runs perfect, checking the oil is all part and parcel of your weekly checks and should not be overlooked.

[racingbob]

Please do not day things like don't panic when the oil level is on minimum on a public forum, some people may take this as trusted advice and may not be able to judge whether it is sensible or not

what I said was DONT PANIC oh my god its on minimum wheres

 the oil, anyone with any sense knows it should be topped up asap

please don't take things out of text and make me look stupid

[Gremlin]

I wasn't trying to make you look stupid and sorry if it appears that way, just merely stating that it is is best to panic when your oil level is low

[Earwax]

It is a good surprise but not one that should be relied upon , but a good result none the less, ( and good follow up testing bob).  The rest of this post is NOT ADVICE but rather speculation, so don't try this at home. it is more of a curious notion 

 

it would seem the manufacturers oil level has built in tolerances to cater for different needs. these include lubrication at wide ranging rpms, volume required, minimum splash, heat dissipation, cornering etc. With dry sumping now quite common (not necessarily in A series), the traditional notion of oil level could POSSIBLY ( again don't try this at home) be substituted by volume/ flow/ etc... doing a part by part breakdown of lubrication requirements/ heat dissipation requirements , say of drop gears, synchro, mains etc could actually deliver different answers if you add in new oil capabilities for sheer/load again it could be that dipstick level is a starting point.....  

[Dan]

Remember that in a Mini the dipstick level is not just the engine oil level but also the transmission oil level. As the level drops the gears will start to dry before the engine pickup starts taking air.

[Cooperman]

The nominal difference between 'full' & 'low' on the dipstick is 1 pint. That is 1/8th or 12.5% of the oil capacity.

At that level it will only be a problem if the car is cornered hard to the right as the oil will surge across the sump and the oil pick-up pipe will be sucking ait instead of oil. This will cause big-end & main-bearing shell failure quire quickly.

If a central oil pick-up pipe is fitted the oil level can easily go to 1/4" below 'low' without it being a risk to the engine, although it is not to be advised.

The accuracy of the dipstick mark positions can easily be +/- 1/8".

[Dan]

He said the level was at the bottom of the stick, I estimate that's about 2 pints below minimum.

[Alex_B]

I have been caught out a few times with low oil level, (my mini like many others has the factory option "active under body rust protection" in the form of an oil leak) I only notice issues with pressure drop on my gauge when I take roundabouts a bit quick, no other issues under gentle driving. This aside I still top up asap!

[racingbob]

He said the level was at the bottom of the stick, I estimate that's about 2 pints below minimum.

its amazing eh so there would have only been 3 pints in there

and it had been like it for hundreds of miles its quite bizzare

[firstforward]

What is amazing is that somebody would buy a car without checking the oil.

[Cooperman]

OK. I read the original post as the 'bottom of the stick' as being the 'bottom mark on the stick', on the basis that surely no-one would let their oil level get that low. However, we must never be surprised at what some people do  .

[Curley]

I wasn't trying to make you look stupid and sorry if it appears that way, just merely stating that it is is best to panic when your oil level is low

 

It's NEVER a good idea to panic!