16 replies to this topic

[peteygee]

I own a Rover Mini Cooper S 1.3 1999

 

Grim times, but here goes ........

 

First of all a small bit of background to what my car has recently been through, poor thing! My car was reared recently by a clumsy french driver, caving in the boot and knocking the exhaust off its rubber mountings. Now the first thing I noticed was the shear difficulty of getting the exhaust back on to it mounting point so I thought maybe the shunt from the other vehicle had cause a slight bend in the exhaust somewhere. But, I don't know because thats the first interaction I have had with the exhaust, so could well be normal for my car (only purchased the car in February this year).  

 

Anyway a few days prior to the accident I noticed a small pool of oil in my parking space, I had recently topped up after a long journey with 10w40 synthetic. I later read that 20w50 mineral would be the oil of choice for most rover mini owners. With that in mind I had to wait a month to get my car repaired (new boot and bumper), and drove to the nearest place to buy oil. Now then, the car ran fine with no issues but was low on oil (10w40). I purchased 20w50 and put 5L of the stuff in.

 

This is where the problems start, when driving under say 3000rpm its ok, but anything above that my exhaust chucks out a mass amount of white smoke as though my car has decided it wants to take up making clouds as a hobby! I drove it for around 15miles at about 35mph and the smoke was no existant, then when I put my foot down and went above the 3000rpm I got the mass amount of smoke again .... not good at all !!

 

I am a novice when it comes to cars, but I was thinking surely the piston rings or seals wouldnt just go instantly and would be more of a wearing process gradually getting worse? Or is the mix of oil causing the issue because I didnt drain the 10w40 initially before putting the 20w50 in? Is the 20w50 too thick for my car?

 

Any help would be appreciated, I think my first port of call is to drain the oil and put the 10w40 back in to see if the problem persists. But the car does have an oil leak and it drops down from the front of the engine.

 

thanks in advance, sorry for the lack of technical explanation!

 

Pete

Edited by peteygee, 29 July 2015 - 08:22 AM.

[firstforward]

Can you explain this further in more detail as to what you exactly did....it reads that you put another 5L oil with the existing 5L making 10L of oil in your engine?

 

" Or is the mix of oil causing the issue because I didnt drain the 10w40 initially before putting the 20w50 in? Is the 20w50 too thick for my car?"

[peteygee]

Ah no, after picking my car up from the repair garage there was next to no oil in there, so I put 5L in. Are you thinking too much oil might be causing this?

 

thanks

[firstforward]

What is next to no oil? What amount showed up on the dip stick? Edit: before and after?

Edited by firstforward, 29 July 2015 - 09:13 AM.

[peteygee]

There was a small evident of oil but way below the min marker on the dip stick.

[firstforward]

Owning any car you must check the oil level frequently and especially on a classic car. Yes you can overfill the engine but depending on how much you have overfilled it will be a factor on whether you have caused some permanent damage. You do not say how much the dipstick reads after you put in the additional 5L. I do not know that actual amount you need to overfill before it smokes excessively or causes damage but check the level now and if it is way over the dip stick full marker drain some out, maybe easier by siphoning some out of the dip stick hole with a small tube.

 

The 20/50 is just fine, I have filled mine up some 15mm over the max, but I drove it easy not revving it high for a few 100 miles until it burnt some off, 15mm and there was no sign of excess smoke so I guess you have filled it up way too much if this is indeed the problem.

Edited by firstforward, 29 July 2015 - 09:31 AM.

[mister bridger]

For a full oil change, having drained the old oil first, you should only need 4.5 litres, so it sounds like you have massively over-filled it.

[peteygee]

Thanks for your responses guys, a clear school boy error here, I will be going to check the oil level soon. For now I will just put my head in the bin !!

[spiguy]

Agree with the above. From min to max on the dipstick is a pint, and the distance from nothing showing on the dipstick to the min line is about the same, but lets say its a bit more for the sake of argument, and it's a litre. If the dipstick was just showing and no more, then that would still be about 3 litres or so of oil in the engine. If you then put in 5 litres, you could be up to 8 litres!  With that amount of oil in there I'm not surprised that some is being burned off, and higher revs would be most likely to create this scenario. More of an issue is the strain the excess oil is putting on seals in the engine. You really want to get the oil level back down to the correct level asap.

 

You will likely need to drain some out and recheck, repeating the process until it is back down to the max level on the dipstick. Personally I would do this with the engine cold, as you will be fiddling around with the sump plug trying to hold it against the flow and then put it back in when you have drained some off, which will be unpleasant if the oil coming out is hot

 

If you are draining off, just estimate a pint at a time until you get there. Remember to wipe the dipstick thoroughly each time you check, and wait a minute or two between draining some and checking.

[peteygee]

Well, it seems I have been a complete idiot and filled the car 50mm above the max on the dipstick !! 50mm !!

 

I will drain this crazy amount of excess oil tonight, and take the car for a run and see if that solves the problem. I will need shooting if I have caused serious damage to the engine after doing this.

 

Thanks again gents.

[spiguy]

Fingers crossed, but I think you will have got away with it. If there isn't oil peeing out various places, or clutch slip or anything untoward bar the smoke, then you will probably be OK. Always a chance it could have had an effect on the CAT, but you won't know until you have the emissions checked at MOT time. My last mini was a bit of an oil burner, about a pint in 3-400 miles (did it from the day I bought it at only 20k miles) and in the 10 years I ran it, it never failed an emissions test so they can cope with a bit of oil going through.

[Stiggytoo]

I'm sorry. I don't want to sound rude, but you appear to know what a dipstick is, where to find it and how it works. How have you neglected to check the oil level after filling? And why was 5 litres added?!

Edited by Stiggytoo, 29 July 2015 - 09:22 PM.

[peteygee]

because I am a dipstick ... obviously

[bob540]

And here I was worrying about 5mm! http://www.theminifo...-overfilled-oil

[corrado vr6]

As you have a mixture of oils anyway I would say drain the lot out and do a complete oil and filter change, obviously this could be seen as a waste of money if you have done some damage to the engine but in my eyes it would be the way forward as the synthetic is to thin anyway.
Don't forget to keep checking that dipstick though, pour some in let it run down to the sump and settle then check the dipstick and continue to do this until its correct level. Then run the engine for a short time to get the oil into the filter etc then leave it to settle again and top up.
Remember it's easier to add then to take it back out!