[Aggie_Devil]

Good afternoon!

I thought I would update a few of you who responded to my question about the oil light. For some background:

The oil light starting coming on after about 30 minutes of driving. It would light up on acceleration and deceleration, so I figured it was the level sensor. I took it to the dealer, they ran check and reset the computer. This fixed nothing. I returned it to the dealer which has had the car for about 6 days now. They have traced the wiring, pulled the sensors and ran every check known to man. They can't figure it out. It looks like they are going to replace the computer and the wiring harness and see what happens. I am still betting that it is the level sensor which doesn't act up until it is warm.

On a plus... the rubber molding above the windshield pulled up on my way to the dealer. When they replaced it, the tech broke the windshield somehow. Good thing since I broke it 1 week after we got the car when following a truck too close and a rock fell out of the bed.

I'll update this later when I get the car back.

Cheers,

Jason

[NEMINI]

someone feel free to sorrect me if I am wrong but there is no oil level indicator on MINI's just an low oil pressure idiot light

[Aggie_Devil]

From what the service guy told me...the "oil light" (its even put this way in my manual) is for pressure, and level. I am sure it might even be tied into temperature.

Is the supercharger cooled with oil by any chance? I don't know much about our Superchargers. I would love to see a picture of one off the car and how in induces the flow. I know much more about turbos that I do about superchargers.

Thanks,

Jason

[Eric_Rowland]

See the picture at:

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/picture10234.html

it's a great visual.

The SC lubricating oil is selfcontained in the front of the unit - no connection to the engine oil.

Cheers!

[gt4pete]

I had a similar issue and it turned out to be the check valve in the oil filter housing. The valve was sticking and causing the oil right next to the thermal oil sensor (the sensor that trips the light). They ran a pressure test on the oil, and when they started the car, the pressure didn't even come up for a couple of seconds, and when it did, it was over spec and the needle was all over the place anyways.

Ask them to run an oil pressure tester near the filter housing, they may find something similar going on. My light would come on intermittently, but always when warm (when the oil is thin and needs the "guidance" of the check valve to move through the passages).

[omnifix1]

gt4pete: How many miles did you put on the car between the time the light began to flicker and the time you brought it in for diagnosis?

I am having the same oil light flicker symptoms; started at just under 400 miles on the odometer. Dealer said (over the phone) that it most certainly is a sensor and/or electrical malfunction -- go ahead and drive the car, and bring it in soon to have it checked out. Now at 800+ miles, and not much has changed. Car will go in to dealer next week. I figure, if it really is a serious low oil pressure situation, they will owe me a new engine.

What did your dealer tell you about the potential for engine damage?

Thanks, Omnifix1

[gt4pete]

Find a condition that makes the light come on that you can duplicate in the service drive of the dealership. Drive it for 40 minutes beforehand, whatever it takes. Also triple check your oil level and track how much you've added and when. When you can get the light on with good repeatability (so that it's not intermittent), make an appointment and go in. If your oil level stay down consistently after adding oil, then stop adding it and take it to the dealer for them to open a repair order, add the oil, and close it so that it's in your service history. Do that again and again so that if you get to the point that the factory rep gets involved (which he will be if you're going to get a motor). Kepp in mind that you've gotta be way under a quart every thousand miles usually to get a new motor (and with like 10k miles on the car, if your just out of break-in and eating oil they won't do a thing).

Don't assume that you can get a motor out of this, because if the condition changes in the time since you've spoken to the service department, no motor will be in your future.

Call them back, tell them it's still on, and book an appointment. I did go for a couple thousand miles with the light on and everything is running perfectly. I did change my oil more frequently than the service recommendation after that for peace of mind(at my own expense), but I'll revert back to the recommendations after my Inspection 1.

The light is red for a reason though, and they need to address it if you've done all the proper maintainance.

[greatgro]

Any updates on this? Mine has been going on intermittently for 10k miles now. i've taken it to the dealer twice and they say there is nothing wrong. I think I'm going to take it to a different dealer and bring this thread with me.

[Aggie_Devil]

I think I posted a response to the somewhere else, but I might as well do it here also.

So....

It ended up having the sensors replaced, the computer replaced, and finally, the wiring harness. It ended up being the wiring harness. The dealership couldn't test it, but they decided to just go ahead and replace it anyway.

So, that's all I really know. They tried everything and it was the harness.

Jason

[omnifix1]

I had the same problem (see my reply to Grommit in a parallel thread). I gave my dealer a strong hint per Gromit's experience and input he got from Mini USA: a chafed wire from the oil sending unit. Sure enough, they found that such a wire in my S had lost some of its insulation due to rubbing against a heat shield, and was intermittently shorting out, causing the oil light to flicker. It was repaired two weeks ago, and no oil light flicker since. Tell your dealer to focus on the sending unit wire. Good luck!