Oil Pan Gasket Fails at 33,000 miles

[GPH]

My oil presssure light starting going on and off last week. Would turn on under acceleration and turning, and then turn off when cruising. Took it to dealer to have it checked out today.

The light was going on as I was running low on oil due to a leak. The oil pan gasket has failed. I asked why this would happen at only 33,000 miles, and was told that due to the extreme climates we have here in Minnesota this is not uncommon. Apparently the oil pan and engine are different metals, steel and aluminum. Therefore they expand and contract at different rates. With extreme temp swings this places great stress on the gasket.

There's logic there, but is it true? Are others living in climates with extreme cold temps having similar issues?

Thanks

[oldmots]

Sounds like malarkey to me. Any engineer with the sense God gave an ant can plan for temperature extremes in such simple situations.

[humph]

Don't know about the different metals, but my gasket was replaced a couple of weeks ago. the car is an Oct 06 Cooper with 42k on the clock.

[GPH]

The dealer actually replaced both the pan gasket and the valve cover gasket as they were both leaking. It's a 03 MC with only 33,000 miles (yes, that's less than 7,000 miles/year!). Due to the low mileage MINI USA covered part of the cost for me . Which was a good thing as the labor cost to put in the relatively inexpensive neoprene gasket was astronomical.