well, on my way home today, we were blowing heaps of smoke out the tail. it tended to be on decelleration but on acceration is was still moderate and whilst cruising...none really.

when i got home, there was engine oil spitting out of the air filter. i have the stock airfilter assembly with the cone intake just above the manifold and oil was literally spitting out of this intake..

the oil is now pooled up where the brake and clutch main cylinders bolt sown to and all the way to under the fuse box. there is some oil towards the radiator side as well...so it's bloody everywhere ....and dripping on my driveway no other oil leaks can be seen from around the head or block.

what's going on here??

Do you have one of the engine breathers connected to the air filter box? If your rings are gone you'll get a bit of blow by and it will force oil out the breathers and into your air filter. Been there, done that. The original air filters had a drain hole in the bottom.

the only hose going into my air filter is from the rocker cover......... oooo there could be somthing there

Doesn't sound too good at any rate.....

Point it into a coke bottle for the time being, see how much oil is being punched out of that tube when you drive it..

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

"see how much oil is being punched out of that tube when you drive it"

why is that? at the moment i can tell you it spits out heaps. it's lost at least a 250ml on my driveway....so on the way home i must have lost heaps more...let me check the oil level and i'll be back.

dude sounds like u have blown ur piston rings, the compression is going past the piston and building pressure in the sump which is forcing the oil out, whats ur oil pressure gauge read?

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oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower

didn't check oil pressure but will do in a minute.

in a trip of about 30Kms mainly at 3500 RPMs, i've lost about 400ml....according to the dip stick.

have u over heated the car recently or ran it dry of oil?

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oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower

Sounds like you've thrown a ring or something pretty drastic! That's a lot of oil. I wouldn't drive it until you've inspected it properly, maybe a compression test is in order?

checked oil pressure....that seems pretty good, as in no different to before.

if anything a bit the pressure is a little higher

yeah dude its ur compression doing that man when u drive does it go higher then normal?

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oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower

my water temp gauge has been playing silly buggers so i get minus 50 degrees (no reading) in every run but it once recently came up to normal (maybe it was overheating then). the mini has always had oil in there.

dude if it has overheated u maybe have caused some problems with ur rings i wouldnt drive the car until u got it check out by an engine reconditioner or something dude

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oil leak?..what oil leak..that puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower

my oil pressure has always increased with revs, ever since i bought it.

it's not right anyway so looks like a rebuild...ffffffffff. good and bad...i just pay for a years rego.

Forget about the oil pressure, it has no effect on what is going on here. The oil pressure is a better indicator of engine bearings, crankshaft, etc, but not piston rings. The only time your oil pressure will come into play here is once you've lost a few too many litres of oil through the breather.

Have the engine checked by a mechanic, you may need to do some engine work before you ruin it further. There's a classic car mechanic in one of the streets behind Autobarn Coconut Grove, he was pretty good around a-series engines if i remember right.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.