MLCMK Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 My daughter came round yesterday and asked me to check the oil in her 03 Mini Cooper so I popped open the bonnet and checked the level. Strange, the dip stick was completely dry, not a drop of oil in sight so quick trip out to get a couple of litres of oil, started the process of putting oil about 250ml at a time, starting car, allowing it to circulate and then re-measuring the level again. All 2 litres put in this way (with my disbelief that the level could be this low) and the oil level is only just on the end of dipstick but well below the minimum level. Another trip out to buy more oil and the process above was repeated, Finally after adding a total of 3.75 litres of oil, the level on the dipstick is in the middle of the min / max. Did a quick check online and it looks like the oil capacity is 5l for the car so amazed the thing was still running as I'm sure it will still take between 0.25l and 0.5l to bring it to the max line (a job for later today as I ran out of daylight) Strange as no warning light on the car was indicating low oil but I think this was a lucky escape with regards to her not seizing the engine of the car, by my reckoning she was driving around with approx 20% of the required oil in the car (she has also been out in the car already and remarked how much quieter the car is and the loud tapping sound from the engine has gone!) Anyone else had a similar experience (the car had to survive for it to count!) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Sell it quickly. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Sell it quickly. This but also and I don't mean any disrespect but she should know how to check and top up her oil if she's driving. When you finish the job today why don't you take the time to show her and tell her it's a weekly job she must do... Also checking tyres and pressures etc while you're at it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 If it's an 03 I'd be getting shut before the cooling system, power steering and or timing chain tensioner give up regardless of the oil situation! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLCMK Posted August 10, 2016 Author Share Posted August 10, 2016 Sell it quickly. This but also and I don't mean any disrespect but she should know how to check and top up her oil if she's driving. When you finish the job today why don't you take the time to show her and tell her it's a weekly job she must do... Also checking tyres and pressures etc while you're at it. Completely agree and she has been shown multiple times how to do all the above (her excuse for the oil was she didn't have a halfords near her to which my wife and I both replied that it shouldn't stop her regularly checking the level herself) then came the excuses about not having the time etc etc. Hopefully she has learnt her lesson now and will start, if not then she'll have plenty of time to contemplate while she's waiting around for buses! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 yeah, had a mates mini cooper S that was drinking oil... starts making a horrible noise, and his oil was well off the bottom of the dipstick, completely dry. funny thing is he let it happen again as well. And I also think that once a car runs low on oil, it keeps using more oil. I wont tell you about the time my track car died on track due to oil starvation... needless to say, I now check oil a lot more frequently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350zedd Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I usually check the wife and daughters cars. If it was left to them, I'd probably be in the same situation. Thats why when you see a car advertised as "1 careful lady owner" avoid it like the plague, for similar reasons Sorry girls! I know you're not all like that. Remind me also not to buy an 03 Mini Cooper in the Milton Keynes area!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomb Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 My Mrs had an early mini and was nothing but trouble. In the end it had an oil pump failure and cooked itself í ½í±í ¼í¿½ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Ive a mate just like that. He asked me if I could give his car a service. So he bought it over and I checked the oil level and like the OP, it wasnt even remotely showing on the dipstick. I asked him when he had last changed the oil & he said never. Transpired he hadnt even checked the oil level in 7 years of ownership. Amazing what some people are like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Sell it quickly. ^This^ Almost certainly damage has been caused 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R35LEE Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Agree with what everyone is saying here, sell it in an auction and tell her to get a reliable japanese car 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Which won't be any more reliable when you let it run dry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I love the wonderful honest people we have on this forum advising the OP to sell the car onto someone else so they can deal with the probable issues which no doubt they won't have been made aware of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPod Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 This is just like my sis she's had an aygo for a wile and were always like make sure to check your oil,screen wash blah blah blah. She's like yeah no bother found out she completely ignored us checked her oil and it wasn't even on the dipstick (her oil light was on too) then she goes its ok will fill it up down at the petrol station. She actually thought you got oil out a machine just like air for your tyre no joke hahaha. Anyway cars running just as good now a year later after nearly blowing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 (edited) As a younger man i had a white van delivery job and we were instructed to check the oil in our Mercedes vans every day. Of course we all couldn't be bothered and a once a week seemed like plenty. Come one Thursday my van broke down and the engine wouldn't restart, then wouldn't even turn over. The engineers report was that the engine was so starved of oil the big ends had basically welded themselves on to the crank via the bearings.God only knows how I talked myself out of that one but I survived without a sacking. Edited August 10, 2016 by Toon Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLandy Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Warning light generally only comes on when it's too late anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I love the wonderful honest people we have on this forum advising the OP to sell the car onto someone else so they can deal with the probable issues which no doubt they won't have been made aware of. Weeeeell its one of them isnt it.....look after you own Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Had to laugh.....mini turned up this morning at our place. Radiator busted. 3rd she's had I'm 3 years (not supplied by us in might add). Eurocarparts ......35 quid plus vat for a new one sir? Sorry? How much? Is it made of cheese? Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Cheese might be the ultimate coolant, just no-ones tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 My brother had a really old Fiat Supermirafiori ages ago, he asked me to hep put oil in it once but the bonnet was rusted shut, needless to say it didn't last much longer and seized at full pelt in the middle of a busy motorway! There wasn't an accident luckily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 ...She actually thought you got oil out a machine just like air for your tyre no joke hahaha. I can believe that. Years ago when I lived at home with my parents I came home from work one day and this pretty blonde girl I knew who lived down the road flagged me down. She asked me if I could help her as her car had broken down in town (some 7 miles away). I agreed to help her as I've known her for years, plus she is very fit. When we got to her car I discovered it was nothing major, just she had let the petrol run too low & it had conked out going up a slight incline. I said; "We'll go to a petrol station & you can get a petrol can so we can put some fuel back in your car" We get to the petrol station and she walks inside to buy the petrol can. She then comes out carrying a petrol can with a bemused look on her face... "It's empty though?!" She said. Needless to say I did the gentlemanly thing, filled up the petrol can, took her back to her car and got it started for her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350zedd Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 ...She actually thought you got oil out a machine just like air for your tyre no joke hahaha. I can believe that. Years ago when I lived at home with my parents I came home from work one day and this pretty blonde girl I knew who lived down the road flagged me down. She asked me if I could help her as her car had broken down in town (some 7 miles away). I agreed to help her as I've known her for years, plus she is very fit. When we got to her car I discovered it was nothing major, just she had let the petrol run too low & it had conked out going up a slight incline. I said; "We'll go to a petrol station & you can get a petrol can so we can put some fuel back in your car" We get to the petrol station and she walks inside to buy the petrol can. She then comes out carrying a petrol can with a bemused look on her face... "It's empty though?!" She said. Needless to say I did the gentlemanly thing, filled up the petrol can, took her back to her car and got it started for her. Did she show her gratitude for what you had done for her, later on that evening? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Did she show her gratitude for what you had done for her, later on that evening? I wish especially as I was single then. She's a year or so older than me so even though we lived in the same street for years & flirted together she was always seeing older guys. Oh well just wasn't meant to be although she still waves & smiles when she sees me now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.