42 replies to this topic

[Mini Cheddars]

Austin-Morris 1000. Standard besides a K&N filter, twin-box RC40, Maniflow 3-into-1 manifold and a breather filter.

First let me tell you how my day has gone today to give you an idea of what the problem may be... Before I proceed, I'll just say that I knew my engine oil was low (oil leak) but didn't know it was empty. I normally get paid on Fridays but because of this Christmas/new year period I only got paid today as opposed to last week. I had no money to buy oil last week.

So! I have an 18 mile commute to work via the motorway. That's one way. This morning on my commute I heard a knocking noise about 8 miles from home. I was well onto the M3 by this time. It was just a faint knocking noise and I knew I needed to put some oil in so because it was only a faint noise, I thought it would be fine until I get paid later today and I can go buy some oil from Halfords (I get paid about 1pm).

Then as I was driving along I noticed my speed was dropping. I was on flat, level ground so thought that this was odd. Combined with the knocking noise I decided to pull onto the hard shoulder. Had a look under the bonnet and saw some faint smoke or steam coming from the vent hole in the oil filler cap. I noticed the same when I pulled the dipstick out. Twisting the oil filler cap off I noticed quite a large build up of 'mayo'. I used to have mayo on my 2 mile commute to work - which I could understand - but this is a lot further so my chances of mayo occuring should be much lessened. This confounded me.

Pulled the dipstick out, wiped it dry, dipped it, pulled it out and it was still dry. Empty. Uh oh. I also noticed some white powdery stuff coming from the breather filter by the rad, as well as some on a black hose leading into the bulkhead beside the rocker cover above the clutch.

I walked a mile to the nearest garage with about £10 in my account. Bought 1L of 5W30 (I think) synthetic oil. Put it in. Drove it forwards a bit and the knocking noise disappeared. "Great!" I thought. Then the noise came back almost after I thought that.

So I called the RAC for the first time ever in my 2 year membership. At first it was gonna be a tow rope jobbie. I asked him if he had any 20W50 in the van but he said it probably won't be worth it if there's a knocking noise. I said I wanted to try anyway. I said the knocking noise went away for a moment when I put 1L of 5W30 in. He said okay and he went into the back of the van. He couldn't find any 20W50 but found 10W40. Close enough. Oil's oil at a time like this. Put it in and drove forwards. No knocking noise. "Fantastic!". The plan was to drive 4 miles to Fleet services all the way up the hard shoulder with the van behind me. Got there with no knocking noise. Not even once. I was in fourth gear reaching about 40 MPH for some of the time, too.

We pulled into the services and I told him it seemed fine. No noise. Then I went on my way to work. Didn't hear any knocking the rest of the 3-4 miles.

Later on my lunch break I drove the car to Halfords which was a 4 mile journey. I heard a faint knocking noise a couple of times. Once near the start and once near the end. Got to Halfords and bought the 20W50 in the green tin and filled the car up to the MAX line then drove back to work. Seemed fine.

Finished work about 4:15 and took a colleague to the train station which is a 3 mile journey. Took him there and car seemed fine. Drove to Halfords 1.4m away and again seemed fine. Then drove onwards to the M3 to Basingstoke. About 9.5 miles in the knocking noise returned. Bugger. Pulled over for an investigation under the bonnet. Saw the same powdery stuff as I saw earlier but the oil was still on the MAX line. So I called the RAC again...

He turned up and took the rocker cover off. I've never delved that far into an engine before so have extremely limited knowledge but he said the springs seemed fine. Not loose. Although he did say one set of springs seemed a teeny tiny bit looser than the rest and I think that was on cylinder 1; closest to the rad. Couldn't fix it at the roadside so towed me home on his A-frame dolly thing.

Got home and he said he should be charging me £10 but he couldn't be arsed. Score!

Something I just remembered: I've been driving my car through puddles left, right and centre lately (love puddles!!!) along bumpy country lanes. I wonder if that's had a bearing on my problems ie water in the cylinders + lack of oil = knocking noise coming from... ?

Unfortunately I won't really be able to look at the car until the weekend. Off to a classic car show tomorrow and then working through daylight hours until Saturday.

[Badboytunes]

If you run the engine low on oil especially at high spees you will knacker your engine up , simple as that.


The steam / smoke comming from the breather was vapour from the very hot internals of the engine. Not a good sign either.


You may be lucky but id say you have caused irreversable damage. Nothing worse that finding out the hard way.............

Next time get the bus or get some oil.

[mattdc2r]

Yeah, sounds like you're buggered. Loss of power under acceleration and the mayo hint at head gasket failure. Easy enough to sort. The knocking could be anything, but definitely need to look at that and don't drive it again until you have it sorted, because small problems soon become big problems.

[Mini Cheddars]

The steam / smoke comming from the breather was vapour from the very hot internals of the engine. Not a good sign either.

I couldn't see any smoke coming from the breather filter. Just some white powdery chalky residue.

I did a search on here before I posted this thread for knocking noises coming from the engine and a few people suggested doing a compression test and/or changing the head gasket. I'm kind of scared to do a compression test as that would mean starting the engine. :\

[Mini Cheddars]

Yeah, sounds like you're buggered. Loss of power under acceleration and the mayo hint at head gasket failure. Easy enough to sort. The knocking could be anything, but definitely need to look at that and don't drive it again until you have it sorted, because small problems soon become big problems.

I won't be starting it again until I have a good set of ideas of what to do next.

I don't mind doing a head gasket change. Never done one before so would be a good learning experience. So that could fix the mayo/loss of power problem but then there's the knocking...

[garrymacmini]

Pull your ht leads before you turn it, that way it wont ignite but will still turn, only problem you have there though is if you have no oil, chances are your piston rings are fubar, as well as shells etc, the only way you are gonna find out is to crack her open and have a look!

[Badboytunes]

Doing a compression test does not need the car running. Take out all of the spark plugs and remove the ht lead from the coil to the dizzy cap.

[Mini Cheddars]

Pull your ht leads before you turn it, that way it wont ignite but will still turn, only problem you have there though is if you have no oil, chances are your piston rings are fubar, as well as shells etc, the only way you are gonna find out is to crack her open and have a look!

Cheers for the tip. It has oil now but had none earlier. I couldn't see any smoke coming out of the exhaust this morning on the hard shoulder, which could mean rings are gone if there was.

Doing a compression test does not need the car running. Take out all of the spark plugs and remove the ht lead from the coil to the dizzy cap.

Cheers. I was under the assumption I needed the car running.

Edited by Mini Cheddars, 31 December 2012 - 08:52 PM.

[sledgehammer]

If it were me , I would get an oil pressure gauge , fit it , note the pressure

change oil & filter - note the pressure - sounds like you burn't the ends due to low oil level

when hot get your oil pressure & report on here

the head gasket can tick - knock like an end - so no harm in removing it & inspecting for damage

I think you have burn't your ends - but I hope to be proven wrong

[Mini Cheddars]

Well I have an oil pressure gauge so that's something. Last time I looked I think I was near Halfords after I finished work and it was at 50 so halfway.

It could actually do with a filter change to be honest. I've not done one in the two years I've had it but it's always been leaking oil and I've only driven it for one out of the two years I've owned it.

What do you mean by "ends"? Do you mean big end bearings (if I have that right)? Eep.

[Cooperman]

If it's been run with virtually no oil in then you should expect the big end and main bearing shells and probably the piston rings as well are all done for. Oil is a major factor in engine cooling as well, so probably the head gasket.
You really need to take the engine out and strip it to check what the actual damage is.
Sorry, but it ain't gonna be a good start to the new year if you need a full engine re-build, but that's what happens if the oil gets low.

[garrymacmini]

Well I have an oil pressure gauge so that's something. Last time I looked I think I was near Halfords after I finished work and it was at 50 so halfway.

It could actually do with a filter change to be honest. I've not done one in the two years I've had it but it's always been leaking oil and I've only driven it for one out of the two years I've owned it.

What do you mean by "ends"? Do you mean big end bearings (if I have that right)? Eep.

All of the above, to be honest bud I think as Cooperman says don't look after it it's gonna cost you!

[Mini Cheddars]

Looks like it isn't going to be a cheap, easy fix then from what you guys are saying.

I have no idea what I'm looking at when it comes to engines and gearbox internals. A quick-ish way of getting this sorted is by getting it rebuilt by someone like Guessworks. £600 as mentioned here. The longer but cheaper way would be to buy an engine/gearbox book and/or DVD and follow the instructions as well as create a thread on here. But I've only had the car back a month after getting it clamped, impounded then at Minispeed for MOT repair work done which came to over £1,000. What a nightmare, At least I don't have to worry about tax and MOT this time.

Although I do have some helpful members in my club that I could turn to which would reduce the price of any repair work quite a bit. Club meet tomorrow night so will speak to the knowledgeable ones there if they're there. See if they can lend a hand.

[tiger99]

First of all, it is pointless running any car, not just a Mini, if you can't afford to keep it topped up with oil, as it is guaranteed to always end very badly, no exceptions. If it has been knocking, it is already far too late. Your false economy has probably cost you about £1000 for a rebuilt engine and gearbox.

Also, don't waste your money on synthetic, which is completely unsuitable for Mini gearboxes and may cause damage, as well as wasting money. Plain old fashioned 10W40 or 20W50 is acceptable, 5W30, synthetic or not, is only for modern engines and will itself rapidly wreck both engine and gearbox, which were designed for thicker oil.

[Mini Cheddars]

They had no 10W40 in the garage, just 5W30, 15WSomething then diesel oil.

The 1L of 10W40 stopped the knocking noise for about 8 miles before I put 20W50 in. Then I'd say about 20 miles later the knocking returned.

Was a lovely way to spend New Year's Eve.

An engine/gearbox rebuild is £600 at Guessworks. That includes chemically dipping it and painting it but doesn't include head skimming. Where did the £1,000 figure come from?