R56 Oil warning light flashing on and off - HELP!!!

Results 1 to 8 of 8
  1. #1
    Single-handedly bankrupting eBay Ferengo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Dundee
    Car
    F56 JCW Cooper S
    Posts
    1,294
    Hi all.

    Not been on here in a while but really need your help.

    I have an R56 from 2007 which we've had since new. Recently (Early Dec) the oil warning light came on. We had an issue reading the dipstick and found that the car needed around 2.5 litres of oil adding to it. Shortly after this the engine management light came on. So it was put into the garage. They said there was no fault found relating to the fault codes it was producing. So they reset them and road tested. Again the light came on so we took it back, the night before it went in the light went off but they still checked it. Again, no fault found relating to the codes.

    Drove the car from the garage to my work and the warning light flashed on for the oil for about 2 secs and went off. This happened a couple of times. Called them and booked it in. In between this the oil light came on and went off a few times but only for 2 secs at a time. They checked it again. Reset the camshaft values (or something like that, not 100% sure), checked the applicable areas, road tested and said it's ok. Well it's not. Still flashing up the oil warning light.

    So it's been in 3 times over a month and I've spent just over £200 and still have issues. I've looked online and people have reported this issue (not very common though) but never seem to come back with a solution or fix. Does anyone have any ideas, help, solutions, things to check?

    Thanks, for any help. G.

  2. #2
    MINI Nutter N16SHP's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Aberdeen
    Car
    F56 Cooper
    Posts
    2,618
    Could it be a faulty sensor or corrosion in the wiring? I've heard of that happening on occasion but not necessarily relating to this particular problem? My Mrs had an issue with her R56 S where the side light warning light kept coming on but the lights were still on. Upon further inspection the light unit was corroded and weirdly still illuminated but also sent a fault back to the car.
    MINI F56 Cooper in Deep Blue with black roof and caps.

  3. #3
    Site Owner badwolf340's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Scottish Borders
    Car
    X3 M competition,F56 GP ,F54 JCW white silver edtionTrafic Formula Edition
    Posts
    4,246
    Quote Originally Posted by Ferengo View Post
    Hi all.

    Not been on here in a while but really need your help.

    I have an R56 from 2007 which we've had since new. Recently (Early Dec) the oil warning light came on. We had an issue reading the dipstick and found that the car needed around 2.5 litres of oil adding to it. Shortly after this the engine management light came on. So it was put into the garage. They said there was no fault found relating to the fault codes it was producing. So they reset them and road tested. Again the light came on so we took it back, the night before it went in the light went off but they still checked it. Again, no fault found relating to the codes.

    Drove the car from the garage to my work and the warning light flashed on for the oil for about 2 secs and went off. This happened a couple of times. Called them and booked it in. In between this the oil light came on and went off a few times but only for 2 secs at a time. They checked it again. Reset the camshaft values (or something like that, not 100% sure), checked the applicable areas, road tested and said it's ok. Well it's not. Still flashing up the oil warning light.

    So it's been in 3 times over a month and I've spent just over £200 and still have issues. I've looked online and people have reported this issue (not very common though) but never seem to come back with a solution or fix. Does anyone have any ideas, help, solutions, things to check?

    Thanks, for any help. G.
    When was the Oil /filter last changed ?,is the physical level ok,if these are all ok the next thing I would do is check the Oil pressure sender to make sure it's OK .Does the Oil light come on from a Cold start and are there any noises ? .An oil pressure gauge would be handy to connect and see what kind of pressure you are getting. After that suspect the Oil pump before going to problems within the engine ,hope this helps
    The cars in front are New MINI Scotland

  4. #4
    Single-handedly bankrupting eBay Ferengo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Dundee
    Car
    F56 JCW Cooper S
    Posts
    1,294
    Quote Originally Posted by N16SHP View Post
    Could it be a faulty sensor or corrosion in the wiring? I've heard of that happening on occasion but not necessarily relating to this particular problem? My Mrs had an issue with her R56 S where the side light warning light kept coming on but the lights were still on. Upon further inspection the light unit was corroded and weirdly still illuminated but also sent a fault back to the car.
    We have an issue as well with the light warning light where in it displays that a light is out but all the lights are actually working. We just put up with that, has been ongoing for about a year. Though it might be worth me checking out the lights to see if I can fix that problem too. Cheers.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by badwolf340 View Post
    When was the Oil /filter last changed ?,is the physical level ok,if these are all ok the next thing I would do is check the Oil pressure sender to make sure it's OK .Does the Oil light come on from a Cold start and are there any noises ? .An oil pressure gauge would be handy to connect and see what kind of pressure you are getting. After that suspect the Oil pump before going to problems within the engine ,hope this helps
    To be honest I don't know. It's always been serviced when it should and taken in ASAP for any warning lights etc... I'll get them to check as they have serviced it for the last 3 years.

    It doesn't come on from cold. Just random times. I think I had the engine running for about 10 mins the first time. And on the way into the garage yesterday it must have come on within about the same time I guess. There's no noises that are out of normal.

    I'll call them tomorrow and ask what they have tried and checked etc... If I get anything back from them I'll report back here.

    I don't want to get rid of the car as we've looked after it and we like it. I'd much rather get it fixed if possible. Fingers crossed.

  5. #5
    Want More BHP! CraigR53's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Ayr, South Ayrshire
    Car
    R53 Mini Cooper S
    Posts
    386
    Have you noticed that the light it coming on as you round a corner? if the oil is low then it could be staving the oil pump and causing the oil warning light to jump on for a few seconds, just a thought, I've watched this happen before.

  6. #6
    Single-handedly bankrupting eBay Ferengo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Dundee
    Car
    F56 JCW Cooper S
    Posts
    1,294
    Quote Originally Posted by CraigR53 View Post
    Have you noticed that the light it coming on as you round a corner? if the oil is low then it could be staving the oil pump and causing the oil warning light to jump on for a few seconds, just a thought, I've watched this happen before.
    Hi Craig.

    Yeah, I saw the threads about that. Last time it came on for me it was a straight road. As mentioned the oil was low but has been topped up and on the first time into the garage it was checked and topped up. It has also been checked each time it was in and it has remained where it is without issue.

    I should clarify that when the oil warning light came on first it was constant. The issue with the light flashing on and the engine light coming on have only happened since we topped the oil up.

    Drove the car to work this morning and the engine management light is on constant, the warning light for my lights has gone off (This sometimes happens) but the oil light hasn't flashed up for me so far.

    The garage are going to call me later so I will ask what they have checked and when the last time the filter was changed. I would guess it's common sense to replace the filter when doing an oil change? If so the oil was done on 3/11/15 and has done around 4000 miles since then.

  7. #7
    No point in changing the oil without doing the filter. Mind you, it won't exactly be blocked after only 4k.

    If you had to add that much oil I suspect you will have damaged the engine slightly - but this shouldn't manifest itself in warning lights, it would be overheated crank bearings or something like that which would result from oil starvation

    Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


    Feet were made to fit car pedals. If we were meant to walk, we'd have pogo sticks for legs

  8. #8
    Single-handedly bankrupting eBay Ferengo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Dundee
    Car
    F56 JCW Cooper S
    Posts
    1,294
    Cheers for confirming that. I mean I guess an oil change would mean a filter change too but if you're not sure it's best to ask I guess.

    Still waiting on them calling me back to discuss what's been done so far. The engine management light has now gone off. Since it's gone off the oil warning light has flashed on again. Only once but it was a small journey. They never seem to come on together.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Follow Us
About us
You'll find details of our packed social calendar including MINI Runs, organised car shows, meet-ups for munchies, and other social events. There's also a wealth of information on the three latest generations of the new MINI from BMW, including owners pictures, common fault fixes, "how-to's", owner reviews and a bucket load of advice for all new MINI owners. Whether you have one of the first MINI's from the early 2000's, a second generation R56, or are planning a purchase of a nice shiny new F series, whether your car is a MINI One, a Cooper, Cooper S, JCW or a GP, THIS is the web site for you!