Has anyone changed their own oil yet? I just read that the MINI has a cartridge type oil filter? Is that correct? What a mess THOSE are! Is it easy to access at least? What's the oil-slop factor on a DIY oil change?

 

Yeah canisters blow. That is one thing I hate about many european cars they really love those obsolute Canister filters.

One company already has a spinon oil filter conversion kit that includes a remote location adaptar and oil Cooler.

The part was under one of the aftermarket links but i forget which one.

I am sure Amsoil will come out with something similar soon.

 

I will as soon as I get ahold of a 1 7/16" or 36mm shallow socket. That's what the tech guy at Flow BMW uses. He ordered his from Snap On.

 

>>One company already has a spinon oil filter conversion kit that includes a remote location adaptar and oil Cooler.
>>
>>The part was under one of the aftermarket links but i forget which one.

Moss MINI has one in their catalogue, which is where I discovered about the canisters. DEFINITELY going for this mod (if there is room for it on the 'S.

 

Oh there is always room you just might have to be creative with where you install the remote oil adapter.

 

It's not as bad as you think. You need a 36mm socket or open wrench for the filter and a 13mm wrench for the drain plug. You warm up the engine, remove the oil filler cap, remove the 13mm drain plug and slightly loosen the filter canister. Wait til it's all drained out, then remove the canister and filter. Notice which side is up on the filter so you can put the new one in the same way. That's it. No mess although somewhat of a hassle. I change my oil at 3000 mile intervals with MINI oil and filters. Go for it. MB

 

Here's the ultimate if filtering.. You can remove down to 1/10 micron partcle size. this removes water, gas, and any oxidation byproducts. If you use a oil that can really withstand high temperatures, this will virtually elimanate oil changes and add 1.5 Qts cap. (BK-13) I will work on a mounting PDF later.

http://www.syntheticwarehouse.com/bypass.htm

 

Yeah my amsoil guy has that system on his Diesel van and truck. The Van has been 80 some thousand miles with out an oil change and their old van went almost 300,000 miles without one.

 

I just changed my MCS oil after 4k miles. The filter will drain out most of the oil but you may get a few dribbles if you don't wrap the filter in a rag before it is pulled up the back of the engine. My 36mm socket was to tall with a ratchet handle attached, but by the time I found this out I had already drained the pan so I had to go forward. I used a large pair of channel locks on the flats on the filter cannister with success and didn't mar the cannister. It was a little tricky to re-thread the cannister on without crossthreading. It didn't seem to want track the threads properly. I could feel(but not see)the cannister wasn't straight until after several attempts. I used Mobil 1 5w30. The old oil was slightly darkened and a few metalic particles were evident in the old filter. I am glad I didn't wait 10K miles.

 

Can anyone post pics of the Mini oil filter and the procedure to replace the filter? I've have been doing my own oil changes for years but a little worried I might do it wrong and cause a major problem. The last car American car I recall changing an cartridge type oil filter on was a Chevy back in the sixties.

 

>>Can anyone post pics of the Mini oil filter and the procedure to replace the filter? I've have been doing my own oil changes for years but a little worried I might do it wrong and cause a major problem. The last car American car I recall changing an cartridge type oil filter on was a Chevy back in the sixties.

Yeah except for some of the crappy fwd 4 cylinders that went in the late 80's GM compact cars no american car has had a canister filter in almost 40 years.

 

Has anyone taken their car to a "quickie oil-change" place???

Have you had any issues???

Patrick

 

I've had my oil changed twice, once at 1600 and again at 3300 miles. Even with the synthetics I can't bring myself to go past about 3k, and with the BMW dealer providing the 10,20,and30k changes, 3300,6600, and 10k works. The filter is a cartridge type as you described, but very different from those of the 60's. It takes a 36mm socket-you can't get a wrench or a strap in there- and the shorter the better. A 36mm impact won't fit unless it's under 3" in depth, and it comes out from the top of the car, not underneath. My local Firestone dealer has done both mine, and we've gotten it down to 1) Pull the drain plug and drain. 2) Take off the filter and install the new one and the new O ring on the cannister. It's an aircraft style and you can't screw it up. You can't reinstall the cannister unless you line up the flat surface of the threads with the threading in the block. You'll understand when you see it! 3) Reinstall the drain plug and add your new oil. (In this sequence you"ll not make as much a mess with drips and spills.) I noticed the molded plastic plate under the hood says use only Castrol Syntec, but the manual says use only Mobil 1! Anyone with any preference? I've tried both now and can't see any difference. Good luck!

 

Ach don't use castrol bad stuff. Mobil 1 is good but I have doubts now that they merged with exon. Exon has supposebly taken over formulation control for the Mobil 1 synthetic oil and the newer mobil 1 formula is not as good as the old.

I will try to get some of the various wear, volatility, and heat tests from some people. Then I will post them up here.

If you can try and find a place that will sell you an oil sampling kit. I think this would be a good experiment to do.

Here is the URL of the company that did my oil testing.
http://www.oaitesting.com/

It is a little pricey but if you can find an amsoil dealer in the are and buddy up with him you might be able to get some tests done for free. They like to get independent tests done with real people to help with their own analysis, marketing and research programs.

If you have castrol in the engine now then go ahead and run the oil to the service interval you were using before. When you reach the milleage that you want to change it at use the sampling kit to take a sample of the oil. There are instructions in the kit for how to do this and the kit should include a little pump type device to suck oil out of the dipstick tube. Send off the vial to be tested and see what the results are for your 3000 some mile oil change interval.

Now switch over to Mobil 1, don't worry the motor won't care about the change in oil, and do the same service interval followed by an oil sampling analysit.


I bet the Mobil 1 comes out with a much better test result then the Castrol Syntec stuff and I also bet that now that the break in is over that neither of the oils really needed to be changed.


I was using amsoil 5w30 in my 1989 Pontiac Bonneville with over a 100,000 miles and had an oil analysis done after the oil had been in the car about 8000 miles. The test came back showing that the oil was fine and could probably go to 12,000 or 14,000 miles before needing to be changed unless something catastophic happend like water in the oil or massive coolant leak.

I changed mine about 11,000 that time because i wanted to try out the new 5w20 oil that had just come out.

 

OK.....so where do I get a new filter from??

Will my local Auto parts store have them??

Also, please clarify. Some are saying a wrench will work to remove the filter, others are saying it will not??

Thanks

 

You just need a shallow 36mm socket - most are fairly long and those won't work. Try sears and see what they have - i got mine there and it works fine - a bit tight but still works.

Cheers

 

>>Can anyone post pics of the Mini oil filter and the procedure to replace the filter? I've have been doing my own oil changes for years but a little worried I might do it wrong and cause a major problem. The last car American car I recall changing an cartridge type oil filter on was a Chevy back in the sixties.

Ask and ye shall receive.... albeit very long in coming, I just ran across this excellent "how to" for the unfamiliar, or mechanically un-inclined.

How to change your MINI's oil w/ PICS.

_________________
Pure Silver w/ black MC, Premium, Sports, and Cold-weather pkgs, CVT, + NAV system - and that little shark-fin antenna! (too much fun!)

 

Thanks for posting the link on doing the oil change. I know feel confident about doing my own oil change before the scheuled 10k Mini dealer change.

 

>>"OK.....so where do I get a new filter from??
>>
>>Will my local Auto parts store have them??"

I've only seen them at the dealer. Anyone know of another
source for filters?? :smile:

 

And while we're asking these kinds of questions, does anyone have the torque specs on the filter/oil plug?

Or is it old school? Hand-tight on the filter (+ a little) and snug on the plug? Any crush washer for the drain plug?

Jeff the AR MINI owner!
(10k miles until an oil change. grumble grumble)

 

Here! Here! I second this question. has anyone asked theoir service guys about torque specs for the canister and the drain plug? If not, I'll report back when I do my post-break-in oil change in a few weeks.

 

Drain plug : 31 Nm
Filter can : 25 Nm
(multiply by 1.356 to get lb-ft)

do those seem high?

 

Yes. They do. But I was surprised the first japanese motorcycle I bought had torque specs for an oil filter. Used to be just hand tighten, and snug down with a strap wrench!

It all depends, I suppose, on what the materials are. Steel, course threads will take just about anything you can dish out.

 

>>Drain plug : 31 Nm
>>Filter can : 25 Nm
>>(multiply by 1.356 to get lb-ft)
>>
>>do those seem high?

That should be Divide by 1.356...

31 Nm = 22+ lbf-ft
25 Nm = 18+ lbf-ft.

 

>>>>Drain plug : 31 Nm
>>>>Filter can : 25 Nm
>>>>(multiply by 1.356 to get lb-ft)
>>>>
>>>>do those seem high?
>>
>>That should be Divide by 1.356...
>>
>>31 Nm = 22+ lbf-ft
>>25 Nm = 18+ lbf-ft.

Much better. Thanks. But then I think both units are on my torque wrench--so no worries!

Jeff