Can a Top-Sider oil extractor be used to change the oil in the N14s?

Does the dipstick tube reach the lowest part of the oil pan?

Thanks.

 

Yes a top-sider oil extractor can pull the oil out from the dipstick.

HOWEVER, it would leave a little less than a quart of old oil in the pan. I've tried it before and had to divert back to the conventional way of draining oil from the pan. Not every ounce of oil will be extracted out.

I am sure others would chime in about their experience with an oil extraction method but in my opinion - doing it the conventional way is way to go.

There should be an existing thread on oil extractors for testimonies. Just do an advance search when you can.

 

I'd use an extractor and pull the plug. Reduce the amount of "back on the ground" time

 

A top-side extractor is never worth it imo, for any car, unless you want partial oil changes (not sure why you ever would). Too easy to do it conventionally (even in a parking lot), or in an emergency take it to one of the oil and lube places on every street corner.

 

I used a marine oil extractor through the dip stick tube and get out all of the oil out, just have to remember to open oil cap and remove oil filter cap so it can drain properly. For instance you can't pull oil up through oil extractor without opening up the the cap and oil filter cap, works great! I measure my oil level before draining and I always pull what was read by the dip stick.

My marine oil extractor was almost $100, if it's good enough for draining $10-20 million dollar yachts it's good enough for our small four cylinder engine.

 

I just used the topsider yesterday for the first time, and I agree with you that it's not worth it. At first it started working fine, oil was coming out fast then it slowed down and stopped pumping. Then you have to keep pumping and it slowly comes out. Here's the problem, since the topsider is all metal and you cannot see how much you've extracted you don't know how much more you have to draw out.

This is the first oil change since getting the car a month ago. I couldn't really tell the level or quality of the oil because of the stock dipstick reading as poorly as it does. So I got a Cravenspeed dipstick, after pulling out what I thought was about two quarts I put in the aftermarket dipstick and it read at the top, full. I put the topsider back in and pump away only its not drawing anything.

Now that I knew the car had been overfilled by at least a quart and a half. I just drained it the old fashioned way. Not a fan of the topsider, you need to know how much oil you've extracted, IMO.

 

Get this one -
I've had it for years. The smaller tube fits the Mini.

I use it every 5K, screw that BS of laying on a the ground/creeper/jacking the car up.

Yes, its slow, yes you have to fiddle with the tube to get all the oil out, but IMHO its still less work (I do my oil change while I'm doing other stuff outside like mowing..).

I added marks to the side of my MV exractor so I had a better idea of just how much oil was taken out.

I can pull 4.3 qts/ 4L out of the Mini with this unit. Every time - .

 

Yeah, Dan, that's actually the unit I have. I've used it without trouble on my BMW Z3 and I know that it gets all the oil out of that car.

What is the oil capacity of the N14 engine in the S version?

 

It's 4.4 US quarts (4.2L) for N14s.

I never understood the reluctance to change oil the old fashioned way (remove drain plug, collect oil in the catch pan, torque drain plug back in, refill).
I could see aiming to stay clean, but there is no way to accomplish that on a MINI since you still have to wrench to get to the oil filter housing, and removing the oil filter is never as clean as you would like it to be.

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Ahhh, yes, I was looking for the oil filter housing the other day and didn't see it. On my Z3 it is right there in front of you when you open the hood. It might make more sense to change the oil the usual way if I have to get under the car to get at the filter anyway.