has anyone seen or used this http://www.promini.com/technical/tec...oil_change.php ???

looking to do oil changes as lazy as i can between service intervals!

thanks

 

I have used the same thing in the past. Two problems:
1. Plug is on the bottem of the pan for a reason. Pulling the oil out from the top does not get the junk at the bottem. Also does not get all of the oil.
2. When you develop the suction the tank can collapse if it is even bumped. I have seen two of these which crushed when the user forgot there was suction and sat something on top.

Biggest problem though is not getting all of the old oil out.

 

I use it on my Crossfire. It has the oil filter on top, so it makes the oil change very easy. In fact the Mercedes Benz dealers do it this way. It sucks all the oil out, I've measured it.

 

I'm with thulchatt.
By definition there's no way for a suction device to grab all the detritus that lays on the bottom of the oil pan. By pulling the bolt, the flow of the waste oil maximizes the elimination of that detritus.
I can understand a shop using it since they do double digit oil changes in a day. But for a MINI owner who does it twice a year? I'll stick with the onerous task of removing and replacing one bolt.

 

is it that hard to jack the car up?

 

good points, all of you. and thanks.

is there that much crap in the bottom of the pan??? if so, what are the contents of this crap? i'm a little new to the DIY world and as such, am not educated on the byproducts of used oil in engines. could someone let me know what comes out with the oil? I have always paid for service, but now that i am a little more stable and not workng SO hard, i would like to take some ownership of my MINI and make sure its done correct.

thanks all in advance.

 

I got mine 2 weeks ago. So far did 3 oil changes. It works perfectly and is great for cars that you can replace the filter from top. No jacks , or oil stains on the ground. It works perfectly , but you gotte repeat the process a couple times to get everything out.

 

www.bobistheoilguy.com

Love it.

- Matt

 

It's more complicated then the standard oil change.

You have one bolt and it's out in a seconds.

 

I wanted one of those things. My oil plug has a temp sensor on it so it's a pain to work around. I need the Mini Madness oil cooler plate (has mounts for pressure and temp) to replace my Cobolt one.

 

Vacuum oil changes are very common in the TDI VW world whereas one needs to remove the bottom sound shield to get to the drain plug. These diesels are more sooty and dirty then the MINI 1.6 engine, and measure their longevity in the hundreds of thousands of miles.