Just finished my oil change over the weekend. Thanks to Randy & NAM! Couldn't do half of the stuff without all of you!

 

Oh dear... What do you think is causing it?

Okay here is a better description...

At cold starts, the check engine oil light is off. When it worms up a bit, the light comes on when the engine is at idle. But when I step on the gas it turns off.

 

That sounds very much like low oil pressure.
I wouldn't put a lot of faith in an idiot light but would definitely look into it.

 

It does sound like low oil pressure. Assuming the oil level is correct maybe it's the filter? Did you change your oil filter when you changed your oil? (I hope so!) You didn't mention it specifically...if so maybe it's not installed correctly?

The filter's are a little odd/tight compared to some other canister types...

 

Yes I also changed the filter...

But I think I might have found the problem.

http://www.promini.com/technical/tec...oil_filter.php

I'll double check the filter tonight.

Thanks for your help.

Randy

 

Tossing that center piece is easy to do. I had to go fishing mine out of the trash the first time too. Hope that is the problem.

 

I agree with "NOT" because I actually did go to the Valvoline place where I take my wifes car. I showed up with filter in hand and they said that they were not allowed to work on MINIs. Evidently they had a bad experience with one. I feel bad for the poor MINI owner that experienced the problem first hand but I'm glad it wasn't me! I've been doing my own ever since.

 

I don't have one on my Mini... yet... but I have used them in the past and never had, or even heard of a leaking problem with this valve.

 

What about if you have the auxiliary gauges? The oil-temp sensor IS the drain plug on my car; I'd imagine the valve doesn't have a provision for replicating that functionality.

 

OK, total Mini newb here, I was all set to pick up my new (to me) 03 MCS this afternoon, but after the mechanic inspected the car, they detected oil leaks around the area of the oil cooler. When this was pointed out to the dealer, he explained that he had changed the oil several days prior, and the canister type filter spilled oil everywhere. He degreased the oil cooler, and is going to have the car looked over at the local Mini dealership. My question is: a. is this plausible? b. are oil leaks common occurences with these motors? c. what types of problems are common for this year/model? I drove the car from the dealership to the mechanic, and I can honestly say that I am already in love... I can't wait to pick er up!!

 

Mine doesn't have an oil cooler & I believe a 2003 doesn't either. What I think your mechanic is referring to is the oil filter adapter that mounts on the rear of the engine. What the dealer told you is very plausible & highly possible. The filter is mounted with the opening facing down. If one loosens the filter a bit & waits it will drain out & not leak. A dealership mechanic isn't going to take the time & wait, not if he's paid flat rate & most are. I haven't seen many reports of oil leaks on MINI's & don't believe it's much of a concern. Enjoy your MINI. Happy motoring.

 

Maybe it was the area around the oil pump, directly below the filter. There was something that looked exactly like the oil cooler on my Ducati... Anyways, the oil was all over tht area, and also the front suspension. The foreign auto mechanic said that they didn't think that it was from spill over. Hopefully when the mini mech looks it over everything will be OK. I got a great price on this car, I hope that it's not because of a huge engine problem!

 

Or maybe they sliced the O-ring when they installed the filter. I've done it. It sucks.

 

Yah, I too have sliced the O ring putting the new filter on. Big mess. Good thing I had a spare.

I believe at some point the Coopers stopped using that plastic insert thing that can get thrown away, mine doesn't have one. I don't know at what point they changed, though.

 

Thanks for this how-to! I just finished changing my oil and it went very smoothly with no problems and not a drop spilled

 

I just finished my 1st oil change on my used 2003 MCS. I bought a 36mm shallow socket, MANN oil filter & 5qts of 5w-30 Mobil-1. My car liked all 5 qts...it seemed just right.

I just drove my car up on ramps and had no problems with clearances. Now my oil drain plug was very tight and my oil filter was extremely tight. I had to use a breaker bar on that one for sure.

One tip that I haven't seen anyone in this post (any maybe I missed it) was something I noticed myself when trying to loosen/tighten the oil filter:

From under the car, you can get your socket wrench in through the passenger side fenderwell area and onto the oil filter. But you would still be removing and installing the oil filter through the top of the motor. I found that I could line up the oil filter and actually see what I was doing from under the car much better than from the top where you also have limited movement for your socket.

Now, I'm not sure if the suspension would get if your way if you use jacks instead of ramps? But this method worked well for me.

Please excuse how dirty my car was in these photos.

Passenger side fenderwell

 

my 07 mazda 3 has the same canister type filter as well.oh and as far as the engine being BMW engineered, the first generation has the chrysler neon based engine in it, ive heard

 

haha, i dont know how lockjawdavis got one for 75 bucks, mine was 245, but since then its not worth it so i just do it myself.

 

Randy, appreciate your tutorial, now if I can do it !! Will know in a little bit!! Bill

 

you'll do fine. confidence!

 

Is this capacity the same for MC and MCS?

 

How does one reset the oil change interval after the oil change? Does it do it automatically or is there some reset on the clock/miles meter? Haven't changed my own oil yet, but willing to try.

'06 MC BRG/White. "Nigel"
Magnaflow Catback, K&N Typhoon CAI

 

YOu can install the filter from up top, but you can see if the o-ring is bunching up when screwing the filter in if your looking at the whole housing from the bottom.

 

With thanks to Davester:
1. Push the Trip Button
2. Turn ignition key to position 1 and 51A will appear to left of mileage
3. Release trip button
4. Wait 3 seconds
5. Push trip button
6. Wait (5-8 seconds) for RST to appear in left corner
7. Release trip button
8. Push trip button
9. 15000 will appear as new service interval
10. Release trip button

 

I've seen the OBC-reset directions before, but I've always wondered about something:

As the car accumulates miles from new, the OBC appears to cycle through a series of four events:

1) Oil Service
2) Inspection I
3) Oil Service
4) Inspection II

Presumably, after you complete Inspection II, the cycle begins again.

My question is, when you reset the OBC, can you tell it exactly where in the sequence you are? In particular, let's say you buy a used car with 30,000 miles that has never had the OBC reset. So, it's saying that "oil service" is due, with something like "-18,000" in the service counter. So you go ahead and have the oil changed, along with having all of the Inspection I items done. If you just reset the OBC, won't it incorrectly start counting down to "Inspection I"? At this point, you'd want it to start counting down to "oil service" (the third service in the sequence).

Can you just reset the OBC twice in succession to skip over the "Inspection I" countdown and get it counting down to "oil service"?