Hey NAM. Here's one for the gearheads:

I couldn't loosen the oil filter canister on my R53 'cause it must've been over-tightened at the dealer -- I even busted the rachet mech on my socket wrench trying to get it off. I had already drained the oil at that point and since this is my only car I had to go ahead and add the new oil but leave the old filter in place.

I'm planning on having a shop help me get the filter canister off... so in order to avoid spilling oil all over the engine bay, how much oil should I drain first?

I guess I could just drain all of it and put it back in once I've changed the filter but I'd feel better adding fresh oil insteading of recycling one-day old oil because it could pick up junk at the bottom of the pan -- at $6 a quart, though, I'd rather not have buy another five quarts. That's why I'm wondering how much oil actually sits above the level of the filter.

Anyone have a ballpark idea on the volume?

Thanks, guys and gals!

 

Not much, in my uneducated opinion. So that means the amount to drain is, sorry, all of it.

I'm sure you know the drill:

After you remove the drainplug, some people do the filter first, loosen the filter a quarter turn or so and it will drain into the crankcase keeping the engine bay clean. By the time the crankcase is drained the filer is ready to be removed without any spillage in the engine bay.

For the second part of your question about re-using the oil it depends on your budget. Me personally, no, I would not reuse it for exactly the reason you give. Junk in the pan.

Hope this helps...

 

I think you may have gotten it wrong Kazlot.
If the filter is above oil pan, the only oil is in the filter housing. If you loosen it like you advised, the oil will drain into the pan so you can remove the filter without draining the pan and replace it. You can do this on most of the cars. I do it on my family Forester. I change oil filters every 5k miles and change oil every 10k miles. I just unscrew the filter, let it drain the little overflow and remove and replace the filter. Then add about 1/4 quart of lost oil that was in the filter itself and you're done.

 

yeah listen to rally maniac, you should be able to change the filter with oil still in the car, problem is that your new oil has already ran through that dirty filter and possibly picked up some of its contaminants. not a big deal though, and i feel the best way to get at the filter is with a good breaker bar, i know the thing can be on there a lil tight

 

The oil filter and housing sit waaaay above the oil level in the oil pan. Most of the oil in the filter will drain down to the pan after turning the engine off; any that does not will drain out if the motor is not run for several days OR if you loosen the oil canister a little and wait a few minutes before taking it all the way off.

The filter itself will hold a little oil, a few table spoons at most, and there is a little puddle that is held in the oil filter cavity on the engine block side (the part the top screws onto) that holds maybe half a cup.

So you didn't blast a lot of dirty oil into the system by not changing the filter, and changing it now should only cause you to lose a little - a half pint or less to top it back off. You still want to change the filter to get rid of any particles it has trapped, and so it doesn't get overly clogged before the next oil change.

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks to all of you for the correction, posting the proper answer, in response to what I wrote:


Boy am I embarrassed, first I say there's not much oil above the filer and then I say drain it all. Talk about confused.

Off to hide my head...

 

Hey man, it's cool - you're among friends here. We're a team and there's no harm in trying to help someone. Folks will jump in and offer a better answer if they think there is one without the need for blame or embarrasment.

We're all here to help and learn so it's all good!

 

This is why NAM is so good. Nice to see people helping everyone, and not just FLAMING and complaining....

 

The filter cannister does not need to be that tight, it has an "O" ring seal, so further tightening will not make it seal better. If anything, tightening it too much might distort the housing and cause it to leak. It should never be so tight that you need a breaker bar to loosen it, IMHO.......

Just food for thought when you guys reinstall it next time...........

 

yes but most of the time its not us that had previously tightened out filter canister back down, i mean now that ive done it myself i wouldnt need to have a bar but the first time i sure did

 

Thanks for all the info, everyone! It makes sense that 4.7L pooled at the bottom shouldn't be higher than the oil filter.

As of now, I'm thinking that the canister's most likely cross-threaded since the local garage couldn't even get it off with a breaker bar. I should've known as much when my socket wrench exploded. I'm having the dealer check it out and I hope that only the canister will need to be replaced.

Yeah, it's supposed to be torqued to only 25Nm / 18.4 ft-lbs / 221 inch-lbs, which isn't a whole lot. The cap on my sloppy bottle of barbecue sauce is probably tighter than that.

 

Careful where you take it in for service after this. Just 'cuz someone can hold a wrench by the right end doesn't make them a mechanic. Much to the dismay of a number of people.
Better yet, do it yourself and become one with your Mini. It's a zen thing.
-skip-

 

why not take it to whichever dealer that overtightened it in the first place. ie the last place you took it to for an oil change, but just ask for an oil change and if they come out and tell you you need this and this repaired 'cuz the canister is overtightened and crossthreaded, tell them they were the last ones to do the oil