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how many hours do you estimate it'd take to do the fuel filter change? shop i went to quoted me 4 hours....i def didn't get the work done there and thought the estimate is insane.
Your 4-hour quote is also a great reminder of how shady repair shops can be. They look in "The Book" - which gives conspiratorially-ridiculous repair times - and multiply their hourly $ rate by that hourly figure, and that's what you have to agree to pay if you want them to fix your car. Of course, any mechanic worth their salt completes the work in much less time. Not to mention doing two or three related repairs which remove the same parts, but they charge full boat for each individual repair.
Sorry about the rant. Stuff like this just gets under my skin.
Your 4-hour quote is also a great reminder of how shady repair shops can be. They look in "The Book" - which gives conspiratorially-ridiculous repair times - and multiply their hourly $ rate by that hourly figure, and that's what you have to agree to pay if you want them to fix your car. Of course, any mechanic worth their salt completes the work in much less time. Not to mention doing two or three related repairs which remove the same parts, but they charge full boat for each individual repair.
Sorry about the rant. Stuff like this just gets under my skin.
Just use some tape, plastic , to prevent drips from getting in your car...
Then carefully assembly it..suggest lubing the o-rings....get it wrong, and you have no fuel psi...suggest the OEM kits...folks report they fit better.
Sometimes a hammer and a screwdriver is needed to turn the ring on the top....kinda depends.
The filter is HUGE for a gas car the size of a mini...hense the "lifetime" suggestion...
Many folks change it around 100k 10 year mark to get rid of gunk....as a feel good diy...it will be nasty...but still flow pretty good...
Less fuel in the tank the better.....below 1/4 is best by most reports.
Doing the fuel pump and filter combined should take about 2 hours. Indy shops typically give you book time based off of a database like Alldata or something similar. What companies do is give their technicians a vehicle and have them do all sorts of repairs. They then post up the time it took for each repair into a database that their dealerships access. Technicians will typically learn to do these changes in a much quicker manner as they get paid a flat rate (by however long the repair on the database says) and not hourly. If they get paid for 4 hours, but do it in 2, that's how they do more hours in a week on a paycheck. Hope this all makes sense. Now, an average DIY'er can also do this much quicker. We have a tech article that covers the pump and filter change on our site that may be useful to you. It's under MINI > tech info (tab at top) and then scroll to Fuel Injection. The fuel filter is located where the purple arrow points below.
I'd recommend using a Genuine filter as many have reported no start issues with Vaico filters due to the seals being too large.
Just did mine yesterday in around 45 minutes for the first time. Like Zippy said, if you do it yourself, make sure you cover the surrounding area in plastic just to be safe. I completely forgot I filled up the other day so I was at 3/4 tank rather than the 1/4 I thought I was at so I made a bit of a mess with it.
I did use the Vaico replacement kit and everything went back together and started up without a hitch. Just ensure everything seats correctly and prime the fuel system a few times before actually starting it.
Should only take a couple of hours unless you forget to bleed the pressure from the system like I did. I did not expect that amount of pressure on the input side of the pump. I took a shower in gas and shredded the o-rings as they shot out of the cover when I pulled the fuel line. You can't get those o-rings from MINI and you can't get the filter cover (with o-rings) unless you buy the entire unit. I did, amazingly, obtain the exact o-rings and spacer by hacksawing open a GM/Chrysler Fuel Line Quick Disconnect (part number 730-5617). More details in my comment at Mod MINI's YouTube Channel.
BTW, new fuel filter fixed the cold start/misfire codes in my daughter's 2010 Cooper S when cleaning the intake valves and swapping the high-pressure fuel pump from my 2011 JCS didn't.
The good thing about letting an Independent Mini Shop to this service is you just pay a lower price than the dealership and you have no mess or worries.
how many hours do you estimate it'd take to do the fuel filter change? shop i went to quoted me 4 hours....i def didn't get the work done there and thought the estimate is insane.
30 minutes for me. 1st time doing it. Many how to videos on Youtube and step by step instructions here and on other forums
I wrestled with a Vaico filter kit for 5 hours until I ran out of time and had to send it to my local independent mechanic. He wrestled with it for another 4 hours before giving up and deciding we needed to use a Genuine MINI filter kit. Armed with the correct fitting part, he was finished in 30 minutes.
In summary, I wasted $48 and 5 hours of time on a Vaico filter. In addition, I had to pay my mechanic another $75 in labor (he was kind to me) and buy another filter kit just to get the job done.
A lot of vendors sell aftermarket filters, but in this case you should run away from anything that isn't genuine MINI.
I just did this. I used the factory kit and it took about 45 minutes including cleanup.
One thing that made it a little easier to assemble was grease. I put a light coat of grease on the o-rings and seal. Things slid together nicely, much easier than the video showed.
Key on and off twice and the engine lit after about 5 seconds of cranking. No leaks.
